private detective   screwball   based on novel   christmas   family relationships   missing person   marriage   criminal   brother sister relationship   face slap   father son relationship   corpse   new york city   urban setting   character appears in newspaper   manhattan new york city   father daughter relationship   private eye   alcohol   1930s   detective   taxi   ex husband ex wife relationship   beautiful woman   lawyer   divorce   dinner party   dinner   mysterious man   amateur detective   cocktail party   boyfriend girlfriend relationship   dead body   honeymoon   dead woman   christmas tree   macguffin   lieutenant   wanted poster   high society   inventor   innuendo   sophisticated comedy   mistress   whodunit   finding a dead body   cocktail   christmas eve   long distance call   domestic dispute   bigamy   oedipus complex   pouring alcohol down someone's throat   firearm   hotel suite   mother's boyfriend   booze   chorus line   booze drinking   couple sleep in separate beds   fox terrier   grant's tomb manhattan new york city   hidden safe   husband and wife sleuths   married detective   mutt   nick and nora charles   pet owner relationship   sparse music score   wiseguy dialogue   sophistication   title same as book   pet dog   wit   dog   murder   mistaken identity   martini   irreverence   mother son relationship   nipples visible through clothing   husband wife relationship   title spoken by character   newspaper headline   gun   drunkenness   party   mother daughter relationship   police   sex   wisecrack humor   wedding   police detective