Nick Carter (character)

Nick Carter
First appearance	The Old Detective's Pupil; or, The Mysterious Crime of Madison Square (1886)
Created by	Ormond G. Smith, John R. Coryell
Portrayed by	Pierre Bressol Walter Pidgeon Lon Clark Eddie Constantine Robert Conrad Michal Dočolomanský
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Detective

Nick Carter is a fictional character who began as a dime novel private detective in 1886 and has appeared in a variety of formats over more than a century. The character was first conceived by Ormond G. Smith and created by John R. Coryell. Carter headlined his own magazine for years, and was then part of a long-running series of novels from 1964 to 1990. Films were created based on Carter in France, Czechoslovakia and Hollywood. Nick Carter has also appeared in many comic books and in radio programs.

Literary history

Nick Carter first appeared in the story paper New York Weekly (Vol. 41 No. 46, September 18, 1886) in a 13-week serial, "The Old Detective's Pupil; or, The Mysterious Crime of Madison Square"; the character was conceived by Ormond G. Smith, the son of one of the founders of Street & Smith, and realized by John R. Coryell.^[1] Coryell retired from writing Nick Carter novels and the series was taken over by Frederick Van Rensselaer Dey, who wrote 1,076 novels and stories from 1890 until his suicide in 1922.^[2] The character proved popular enough to headline its own magazine, Nick Carter Weekly. The serialized stories in Nick Carter Weekly were also reprinted as stand-alone titles under the New Magnet Library imprint.^[3] By 1915, Nick Carter Weekly had ceased publication and Street & Smith had replaced it with Detective Story Magazine, which focused on a more varied cast of characters. There was a brief attempt at reviving Carter in 1924–27 in Detective Story Magazine, but it was not successful.

In the 1930s, due to the success of The Shadow and Doc Savage, Street & Smith revived Nick Carter in a pulp magazine (called Nick Carter Detective Magazine) that ran from 1933 to 1936. Since the Doc Savage character had basically been given Nick's background,^{[further explanation needed]} Nick Carter was now recast as more of a hard-boiled detective. Novels featuring Carter continued to appear through the 1950s, by which time there was also a popular radio show, Nick Carter, Master Detective, which aired on the Mutual Broadcasting System network from 1943 to 1955.

Killmaster revival

Following the success of the James Bond series in the 1960s, the character was updated for a long-running series of novels featuring the adventures of secret agent Nick Carter, aka the Killmaster. The first book, Run Spy Run, appeared in 1964 and more than 260 Nick Carter-Killmaster adventures were published up until 1990.

Two additional books have been erroneously listed as Killmaster novels by some sources: Meteor Eject!, a memoir by an RAF pilot named Nick Carter, published in 2000, and a 2005 release entitled Brotherhood, which is actually an autobiography of singer Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys.

The 100th Killmaster novel—Nick Carter 100—was accompanied by an essay on the 1890s version, and a short story featuring the character; that marked one of the few times the Killmaster series acknowledged its historical roots.

None of the Nick Carter series of books carried author credits, although it is known that several of the earliest volumes were written by Michael Avallone, and that Valerie Moolman and NYT bestselling author Gayle Lynds wrote others, making this the first series of its kind to be written in significant part by women. Bill Crider is another author identified with Nick Carter.^[4]

The Nick Carter name was treated as if it were a pseudonym, and many of the volumes were written in the first person.^[5]

Authors

The works were published under the house pseudonyms "Nicholas Carter" and "Sergeant Ryan". Authors known to have contributed include the following:

• John R. Coryell (1848–1924)
• Frederick W. Davis (1858–1933),^[6] who wrote eight Nick Carter stories for The New Nick Carter Weekly in 1910 and 1912,^[7] as well as writing extensively under the pen name "Scott Campbell"^[8][9]
• Frederick Van Rensselaer Dey (1861–1922), who took his own life
• Thomas C. Harbaugh (1849–1924), who died penniless in the Miami County Home in Ohio^[10]
• George C. Jenks (1850-1929)
• Eugene T. Sawyer (1847–1924)^[11]
• Charles Westerbrook
• Richard Edward Wormser (1908–1977), who claimed to have written 17 Carter magazine stories published in 1932–33^[12]

Stories are also credited to Harrison Keith, the joint pseudonym of John A. L. Chambliss and Philip Clark, who both wrote for the franchise.

