History Main / SmokyGentlemensClub

* ''Series/GoodOmens2019'': In the 1880s Aziraphale was a member of a "discreet gentleman's club" where he learned to dance the gavotte (making him the ''only'' angel that can dance).

* In the 1996 mini-series ''Rhodes'', Barney Barnato smugly refuses a name-your-price under-the-table offer from Cecil Rhodes to buy his rival diamond interests. However he's more amenable when Rhodes's gets him membership of the Kimberley Club, which as a Jew of lower-class background he'd never have a chance of getting into.

** Watson, as middle-class professional is also a member of an (unnamed) club, where he hangs out and plays billiards when he wants to escape from Holmes' malodorous chain smoking and chemical experiments for a few hours.

* As in the books (see above), Mycroft Holmes is a member of the Diogenes Club in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''; in this continuity it seems to be one for government employees. When Watson storms in loudly demanding to see him, he encounters a lot of angry, stuttering old duffers in chairs before being bagged and dragged into a back room. Apparently there's a strict code of silence in the main club to avoid members revealing any vital state secrets.

* In ''It All Started with Columbus'', poor visibility in the smoke-filled room where the Republicans held their presidential convention in 1920 led them to nominate UsefulNotes/WarrenHarding because they mistook him for UsefulNotes/HerbertHoover.

* UsefulNotes/TheStudentenverbindung is a distant German-centric student society cousin of social club.

[[folder:Comicbooks]]

* Franchise/{{Batman}} villain 'Boss' Rupert Thorne did most of his dirty dealings out of one of these called The Tobacconists Club.
* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' has Butler's: an upper class club where superheroes can relax in their secret identities (and formal wear) while the staff wear masks. Discretion is absolutely guaranteed.
* "The Club of Deep Thinkers" is a Disney comic strip based on ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'', with the eponymous club being where the wisest and cleverest of London's mice sit in deep (and mostly abstract and detached from reality) thought. Naturally, Basil's previously unmentioned brother Clifford is a member.

* ''Film/ThankYouForSmoking'' [[CorruptCorporateExecutive - the MOD Squad's lunches.]]
* In Creator/FritzLang's ''Film/{{M}}'', one of these groups is seen discussing the child murderer on the loose, right before a group of lower class people do the same. It's meant to show how widespread the topic is, as well as show that the two extremes are not so different from one another (a major theme of the work).
* Heroic example - ''Film/GoodNightAndGoodLuck''.
* There's one in the Plaza in the ''Eloise At Christmastime'' MadeForTVMovie.

* ''Film/TradingPlaces'': Louis, all his friends and coworkers, and the Duke brothers are all members of the same one. The Dukes get Louis kicked out by framing him for stealing cash from the coat closet.
* The Peabody Club in ''Film/TheAssociate''.

* Jerry waits for Horace in one at the start of ''Film/TopHat''. Their silence rule and their attitude annoy him, so he does a short but loud tap dance for them as he leaves.

* The Creator/ErrolFlynn picture ''Film/GentlemanJim'' features San Francisco's Olympic Club.
* ''Film/TrainingDay'': Alonzo meets with three powerful members of local law enforcement, whom he deems the Three Wise Men, in some sort of smoky establishment implied to be one of these.

* In the Creator/StephenKing novella ''[[Literature/DifferentSeasons The Breathing Method]]'', the narrator attends a gentlemen's club which features storytelling as well as the usual socializing, brandy-drinking and the like. There's something eerie about the club, but we never find out exactly what it is.

* Creator/HermanMelville's short story "The Paradise of Bachelors" is about one of these. It had once been a knightly military order, but has since atrophied into a bunch of rich old men who eat very well, and are all very happy not to have any women in their lives. The story's companion piece, "The Tartarus of Maids", is about a workhouse full of unmarried women and widows, many of whom come from wealthy families. The two stories point out the gender discrepancies of Melville's day, and the unfairness of women being unable to support themselves.

* The Drones Club in Creator/PGWodehouse is another heroic version (insofar as {{Upper Class Twit}}s can be considered heroic); membership includes [[Literature/JeevesAndWooster Bertie Wooster]], [[Literature/{{Psmith}} Rupert Psmith]], [[Literature/BlandingsCastle Freddie Threepwood]], and most of their friends. [[TheJeeves Jeeves]] meanwhile mingles with his fellow valets at the Junior Ganymede.

* As per tradition, the haunt of Sir Humphrey and his fellow senior civil servants in ''Series/YesMinister'', discussing what ''really'' needs to be done for Britain, in spite of elected politicians' ambitions, and how to best run around their political masters.

