Film: The Thin Man

Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Genre: Comedy Mystery
Source: USA (1934)
Rating: NR
Location/Format: DVD
Grade: B

Several months ago one of my coworkers, unprompted and without much explanation, gave me a stack of The Thin Man movies to watch--all of them, in fact. The DVDs sat next to my TV for literally months, until recently I started to feel like I needed to watch them just so I could get them back to her! I sat down to watch the first of the series with a little bit of trepidation, and prepared to get my iPad out at the first sign of boredom.

Well, I won't say I never felt boredom, but I held off on distracting myself, and I'm really glad I did. While I wouldn't give this film to a friend as an entry point into classic film, those familiar with (and fans of) the early days of cinema could do much worse than to spend a couple hours with the movie. Not only did it teach me that the dog from The Artist was actually an homage to Nick and Nora's dog Asta, but also it reminded me how fun screwball comedies can be.

There is a mystery at the heart of this film: what happened to Clyde Wynant, and did he murder several people? But the mystery really doesn't matter much, at least not once Nick and Nora show up. William Powell and Myrna Loy have undeniable chemistry as the oddly matched married couple, and their banter and repartee is often laugh-out-loud funny. As they guzzle drinks and tease each other, you can't help but want to join in on the fun of their conversations and their marriage. It's that frothy pleasure I look forward to seeing more of, and I have no doubt that we will watch at least a few more in the series (there are six or seven total, with increasingly idiotic names, but if Powell an Loy are involved, I'll come back again).

I will say that it surprised me a bit that this came from a Dashiell Hammett novel, if only because I had it in my mind that Hammett's works were all hard-boiled detective novels, and while there is certainly detecting occurring, as I said, the tone of the investigation is hardly dark, gritty, or even particularly serious. I suppose authors can go in different directions, however, and adaptations in more directions than that! It does intrigue me enough to want to go back to the original novel. Maybe someday. For now, a few more hours in the alcohol and witticism drenched world of the films will be plenty.

Alternate Film Title: "Money, Liquor, Dogs"