"The Thin Man" (1934) Director W.S. Van Dyke's Original Crime-Comedy Starring William Powell and Myrna Loy

[DonRocks]

"The Thin Man," based on the novel by Dashiell Hamett (he of "The Maltese Falcon"), was originally considered a "B movie," but spawned five sequels after its unexpectedly popular audience pull - it was filmed on a budget of $225,000, but pulled in nearly $1.5 million worldwide, though it has had over eighty years to do so; regardless, it was enough to spawn a product all its own, consisting of six films. From what I've heard of (most of?) the sequels, I'm not in any hurry to see them - even then, the Hollywood industry knew a dollar was a dollar, and fine art paid secondary consideration to money - does that sound like another field we all know and love on this website?

The film starred heavy-hitters William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, respectively. Contrary to a false assumption, Nick Charles was *not* "The Thin Man, although he was apparently referred to as such in the sequels; in the first film, The Thin Man was Edward Ellis as the persnickety Clyde Wynant, the primary suspect who disappeared after the murder of his love interest, Natalie Moorhead as the murdered Julia Wolf. Maureen O'Sullivan, playing Clyde Wynant's daughter, Dorothy Wynant, is the one who talks Powell and Loy out of retirement to work on the case. Shortly before Clyde's disappearance, Dorothy told her father - with whom she had a close relationship - that she was engaged to Tommy, played by Henry Wadsworth. There's your set-up.

A wire-haired fox terrier named Asta was played by renowned canine actor, Skippy, lending comic relief and sympathy when any old human just won't quite do. Although with a young Cesar Romero playing Chris Jorgenson, the mere thought of him playing "The Joker" on Batman is comic relief enough.

Apart from character introduction, the first 20 minutes of "The Thin Man" consists of a lot of running around, and it's somewhat tedious to keep up with the characters, though modern technology makes it much easier.

It's fascinating - or at least "interesting" - that when Mimi Wynant-Jorgenson (Clyde's ex-wife) enters Julia Woff's (Clyde's ex-lover's) apartment, right before she "discovers" her, there's a bust of someone who looks a *lot* like Julius Caesar next to the door: Et tu, Bruté? Could this be foreshadowing that it was a trusted friend? (I am, of course, writing this as I'm watching the movie.) *Boy* did people know how to scream in the 1930's.

Parts of this film (and I'm thinking of the police questioning Herbert MacCaulay, Wynant's attorney) *really* demonstrate the "rapid-fire dialogue" that was so popular in the early 1940's in films such as "His Girl Friday." This type of dialogue would be impossible in real life because people simply don't think this quickly; nevertheless, it was an important device in films around this time, and it's certainly a tell-tale sign as to what era a film came from - I'm not exactly sure when it went in-and-out of style, but it lasted around a decade.

An awesome bit of dialogue:

Reporter #1 (asking about ex-detective Nick Charles): "Say, is he working on a case?"

Nora (Nick's wife): "Yes!"

Reporter #2: "What kind of case?"

Nora: "A case of scotch - pitch in and help him!"

This film was made Pre-Code, and it shows - my *God* people drank a lot in this movie! The raunchy double-entendres and sexual innuendos in this film are hi-LARious! Drawers, tabloids - you just have to see it to appreciate it.

Has anyone else here seen "The Thin Man?" Because it was one of "those" movies that I'd been hearing about my entire life, but had never seen. Now, I've seen it - and I *loved* it.

It was *hilarious*. And smart, and witty, and just an all-around *fun* movie. Watch it!

Put it on your short list - this film is now on *my* short list of "Most Enjoyable Movies I've Ever Seen!" Boy, did it start slowly though.

PS - A self-congratulatory pat on the back for noticing the bust of Caesar.

[saf]

We own the box set of all the films, and enjoy them all.

When we decorated our bar room, the guiding principle was "What would Nick and Nora do?"

(What hit me? The 5th martini.)

[DonRocks]

(What hit me? The 5th martini.)

Her parading around with that hot water bottle on her head was hysterical.

Those two put all modern humans to shame with their drinking exploits.

[JPW]

I absolutely LOVE the Thin Man movies!

[DIShGo]

On March 28, 2016 at 6:21 PM, DonRocks said:

Her parading around with that hot water bottle on her head was hysterical. 

Those two put all modern humans to shame with their drinking exploits.

I love the chemistry between Nick and Nora. Their banter is amusing. There is SO much drinking in this film. I wonder if that has something to do with the repeal of Prohibition, which happened shortly before the release of this film.

I am also a huge fan of Uggie, the terrier who played Jack in the Best Picture winner, The Artist." Asta clearly was his inspiration.

[DonRocks]

18 minutes ago, DIShGo said:

I love the chemistry between Nick and Nora. Their banter is amusing. There is SO much drinking in this film. I wonder if that has something to do with the repeal of Prohibition, which happened shortly before the release of this film.

This is actually a brilliant comment, since the 21st Amendment was passed on Dec 5, 1933, and "The Thin Man" was released on May 25, 1934 - this should be the Official Film of Bartenders everywhere.