Books

New Magnet Library

Title	Series #	Project Gutenberg #
Nick Carter's Ghost Story	154
In the Lap of Danger; or, The Bait That Failed to Lure	458
The Great Spy System; or, Nick Carter's Promise to the President	563
Wanted: A Clew	850
A Tangled Skein	851
The Bullion Mystery	852
The Man of Riddles	853
A Miscarriage of Justice	854
The Gloved Hand	855
Spoilers and the Spoils	856
The Deeper Game	857
Bolts from Blue Skies	858
Unseen Foes	859
Knaves in High Places	860
The Microbe of Crime	861
In the Toils of Fear	862
A Heritage of Trouble	863
Called to Account	864
The Just and the Unjust	865
Instinct at Fault	866
A Rogue Worth Trapping	867
A Rope of Slender Threads	868
The Last Call	869
The Spoils of Chance	870
A Struggle With Destiny	871
The Slave of Crime	872
The Crook's Blind	873
A Rascal of Quality	874
With Shackles of Fire	875
The Man Who Changed Faces	876
The Fixed Alibi	877
Out With the Tide	878
The Soul Destroyers	879
The Wages of Rascality	880
Birds of Prey	881
When Destruction Threatens	882
The Keeper of Black Hounds	883
The Door of Doubt	884
The Wolf Within	885
A Perilous Parole	886
The Trail of the Fingerprints	887
Dodging the Law	888
A Crime in Paradise	889
On the Ragged Edge	890
The Red God of Tragedy	891
The Man Who Paid	892
The Blind Man's Daughter	893
One Object in Life	894
As a Crook Sows	895
In Record Time	896
Held in Suspense	897
The $100	898
Just One Slip	890
On a Million-dollar Trail	900
A Weird Treasure	901
The Middle Link	902
To the Ends of the Earth	903
When Honors Pall	904
The Yellow Brand	905
A New Serpent in Eden	906
When Brave Men Tremble	907
A Test of Courage	908
Where Peril Beckons	909
The Gargoni Girdle	910
Rascals & Co.	911
Too Late to Talk	912
Satan's Apt Pupil	913
The Girl Prisoner	914
The Danger of Folly	915
One Shipwreck Too Many	916
Scourged by Fear	917
The Red Plague	918
Scoundrels Rampant	919
From Clew to Clew	920
When Rogues Conspire	921
Twelve in a Grave	922
The Great Opium Case	923
A Conspiracy of Rumors	924
A Klondike Claim	925
The Evil Formula	926
The Man of Many Faces	927
The Great Enigma	928
The Burden of Proof	929
The Stolen Brain	930	66740
A Titled Counterfeiter	931
The Magic Necklace	932
'Round the World for a Quarter	933
Over the Edge of the World	934
In the Grip of Fate	935
The Case of Many Clews	936
The Sealed Door	937
Nick Carter and the Green Goods Men	938
The Man Without a Will	939
Tracked Across the Atlantic	940
A Clew From the Unknown	941
The Crime of a Countess	942
A Mixed Up Mess	943
The Great Money Order Swindle	944
The Adder's Brood	945
A Wall Street Haul	946
For a Pawned Crown	947
Sealed Orders	948
The Hate That Kills	949
The American Marquis	950
The Needy Nine	951
Fighting Against Millions	952
Outlaws of the Blue	953
The Old Detective's Pupil	954
Found in the Jungle	955
The Mysterious Mail Robbery	956
Broken Bars	957
A Fair Criminal	958
Won by Magic	959
The Piano Box Mystery	960
The Man They Held Back	961
A Millionaire Partner	962
A Pressing Peril	963
An Australian Klondyke	964
The Sultan's Pearls	965
The Double Shuffle Club	966
Paying the Price	967
A Woman's Hand	968
A Network of Crime	969
At Thompson's Ranch	970
The Crossed Needles	971
The Diamond Mine Case	972
Blood Will Tell	973
An Accidental Password	974
The Crook's Bauble	975
Two Plus Two	976
The Yellow Label	977
The Clever Celestial	978
The Amphitheater Plot	979
Gideon Drexel's Millions	980
Death in Life	981
A Stolen Identity	982
Evidence by Telephone	983
The Twelve Tin Boxes	984
Clew Against Clew	985
Lady Velvet	986
Playing a Bold Game	987
