The Thin Man (1934)

Director:

W.S. Van Dyke

Writers:

Albert Hackett (screenplay) and
Frances Goodrich (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

June 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery

Tagline:

A laugh tops every thrilling moment!

Plot:

Comedy-mystery featuring Nick and Nora Charles: a former detective and his rich, playful wife. They solve a murder case mostly for the fun of it.

Plot Keywords:

Lieutenant | Missing Person | Innuendo | Dinner Party | Wit

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 1 win

US TV Schedule:

Tue. July 29

2:15 PM

TCM

Cast

William Powell	...	Nick
Myrna Loy	...	Nora
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Dorothy
Nat Pendleton	...	Guild
Minna Gombell	...	Mimi
Porter Hall	...	MacCaulay
Henry Wadsworth	...	Tommy
William Henry	...	Gilbert
Harold Huber	...	Nunheim
Cesar Romero	...	Chris
Natalie Moorhead	...	Julia Wolf
Edward Brophy	...	Morelli
Edward Ellis	...	Wynant
Cyril Thornton	...	Tanner

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | Netherlands:AL (DVD rating) | Canada:PG (video rating) | South Korea:12 (2003) | Argentina:13 | Finland:(Banned) (1934-1938) | Finland:K-16 (1938) | USA:Approved | Germany:6 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:U

Company:

Cosmopolitan Productions

Trivia:

While the "Thin Man" in the movie refers to character Clyde Wynant, in the opening credits of the film the cover of the novel "The Thin Man" is shown. On the dust jacket of the book we see a thin man who's not just a model for the photo but who is also author Dashiell Hammett.

Goofs:

Continuity: Nick walks into a bedroom with an ice bucket full of ice. Minutes later, he walks out of the bedroom but the ice has melted.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Tanner: Your daughter's here, Mr. Wynant. Mr. Wynant! Mr. Wynant!
Clyde Wynant, the thin man: Haven't you got any more sense than to shout at me like that?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Indiana Jones: Making the Trilogy (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Our Big Love Scene

One of the funniest films ever made...

I am not really a fan of comedies, but I can definitely appreciate a good one when it comes along. Often times comedies only really work when they are combined with another genre (in the case of this film, the 'hard-boiled detective' film)... and sometimes they achieve brilliance.

In what might have otherwise been a sort of mediocre movie, Bill Powell and Myrna Loy breath a phenomenal life into the roles of Nick and Nora Charles, a rich woman and her dandyish (but dangerous) lush of a detective husband. This film entertains on so many levels and establishes (not exploits) so many cliches that it should be mandatory viewing in any introductory film class.

The plot of The Thin Man is pretty much peripheral to the performances by Low and Powell, but it is involving in its own way. Murder, loose women, police brutality (fun police brutality), adultery, polygamy, science, swindles, two dinner parties and drinking... lots and lots of drinking... all combine into one hell of fun movie. There is even a fair amount of tension in the film and all kinds of great one-liners and set-ups.

This is quite simply a phenomenal film, lots of fun (even for Gen Xers like myself), and well worth watching.