Released 1934
American
black and white
91 minute run time
Directed by W.S. Van Dyke
Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan
(watched originally on TCM, then bought the DVD, and even read the original book)
The Plot Basically Breaks Down Like This:
There is this old guy whose kinda crotchety and he gets killed but that isn't really important and neither is the whole mystery about who and why and when he was killed because what is important here are Nick and Nora Charles and their brilliant drunken fabulous relationship. Well I guess the mystery is sort of important, as it is the plot point that draws the multitude of crazy awesome suspects together, and its the mystery that gets Nick Charles back into the detective gig. But its truly overshadowed by the relationship between the main characters. They are so wonderful together, sparkly and witty and snarky and adorable. They come to town and find out the old guy has gone missing and people start turning up dead and everyone thinks Nick is working the case but he isn't working it but no one will believe him so eventually he does start working the case and brilliant hilarity ensues and eventually the truth is revealed during one of the greatest dinner parties in cinematic history.
My Thoughts Basically Break Down Like This:
The Thin Man is one of my all-time very favorite films and has been ever since the first time I saw it on Turner Classic Movies (I went through a phase one summer where that is ALL I would watch. One of the best phases ever as I saw some truly wonderful films and gained a whole new appreciation for classic movie making. But I digress). It is so well written and so superbly acted that I can watch it again and again and again and never get bored of it. William Powell and Myrna Loy have some of the greatest couple-chemistry I've ever seen. Their dialogue flows between them like they were born into this world specifically to talk just to each other. It sparkles, sizzles, dances even. Watching them I fell a little bit (totally madly) in love with both of them, a love that endured through My Man Godfreys and Cheaper By the Dozens and other not as great films of their careers (not that either of the two listed films aren't great on their own, they were just the first examples I thought of that weren't part of the Thin Man series). Couples in romantic movies of the modern day could take some hints and lessons and seminars from Nick and Nora Charles (and still probably wouldn't be anywhere near as awesome).
PS. Because I loved the film so very very much, and because at heart I am first and foremost a mad lover of books, I bought and read the novel by Dashiell Hammett that the movie is based on. Dashiell Hammett wrote The Maltese Falcon (also a brilliant film) and even though I'm not as fond of mysteries as other genres, I adore his books. I've read several of them and they are just as witty and fun as the films based on them.
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