The Thin Man
(Turner Entertainment Co /Warner Brothers)
(1934)
review by Thera Belle

It was filmed in just 12 days in 1934 and included a cast of actors who’d already made names for themselves in other films and on the stage. For the stars it wasn’t supposed to be a big deal but for William Powell and Myrna Low it defined their careers for the rest of their lives. I wonder, though, if they considered themselves lucky or cursed. It was adapted from a work by Dashiell Hammett, a novel he knocked off in just three weeks. In the end it would stand as a benchmark for thirties comedies, dramas, and murder mysteries. Though nominated for 4 Academy Awards, including best picture, it didn’t win, but name the picture that did win that year. Every two years or so after that until 1947 a sequel was filmed but this one was the best of the series and it was called The Thin Man.

I couldn’t tell you when I first encountered Nick and Nora Charles but I was fascinated. Truly I love movies of the thirties, the infancy of talking pictures. In those years script writers had to adapt quickly from producing mostly stage direction to doing dialogue, and boy they weren’t afraid to play around with words. Watching the two leads banter back and forth with each other and the rest of the cast can give you whiplash cause they were moving fast and if you don’t pay attention you’re going to miss goldmines of exchanges. It was so good that the screen writers, Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett were nominated for one of those Oscars.

Nick Charles, played by William Powell, is a retired police detective. Later in the series we will find that his father is a small town doctor and Nick was supposed to follow in his footsteps but disappointed the old man and became a flatfoot in New York City instead. I’m sure it was much more exciting than delivering babies. Besides, his dad shouldn’t be too disappointed. William Powell was nominated for an Academy Award playing Nick Charles.

Nick likes to drink. When we first encounter him he’s in one of those glittering bars in New York City teaching the bartenders how to properly mix a martini. Since he’s already had six he should know! This is where the mystery begins.

Maureen O’Sullivan is our damsel in distress. You might remember her from Tarzan in 1932. She played a scantly clad Jane. Good reason she’s in this film. The director of the picture, W. S. Van Dyke directed Tarzan as well (and he was nominated for an Academy Award for directing The Thin Man, which isn’t bad considering he was known as “One Take Woody”). Seems the young lady has a missing father and wants to find him before she marries her sweetheart. Her father is the tall thin man of the title but don’t worry about him. The mystery isn’t the star of this film. Nick and Nora are the stars.

Myrna Loy made a career of playing smart, witty women. I think the best thing she’s ever done is a wonderful picture called The Best Years Of Our Lives. If you ever get a chance to see that one watch. It’s brilliant. But then so is The Thin Man.

I don’t know what the novel Dashiell Hammett wrote is like. I don’t know how the characters are different from the ones who turned up on screen or if he was proud of them but I would be, even if they weren’t my vision, even if Hollywood got it wrong. There’s so much that’s right I can’t imagine he was too upset.

If you’ve seen the film a dozen times you might get all the dialogue and the mystery won’t be a mystery to you anymore so you’ll have time to look at the sets and costumes. No doubt it was filmed on a Hollywood back lot made to look like New York and if you ask me not a lot was spent on the sets. Later in the series that would improve. The real eye candy are the costumes, especially the ones Myrna Loy wears. Imagine wearing a mink trimmed negligee to bed and if you’re going to get shot do it in Nick’s pajamas because they’re just delightful.

Like I said, Nick likes to drink. If he isn’t holding a glass he’s holding a bottle. He’s so snockered on Christmas morning he’s shooting at balloons pinned to the tree with an air rifle. When he shoots the window out he gets scolded with an “I hope your happy now,” from Mrs. Charles. But Nora tries gamely to keep up with him. The first time we see her she’s having a waiter line up six martinis in a row so she can catch up with her husband.

In 1934 censorship was just beginning to keep pace with the supposed morals of the rest of the country. Nick and Nora could have sex banter that was thinly veiled and they could drink like fish but they had twin beds. But don’t worry. The ending scene when Nick throws Asta on the top bunk of their cabin on the train is full of innuendo and you just know that Nick, Jr. was conceived on that train as it steamed through the night across the Midwest.

Asta? Asta was the dog. A wire haired terrier. He was a very big part of the series, appearing in every single movie. A coward, Asta would hide whenever danger showed up but he was always good for a laugh. Without Asta’s detective work the mystery of what happens to the Thin Man would never have been solved. Asta set the standard for dog actors and probably did more for the hyperactive breed than the Westminster Kennel Club. And when it came to drinking he could more than keep up with Nick! Without Asta the Charles’ would have been just another murder solving rich couple living off her millions during the heart of the depression. He elevated them to greatness. But he didn’t get nominated for even one Academy Award, that I know of.

The film comes with few extras. You get a list of cast and crew and their credits. You’ll get the theatrical trailers for all six movies. For fun you can watch the entire thing in English, Spanish, French, or Portuguese. I picked English, for obvious reasons.

It’s not a very good transfer and should be restored, if it hasn’t already. If you’re reading this Mr. Ted Turner you should work on this film. Sometimes the sound isn’t very good either but does it really matter. The chemistry between the leads and their dialogue comes through loud and clear. Take it from me, you won’t find a better representation of the thirties way of making movies than The Thin Man, unless it’s My Man Godfrey, also starring William Powell.

For a list of the winners of the Oscars from 1934 go to www.oscar.org and find out because the site is so slow I couldn’t be bothered. I’d rather read the latest review or entries on the forum of Horrorview, if you don’t mind.

I’m sure some of you will love this film and some of you won’t. That’s the way of life. I just wish film makers could figure out a way to do it this way today and still bring in the audiences. Maybe they can and just aren’t clever enough to try.