* The "Humphrey and Godfrey" sketches in ''Series/TheTwoRonnies''.

* The Season Four opening arc of ''Series/{{Bones}}'', "Yanks in the U.K.", included a visit to a Gentlemen's Club. The [[SeparatedByACommonLanguage American implications]] of the term are [[PlayingWithATrope discussed]].
* One episode of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' sees Frasier and Niles competing for a recent membership opening in one of these. The club accepts Frasier but on his first night there he realises there's been a mix-up and they actually wanted Niles. He attempts to step aside only for Niles to arrive and deliver a speech about how he doesn't want to be in the club anyway. As a result, ''both'' brothers are kicked out and told not to return.
* As in the books (see above), Mycroft Holmes is a member of the Diogenes Club in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''; in this continuity it seems to be one for government employees. When Watson storms in loudly demanding to see him, he encounters a lot of angry, stuttering old duffers in chairs before being bagged and dragged into a back room. Apparently there's a strict code of silence in the main club to avoid members revealing any vital state secrets.

* Lucien Blake belongs to one of these--The Colonists Club--in ''Series/TheDoctorBlakeMysteries'', because his father had been a member. He keeps doing things to deliberately upset the stuffiness of the other members.
* The government members were often shown plotting backroom deals in one of these clubs in ''Series/HouseRules''.
* ''Series/{{Billions}}'': Charles Rhoades Senior belongs to one, establishing him as a BlueBlood in contrast to the NouveauRiche Axelrod.

* ''Theatre/{{Fiorello}}'' has the Ben Marino Association, a smoke-filled joint in Greenwich Village where Tammany Hall hacks meet and play five-card stud as they try to determine the winner and the loser of the next municipal election.

Expect to see a lot of [[SharpDressedMan besuited]], [[HighClassGlass bemonocled]] old white [[AlwaysMale men]], [[SlouchOfVillainy reclining]] with [[DrinkBasedCharacterization snifters of brandy]] in [[CoolChair red studded-leather armchairs]], [[GoodSmokingEvilSmoking smoking]] [[CigarChomper cigars]] or [[DistinguishedGentlemansPipe pipes]].

Clubs like this generally seem to be named according to similar rules to a MadLibThrillerTitle; "The [esoteric noun or name] Club".

** Holmes' brother [[BrilliantButLazy Mycroft]] belongs to the Diogenes Club -- a club for antisocial gentlemen, which treasures silence so much that talking in any room save the Stranger's Room is an offense punishable by expulsion. Sherlock is also apparently a member, as he remarks to Watson he finds it a "soothing atmosphere".
** In "The Bruce-Partington Plans" Mycroft is revealed to have a vital position in the British government, and as an extension of this many adaptations and pastiches enjoy portraying the Diogenes Club as a front for some kind of secret governmental or the prototype of the UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService.

* As per tradition, the haunt of Sir Humphrey and co in ''Series/YesMinister''.

* Senior civil servants are often seen doing business in clubs like this in ''Series/YesMinister''. They discuss what really needs to be done for Britain, in spite of politicians' ambitions, and how to best run around their political masters.

* One episode of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' sees Frasier and Niles competing for a recent membership opening in one of these.

Malicious versions of these clubs tend to feature [[AristocratsAreEvil evil aristocrats]], [[TheDon mafia bigwigs]] or [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corrupt corporate executives]], all [[ManBehindTheMan pulling the strings of society]] for their own benefit.

Malicious versions of these clubs tend to feature [[AristocratsAreEvil evil aristocrats]] or [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corrupt corporate executives]], all [[ManBehindTheMan pulling the strings of society]] for their own benefit.

* "The Club of Deep Thinkers" is a Disney comic strip based on ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective'', with the eponymous club being where the wisest and cleverest of London's mice sit in deep (and mostly abstract and detached from reality) thought. Naturally, Basil's previously unmentioned brother Clifford is a member.

** The unnamed get-togethers where brandy-swilling men plot the replacement of the Patrician in ''Discworld/FeetOfClay'' and ''Discworld/TheTruth'' fit the sinister version of the trope.
** Fidgett's in ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'' is a refuge for gentlemen who have spent their lives being ordered around by mothers, nurses, governesses and wives, where they can sit back, eat unhealthy food, and take naps under tented newspapers. [[TheGrimReaper Death]] is a member, since he fulfills all the qualifications of a gentleman: he has an estate in the country (indeed, his own Domain), is unfailingly polite and ''very'' punctual, and of course is an excellent horseman. Susan is able to gain admittance to find him because, since women are only allowed inside Fidgett's during a small, specified timeframe, its members assume [[WeirdnessCensor any woman they see outside that timeframe must be a hallucination.]]

