The Thin Man (1934)

The Thin Man is directed by W. S. Van Dyke and co-written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich. It is based on the Dashiell Hammett novel of the same name. Starring are William Powell and Myrna Loy, with support coming from Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton, Minna Gombell, Porter Hall and Skippy as Astra the dog. William Axt scores the music and James Wong Howe is the cinematographer.

Plot finds Powell and Loy as married couple, Nick and Nora Charles, he is a retired detective, she a good time heiress. Planning to finally settle down, their life is upturned when Nick is called back into detective work due to a friend's disappearance and the possibility he was also involved in a murder. Murder, malarkey and mirth are about to become the order of the day.

It was the big surprise hit of 1934. Afforded only a tiny budget because studio head honcho Louis B. Mayer thought it was dud material, and he ordered for it to be completed in under three weeks time! Film made stars out of Powell and Loy and coined an impressive $2 million at the box office. Also birthing a franchise (5 film sequels and a radio and television series would follow), it's a film that has irresistible charm leaping out from every frame. It's easy to see even now why a mid 1930's audience could take so warmly to such an appealing motion picture.

From the off the film was in good hands, Dyke (One-Take Woody as he was sometimes known) was an unfussy director with a keen eye for pacing and casting, both of which are things that shine through in this production. There's also considerable talent in the writing, both in the source material and with the script writers. Hammett based his witty bantering couple on himself and his relationship with playwright Lillian Hellman, this was ideal material for Hackett and Goodrich, themselves a happily married couple fondly thought of in the cut and thrust world of Hollywood. As a couple they would go on to write It's a Wonderful Life for Frank Capra and win the Pulitzer Prize for their play The Diary of Anne Frank.

It stands out as a film of note because it successfully marries a murder mystery story with a screwball comedy spin, this was something new and exciting. While the believable relationship between Powell and Loy was also a breath of fresh air - a married couple deeply in love, devoted, funny, boozey and bouncing off of each other with witty repartee. It can never be overstated just how good Powell and Loy are here, true enough they are given an absolutely zinging script to work from, but the level of comedy, both in visual ticks and delivery of lines, is extraordinarily high.

Small budget and a small shoot, but everything else about The Thin Man is big. Big laughs, big mystery and big love, all bundled up into a joyous bit of classic cinema. 9/10

Fmovies: Come celebrate the end of prohibition with William Powell and Myrna Loy as the high society and wise-cracking Nick and Nora Charles. Not only do they put away a large quantity of alcohol, but they solve a bizarre and fascinating murder case in the process despite Nick's best efforts not to get involved. He finally succumbs by taking the case to not only outside pressure, but instinctive curiosity and boredom that goes with being part of the idle class. Not only is he a super sleuth turned gentleman, but he is quite the aficionado on mixing drinks. We are first introduced to Nick as he instructs bartenders on the proper technique on mixing drinks ("In mixing the important thing is the rhythm. You should always have rhythm in your shaking. A manhattan you shake to a foxtrot, a dry martini you shake to a waltz", etc.) Also added into the fray, is their terrier, Asta, who helps Nick solve the mystery. Despite being made nearly 70 years ago, Powell and Loy's performances and chemistry together remain as strong today as they were then. This detective has clearly married into a family with a significant fortune, but Nick and Nora's love for each other is genuine and often reflected in sarcastic teasing of each other. When Nora walks in on him consoling a beautiful young woman by embracing her, he just wrinkles his nose at her and she returns the gesture which indicates the level of trust that exists among this couple. While Nick is often observant of an attractive woman, Nora doesn't keep him on a tight leash because their instinctive trust with one another. The film is packed with humor centering around the Charles' vices, mainly drinking and the subsequent hangovers and the complacency of not being required to work for a living. How many detectives are such smooth talkers that they befriend the criminals they helped convict once they've served their time and party with them on Christmas Eve? So if you enjoy a bit of sarcastic humor in your murder mysteries, chances are you'll love this film. A few side notes: Watch for Cesar Romero in this film. He later played The Joker in the Batman series in the 1960's. In later Thin Man movies, you can see a young Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Dean Stockwell, and Penny Singleton. Also, I noticed that it was Christmas Eve in this movie 2 days in a row. First, in the bar where we first see Nick, Maureen O'Sullivan says to her boyfriend that it's Christmas Eve and the next morning when Nora wakes up with a hangover they say it's Christmas Eve then. My only other criticism was the scene where Nick diverts the attention of a man holding him at gunpoint in the bedroom by tossing a pillow at him. I wish they had come up with something a little more believable. Other than those 2 minor points, an outstanding movie. I don't think Hollywood could make something as original and entertaining today if their lives depended on it. On a scale of 10 martinis, 9/10.