A Dead Man's Grip	988
Snarled Identities; Or, A Desperate Tangle	989	63977
A Deposit Vault Puzzle	990
The Crescent Brotherhood	991
The Stolen Pay Train	992
The Sea Fox	993
Wanted by Two Clients	994
The Van Alstine Case	995
Check No. 777	996
Partners in Peril	997
Nick Carter's Clever Protege	998
The Sign of the Crossed Knives	999
The Man Who Vanished	1000
A Battle for the Right; Or, A Clash of Wits	1001	62428
A Game of Craft	1002
Nick Carter's Retainer	1003
Caught in the Toils	1004
A Broken Bond; Or, The Man Without Morals	1005	63143
The Crime of the French Cafe	1006	11989
The Man Who Stole Millions	1007
The Twelve Wise Men	1008
Hidden Foes; Or, A Fatal Miscalculation	1009	62860
A Gamblers' Syndicate	1010
A Chance Discovery	1011
Among the Counterfeiters	1012
A Threefold Disappearance	1013
At Odds With Scotland Yard	1014
A Princess of Crime	1015
Found on the Beach	1016
A Spinner of Death	1017
The Detective's Pretty Neighbor	1018
A Bogus Clew	1019
The Puzzle of Five Pistols	1020
The Secret of the Marble Mantel	1021
A Bite of an Apple	1022
A Triple Crime	1023
The Stolen Race Horse	1024
Wildfire	1025
A Herald Personal	1026
The Finger of Suspicion	1027
The Crimson Clew	1028
Nick Carter Down East	1029
The Chain of Clews	1030
A Victim of Circumstances	1031
Brought to Bay	1032
The Dynamite Trap	1033
A Scrap of Black Lace	1034
The Woman of Evil	1035
A Legacy of Hate	1036
A Trusted Rogue	1037
Man Against Man	1038
The Demons of the Night	1039
The Brotherhood of Death	1040
At the Knife's Point	1041
A Cry for Help	1042
A Stroke of Policy	1043
Hounded to Death	1044
A Bargain in Crime	1045
The Fatal Prescription	1046
The Man of Iron	1047
An Amazing Scoundrel	1048
The Chain of Evidence	1049
Paid with Death	1050
A Fight for a Throne	1051
The Woman of Steel	1052
The Seal of Death	1053
The Human Fiend	1054
A Desperate Chance	1055
A Chase in the Dark	1056
The Snare and the Game	1057
The Murray Hill Mystery	1058
Nick Carter's Close Call	1059
The Missing Cotton King	1060
A Game of Plots	1061
The Prince of Liars	1062
The Man at the Window	1063
The Red League	1064
The Price of a Secret	1065
The Worst Case on Record	1066
From Peril to Peril	1067
The Seal of Silence	1068
Nick Carter's Chinese Puzzle	1069
A Blackmailer's Bluff	1070
Heard in the Dark	1071
A Checkmated Scoundrel	1072
The Cashier's Secret	1073
Behind a Mask	1074
The Cloak of Guilt	1075
Two Villains in One	1076
The Hot Air Clew	1077
Run to Earth	1078
The Certified Check	1079
Weaving the Web	1080
Beyond Pursuit	1081
The Claws of the Tiger	1082
Driven From Cover	1083
A Deal in Diamonds	1084
The Wizard of the Cue	1085
A Race for Ten Thousand	1086
The Criminal Link	1087
The Red Signal	1088
The Secret Panel	1089
A Bonded Villain	1090
A Move in the Dark	1091
Against Desperate Odds	1092
The Telltale Photographs	1093
The Ruby Pin	1094
The Queen of Diamonds	1095
A Broken Trail	1096
An Ingenious Stratagem	1097
A Sharper's Downfall	1098	66718
A Race Track Gamble	1099
Without a Clew	1100
The Council of Death	1101
The Hole in the Vault	1102
In Death's Grip	1103
A Great Conspiracy	1104
The Guilty Governor	1105
A Ring of Rascals	1106
A Masterpiece of Crime	1107
A Blow For Vengeance	1108
Tangled Threads	1109
The Crime of the Camera	1110
The Sign of the Dagger	1111
Nick Carter's Promise	1112
Marked for Death	1113
The Limited Holdup	1114
When the Trap Was Sprung	1115
Through the Cellar Wall	1116
Under the Tiger's Claws	1117	65790
The Girl in the Case	1118
Behind a Throne	1119
The Lure of Gold	1120
Hand to Hand	1121
From a Prison Cell	1122
Dr. Quartz	1123
