The Thin Man: Movie & DVD Review

8/29/2007 Posted by Admin

Beaufifully shallow, sophisticated and smart

W.S. Van Dyke’s “The Thin Man” was an enormous hit upon its 1934 release. It caused a sensation, earning four Academy Award nominations--including Best Picture and Best Actor--and spawning a series of five additional “Thin Man” films, the last of which appeared in 1947.

Not bad for a movie shot in just 12 days.

Based on Dashiell Hammett’s novel, the film is beautifully shallow, sophisticated, and smart; there’s no keeping it down. It’s pure slapstick noir, a breezy social comedy whose likable characters are consistently half in the bag, which is much of the fun.

As written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, the film is a post-prohibition potboiler that slyly thumbs its nose at the end of a ridiculously restrictive era, with the robust, non-stop drinking of its main characters fueling an atmosphere that’s at once giddy and infectious.

The movie follows Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy), two high-flying millionaires who love their martinis almost as much as they love solving crime. With their dog, Asta, at their side, these two are a gas, so loaded with booze, bitchy bon mots, swanky digs and couture, you’d think the movie was shot in the 1920s rather than the Depression. But of course that’s the point.

With the exception of a few hangovers--and the occasional dead body turning up for good measure--there isn’t a trace of hardship here, just grand living punctuated with rounds of clever repartee. Is there anything better? Not here. This is an escape movie of the first order, with Van Dyke and company boldly taking the world with them.

The plot is almost secondary to the chemistry blistering between Powell and Loy--theirs was one of the great screen romances. Still, a primer is helpful. In the film, Nick and Nora find themselves involved in the disappearance of the wealthy inventor Clyde Wynant (Edward Ellis), who may or may not be responsible for several grisly murders.

What begins as a way to pass the time for couple-- they’re spectacularly bored and only enter into this whodunit because Wynant’s daughter, Dorothy (Maureen O’Sullivan), is a friend of Nick’s--quickly becomes all-engrossing as they set out to learn the truth. Several shady characters add dice to the mix, but then so do the conniving high society types. It’s the final clash between those two groups at a dinner party thrown by the Charleses that gives “The Thin Man” one of cinema’s best climactic moments.

Grade: A