There's a story, perhaps apocryphal, that when Ian Fleming was first introduced to the actor who would bring his 007 to life in "Dr. No," his immediate reaction was a loud and emphatic, "Oh, NO! Anybody but HIM!" Luckily, of course, no one paid him any attention, and a largely unknown actor and former bodybuilder named Sean Connery was off and running toward stardom. Likely enough, had anyone thought to run the idea of William Powell as Nick Charles past Dashiell Hammett -- always assuming, somewhat blithely, that the author would have been sober at the moment -- his reaction would have been identical to Fleming's years later. Powell, insouciantly dapper and suave, almost as slender as the silly mustache he affected, was virtually the complete antithesis of Hammett's concept of Charles, the hard-drinking, two-fisted former New York detective who married an heiress much younger than he and yet somehow managed to remain uncorrupted by his good fortune. Yet Powell -- as would Humphrey Bogart several years later, when similarly physically miscast as Sam Spade in the third film version of "The Maltese Falcon" -- went on to make the character of Nick Charles so totally his own that even today, six films and almost sixty years later, it is well-nigh impossible to envision anyone else in the role. Powell was always at his best when playing opposite a strong leading lady -- i.e., Rosalind Russell, Carole Lombard, Irene Dunne -- yet he was never better than when paired with Myrna Loy as Nora in the six "Thin Man" films. Every bit his equal at the backchat and martini-tossing, Loy proved the perfect collaborator in making the Charleses lovely people to visit (but you wouldn't want their livers) time and time and time again. Particularly in this, the adaptation of Hammett's novel, which created the audience demand for the ensuing series. And which also shows that, even if you do consult the writer, it's not necessarily wise to give him/her final approval over casting.

The Thin Man fmovies. Never mind trying to follow plot, instead follow the banter between Nick and Nora Charles, as portrayed by William Powell and Myrna Loy in this delightful comic mystery. Between the banter and the sexual innuendoes, the constant guzzling and shennanigans, this sophisticated couple actually do manage to solve a murder or three.

This seventy year old film still holds up well today and the reason is that the screenwriters knew how to write dialogue and character and were not dependent on action sequences to fill in the blanks like so many of today's screenwriters and directors, who are too busy chasing the big dollar to make a movie that is going to stand up over time. How many of today's action movies will we be watching seventy years from now?

Admittedly, there is some clumsy acting by some of the minor characters, at least viewed from today's point of view, but don't let that, like the plot, get in your way or you will miss out on what this charming film has to offer. And say, who was that Thin Man, anyway?

Though five sequel films were made from this very popular original there are still to this day people who will answer the question who is the Thin Man with William Powell.

The answer of course is Edward Ellis, an inventor whose disappearance gets a recently retired detective named Nick Charles to solving a case where three murders are committed almost in spite of himself. Ellis is a tall and very skinny man, hence the title.

One thing I always liked about The Thin Man. The formula never varied, MGM didn't believe in tampering with success. It was always that Nick and Nora Charles get dragged almost kicking and screaming into some homicide. Nick is always four jumps ahead of the police be it Nat Pendleton or Sam Levene. Two or three other murders are committed before the solution is arrived at. And always the gathering of the suspects at the end when Nick lays it all out for them, the cops and we the audience. And of course Nora whose help except for moral support is somewhat dubious.

One thing that was cut down on was Nick's alcoholic consumption. The Thin Man just beat it under the wire with The Code and as the Charles had a baby in later stories, it wouldn't do to have one of the father role models in America be a complete drunk all the time.

I always liked the fact that in all The Thin Man stories the murderer is never obvious. A twist in the plot could have made any one of the suspects the guilty party.

The Thin Man was nominated for Best Picture and Oscar nominations were given out to William Powell, director Woody Van Dyke, and screenwriters Goodrich and Hackett for adapting Dashiell Hammett's original story. Unfortunately The Thin Man ran up against It Happened One Night and got skunked out of all the top prizes.

But amazingly enough Myrna Loy was not nominated for Best Actress. In fact the woman NEVER got an Oscar nomination. If there was every a case where the chemistry between the leads made a film, The Thin Man was it. How you could nominate Powell and not Loy is beyond me.

But that's Hollywood for you. The Thin Man is a fresh today as it was over 70 years ago.

William Powell and Myrna Loy share a wonderful chemistry in this very close adaptation of the Dashiell Hammet novel. The interplay between Powell & Loy comes off very natural, as if they WERE married.

Nick is a lovable lush with a sharp mind and Nora is rich beyond imagination, with a freshness and innocence not found in today's movie characters. The film has plenty of site gags with some occasional drama interspersed.

All of the characters are made believable by the actors and the direction is superb. The plot revolves around the disappearance of Prof. Wynant and everyone seems to be involved in helping him stay missing. Nick reluctantly takes the case and the fun really gets going. Plenty of misdirection keeps you guessing "whodunnit". The now classic gathering of all suspects lets you know. A really odd family, some "shady" characters, and William Powell/Myrna Loy's acting make this one great! This is the first in The Thin Man series, and, in my opinion, the best.

Rated 10 in my book. A must see for fans of comedy and classics.

Where are these kinds of movies nowdays?