Into Nick Carter's Web	1124
The Mystic Diagram	1125
The Hand That Won	1126
Playing a Lone Hand	1127
The Master Villain	1128
The False Claimant	1129
The Living Mask	1130
The Crime and the Motive	1131
A Mysterious Foe	1132
A Missing Man	1133
A Game Well Played	1134
A Cigarette Clew	1135	66700
The Diamond Trail	1136
The Silent Guardian	1137
The Dead Stranger	1138
The Doctor's Stratagem	1140
Following a Chance Clew	1141	66708
The Bank Draft Puzzle	1142
The Price of Treachery	1143
The Silent Partner	1144
Ahead of the Game	1145
A Trap of Tangled Wire	1146
In the Gloom of Night	1147
The Unaccountable Crook	1148
A Bundle of Clews	1149
The Great Diamond Syndicate; Or, The Hardest Crew on Record	1150	63340
The Death Circle	1151
The Toss of a Penny	1152
One Step Too Far	1153
The Terrible Thirteen	1154
A Detective's Theory	1155
Nick Carter's Auto Trail	1156
A Triple Identity	1157
A Mysterious Graft	1158
A Carnival of Crime	1159
The Bloodstone Terror	1160
Trapped in His Own Net	1161
The Last Move in the Game	1162
A Victim of Deceit	1163
With Links of Steel; Or, The Peril of the Unknown	1164	14096
A Plaything of Fate	1165
The Key Ring Clew	1166
Playing for a Fortune	1167
At Mystery's Threshold	1168
Trapped by a Woman	1169
The Four Fingered Glove	1170	66724
Nabob and Knave	1171
The Broadway Cross	1172
The Man Without a Conscience; Or, From Rogue to Convict	1173	63864
A Master of Deviltry	1174
Nick Carter's Double Catch	1175
Doctor Quartz's Quick Move	1176
The Vial of Death	1177
Nick Carter's Star Pupils	1178
Nick Carter's Girl Detective	1179
A Baffled Oath	1180
A Royal Thief	1181
Down and Out	1182
A Syndicate of Rascals	1183
Played to a Finish	1184
A Tangled Case	1185
In Letters of Fire	1186
Crossed Wires	1187
A Plot Uncovered	1188
The Cab Driver's Secret	1189
Nick Carter's Death Warrant	1190
The Plot that Failed	1191	66863
Nick Carter's Masterpiece	1192
A Prince of Rogues	1193
In the Lap of Danger	1194
The Man from London	1195
Circumstantial Evidence	1196
The Pretty Stenographer Mystery	1197
A Villainous Scheme	1198
A Plot Within a Plot	1199
The Elevated Railroad Mystery	1200
The Blow of a Hammer	1201
The Twin Mystery	1202	65783
The Bottle with the Black Label	1203
Under False Colors	1204
A Ring of Dust	1205
The Crown Diamond	1206
The Blood-red Badge	1207
The Barrel Mystery	1208
The Photographer's Evidence	1209	62010
Millions at Stake	1210
The Man and His Price	1211
A Double-Handed Game	1212
A Strike for Freedom	1213
A Disciple of Satan	1214
The Marked Hand	1215
A Fight With a Fiend	1216
When the Wicked Prosper	1217
A Plunge into Crime	1218
An Artful Schemer	1219
Reaping the Whirlwind	1220
Out of Crime's Depths	1221
A Woman at Bay; Or, A Fiend in Skirts	1222	26704
The Temple of Vice	1223
Death at the Feast	1224
A Double Plot	1225
In Search of Himself	1226
A Hunter of Men	1227
The Boulevard Mutes	1228
Captain Sparkle, Pirate; Or, A Hard Man to Catch	1229	61514
Nick Carter's Fall	1230
Out of Death's Shadow; Or, A Case Without a Precedent	1231	61135
A Voice from the Past	1232
Accident or Murder?	1233
The Man Who Was Cursed	1234
Baffled	1235
A Case Without a Clew	1236
The Demon's Eye	1237
A Blindfold Mystery	1238
	1239
	1240
	1241
	1242
	1243
	1244
	1245
	1246
	1247
	1248
	1249
	1250
	1251
	1252
	1253
	1254
	1255
	1256
	1257
	1258
	1259
	1260
	1261
	1262
	1263
	1264
	1265
	1266
	1267
	1268
	1269
	1270
	1271
	1272
	1273
	1274
	1275
	1276
	1277
	1278
	1279
	1280
	1281
	1282
	1283
	1284
	1285
	1286
A Stolen Name; Or, The Man Who Defied Nick Carter	1287	64147
A Play for Millions	1288
	1289
	1290