* Parodied in ''Film/LuckyLukeAndTheDaltons''. The meeting room in a railroad carriage where Lucky Luke meets the politicians who hire him is covered in a large, trick, barely transparent cloud of tobacco smoke, descending to as low as waist level.

Expect to see a lot of [[SharpDressedMan besuited]], [[HighClassGlass bemonocled]] old white [[AlwaysMale men]], [[SlouchOfVillainy reclining]] with [[DrinkOrder snifters of brandy]] in [[CoolChair red studded-leather armchairs]], [[GoodSmokingEvilSmoking smoking]] [[CigarChomper cigars]] or [[DistinguishedGentlemansPipe pipes]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamByGaslight'', Bruce and Harvey belong to one called The Dionysus Club, which apparently counts most of Gotham's young, ruling class males as members. Bruce smuggles Selina in in a none-to-convincing male disguise.

* Literature/SherlockHolmes:
** Holmes' brother [[BrilliantButLazy Mycroft]] belongs to the Diogenes Club -- a club for antisocial gentlemen, which treasures silence so much that talking in any room save the Stranger's Room is an offense punishable by expulsion. Sherlock is also apparently a member, as he remarks to Watson he finds it a "soothing atmosphere".
** In "The Bruce-Partington Plans" Mycroft is revealed to have a vital position in the British government, and as an extension of this many adaptations and pastiches enjoy portraying the Diogenes Club as a front for some kind of secret governmental or the prototype of the UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService.
** Watson, as middle-class professional is also a member of an (unnamed) club, where he hangs out and plays billiards when he wants to escape from Holmes' malodorous chain smoking and chemical experiments for a few hours.
** ''Literature/TheHoundOfTheDurbervilles'' invented the Xeniades Club as an EvilCounterpart of the Diogenes above (it was founded by Professor Moriarty's older brother). In a direct contrast, it's noted to be for social types who aren't wanted anywhere else, and it encourages lively debate so it's the noisiest club in London. Like Diogenes, there are also hints that it's a cover for something more: [[spoiler:specifically, the creation of weapons of mass destruction for the British government]].

* Fidgett's in ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime''. [[TheGrimReaper Death]] is a member. He fulfills all the qualifications of a gentleman: he has an estate in the country (indeed, his own Domain), is unfailingly polite and ''very'' punctual, and of course is an excellent horseman. Susan gets in to find him because the men inside become convinced that [[WeirdnessCensor women can't exist within the walls of the club, except on special occasions]], therefore she can't possibly be in there.
** The unnamed get-togethers where brandy-swilling men plot the replacement of the Patrician in ''Discworld/FeetOfClay'' and ''Discworld/TheTruth'' are more like the sinister version of the trope.

* Reginald and Murgatroyd of ''Literature/SiliconWolfpack'' are members as well. The author must think it's a [[PublicDomainCharacter Public Domain Location]].
* Literature/LordPeterWimsey is also a member of more than one Smoky Gentlemen's Club; the novel ''The Unpleasantness At The Bellona Club'' mostly takes place within one of them.
* The Exeter Club/White Lodge in the ''Literature/ElementalMasters'' series passes itself off as one of these (going so far as to pension off male servants to sit in the padded leather chairs and read the newspaper/nap) as a cover.

* Creator/HermanMelville's short story "The Paradise of Bachelors" is about one of these. It had once been a knightly military order, but has since atrophied into a bunch of rich old men who eat very well, and are all very happy not to have any women in their lives. The story's companion piece, "The Tartarus of Maids", is about a workhouse full of unmarried women and widows, many of whom come from wealthy families. The two stories point out the gender discrepancies of Melville's day, and the unfairness of women being unable to support themselves.
* Lampshaded in ''Literature/{{Deathlands}}'', where apparently these still exist AfterTheEnd.
-->He still had his secrets, though there were many who plotted and schemed in smoke-filled rooms to wrest them from him, many who saw him as the ultimate block to their own acquisition of power.
* In ''Literature/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays'', the Reform Club, where Phileas Fogg goes to read papers and play whist, is quintessential to the novel's [[TheBet key bet]], as it arose from the card table discussion of a newspaper article Fogg had read recently.
* In ''It All Started with Columbus'', poor visibility in the smoke-filled room where the Republicans held their presidential convention in 1920 led them to nominate UsefulNotes/WarrenHarding because they mistook him for UsefulNotes/HerbertHoover.

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[[caption-width-right:300:Nobody said ''[[RidiculouslyHumanRobots human]]'' gentlemen.]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' are made of this trope.
[[/folder]]