Films

The character has had a long and varied film history, with three countries producing films based on it.

France

Éclair

In 1908, the French film company Éclair engaged Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset to make a serial film based on the Nick Carter novels which were then being published in France by the German publisher Eichler. Nick Carter, le roi des détectives, with Pierre Bressol in the title role, was released in six episodes in late 1908, and enjoyed considerable success. Further adaptations followed with Nouvelles aventures de Nick Carter in 1909, and the character was revived for a confrontation with a master criminal in Zigomar contre Nick Carter^[13] in 1912.^[14]

1960s

American actor Eddie Constantine played the title roles in the French-made spy films Nick Carter va tout casser (1964) and Nick Carter et le trèfle rouge (1965). In one curiously circular and self-referential scene, Constantine (as Carter) enters a house where he finds a large collection of Nick Carter pulp magazines and other Nick Carter memorabilia. Both films are unconnected to the Killmaster book series.

Germany

The Hotel in Chicago (1920), The Passenger in the Straitjacket (1922), Women Who Commit Adultery (1922), and Only One Night (1922) are among the silent films made in Germany featuring Nick Carter.

United States

MGM

Walter Pidgeon portrays Nick Carter in a trilogy of films released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: Nick Carter, Master Detective (1939); Phantom Raiders (1940) and Sky Murder (1940). Though MGM owned the rights to a large number of Nick Carter stories, the films used original screenplays.^[15]

In the 1944 MGM movie The Thin Man Goes Home, detective Nick Charles (William Powell) is seen reading a Nick Carter Detective magazine while relaxing in a hammock.

Columbia

Columbia could not afford the rights to produce a Nick Carter serial, so they made one about his son instead; Chick Carter, Detective appeared in 1946.

Television

In 1972, Robert Conrad made a television pilot, The Adventures of Nick Carter, which was set in the Victorian era, It was shown as a rare made-for-TV installment of the ABC Sunday Night Movie, which normally featured theatrical releases edited for broadcast.^{[citation needed]}

Czechoslovakia

The Czechoslovakian movie Dinner for Adele (1977) is a parody inspired by Nick Carter's pulp magazine adventures. It features "America's most famous detective" visiting Prague at the beginning of the 20th century and solving a case involving a dangerous carnivorous plant (the Adele of the title). The Slovak actor Michal Dočolomanský played Nick Carter.

Radio

Nick Carter first came to radio as The Return of Nick Carter. Then Nick Carter, Master Detective, with Lon Clark in the title role, began April 11, 1943, on Mutual, continuing in many different timeslots for well over a decade. Jock MacGregor was the producer-director of scripts by Alfred Bester, Milton J. Kramer, David Kogan and others. Background music was supplied by organists Hank Sylvern, Lew White and George Wright.

Patsy Bowen, Nick's assistant, was portrayed by Helen Choate until mid-1946 and then Charlotte Manson stepped into the role. Nick and Patsy's friend was reporter Scubby Wilson (John Kane). Nick's contact at the police department was Sgt. Mathison (Ed Latimer). The supporting cast included Raymond Edward Johnson, Bill Johnstone and Bryna Raeburn. Michael Fitzmaurice was the program's announcer. The series ended on September 25, 1955.

Chick Carter, Boy Detective was a serial adventure that aired weekday afternoons on Mutual. Chick Carter, the adopted son of Nick Carter, was played by Bill Lipton (1943–44) and Leon Janney (1944–45). The series aired from July 5, 1943 to July 6, 1945.^[16]

Comic books

In 1937, the Brazilian comic artist Renato Silva published a comic strip strip starring Nick Carter published in the comic book Suplemento Juvenil.^[17]

Nick Carter and Chick Carter appeared in comics published by Street & Smith from 1940 to 1949.^[18]

Nick appeared in The Shadow Comics, then moved to Army & Navy Comics and Doc Savage Comics briefly, before moving back to The Shadow Comics. Some of these appearances were in text stories.

Chick appeared in The Shadow Comics, some of which were in text stories.

There was also Nick Carter, a 1972 Italian comic strip featuring detective Nick Carter.

See also

• List of Street & Smith publications

References

Sources

• Tuska, Jon. The Detective in Hollywood, 1978. ISBN 0-385-12093-1.

External links

• Thrilling Detective
• Nick Carter pulp magazines
• Nick Carter Fantastic Fiction – Bibliography
• Full-text issues of New Nick Carter Weekly at Northern Illinois University
• Nick Carter New Magnet Library Collection at the George Peabody Library
• Works by Nick Carter at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Listen "A Broken Bond" by Nick Carter on Youtube

Audio

• Nick Carter, Master Detective radio shows (16 episodes)
• Nick Carter, Master Detective radio shows (125 episodes)