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The Thin Man Goes Home (1944)

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27 comments in total

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12 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
So good I popped my vest buttons!, 29 April 2004

Author: AbeStreet (AbeStreet@aol.com) from East Cleveland, OH, U.S.A.

This is the fourth sequel to the 1934 smash hit THE THIN MAN. Just when I would have thought the series was dead the producers and writers were able to add life to the franchise.

Nick goes home and of course gets dragged into another murder mystery. Nora, who by now should no longer be curious to see Nick solve a mystery, tries to get Nick to solve a murder mystery so he can impress his father the medical doctor. Nick's father had always hoped his son would have become a doctor and when Nick became a cop and then detective he looked down on him. As far as the mystery goes it follows the typical THIN MAN formula. A bunch of suspects are introduced and in the end Nick rounds them all up and reveals the killer.

The comedy is better than ever. Rather than have Nick always drinking and having jokes centered around his drinking Nick is now sober. The jokes are even funnier because everyone believes he is still a drunk and he just can't convince them otherwise. The scene in his Dad's parlor is hilarious. Nick is stone sober but due to a series of mishaps he is on the floor and appears to all to be drunk as ever. Also, when Nick recounts his childhood to Nora and tells her of his trips to the wood shed that brings back memories of my childhood and trips to the wood shed.

This is my second favorite THIN MAN movie. Right behind AFTER THE THIN MAN and just before the original THIN MAN. It is an almost perfect blend of mystery and comedy.

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9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
The Great American Dream, 8 January 2002
Author: JamesP. Scribner (jimscribner@webtv.net) from Fort Hood, Texas

All the Thin Man films are great to watch, but this is one with which I find a bit easier to identify. Riskin, the writer of this film and long time scriptwriter for Frank Capra, was also the guy who wrote "It Happened One Night" and "Meet John Doe". This New York City born writer's attraction to average Joe small town values over Cosmopolitan glitz and decadence obvious in those two films is plain to see here. This is probably the image a lot of successful urbanites had about moving to the suburbs after WW2.

This is sort of an odd bird among Thin Man films in a couple of ways. First of all, Nick is astonishingly sober for a change. Don't look for any of those scenes of Nick and Nora trying to drink each other the table at some New York nightclub in this one. In fact, the nightclubs and high rises are totally gone as Nick takes Nora the glamorous New York socialite back for a visit to Nick's hometown, which bears a fairly strong likeness to Andy Hardy's. Nick's father is a retired M.D. not unlike the ones in the Norman Rockwell paintings. He wanted Nick to follow in his footsteps as a small town doctor instead of becoming a big city policeman and this is the first time the two of them have gotten together in years. This father-son reconciliation is the explanation for Nick's sudden uncharacteristic attraction to a sober, healthy lifestyle.

Nick's father is actually fairly proud of Nick and keeps a scrapbook about all his adventures. The whole town knows about Nick Charles the famous Detective. I sort of see invisible images of G.I.s returning home from WW2 in a lot of this movie. Nick's celebrity as a tough, smart local boy who went off to bring gun toting gangsters to justice in the big city of aristocratic sophisticates and Broadway nights is not very far removed from how most Americans probably saw the guys who went off to liberate Paris and Europe in WW2. Nora fits into that picture as a sort of "Mrs. Miniver" figure of what American's admired about European sophication brought back home to meet the folks.

The homecoming hero vision of Nick peacefully turning into a happy coach potato in a post war suburbia however is not what we want to see. What everybody loves about the Thin Man films is their contrary to Hollywood stereotype revelation that life after marriage can actually be exciting. Nora decides to get Nick off the coach with an "I Love Lucy" sort of plot twist that spreads a rumor around town that Nick is secretly working on a detective case. The result of course is that all the various local characters with small town secrets to hide think he's after them and all the mystery murders and skeletons start coming out of the closet like we've all been waiting to see. Nick and Nora are such a fun couple, aren't they?

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9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Visiting the Folks, 11 November 2006

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

The Thin Man Goes Home find's Nick and Nora Charles visiting Nick's parents in their small New England town. The parents are Harry Davenport and Lucile Watson and Davenport has never gotten quite over the fact that Bill Powell did not choose to follow him in the medical profession. And he disapproves of Powell's liquid lunches mightily. Powell goes on a spartan diet of apple cider though no one believes him and that's a source of a lot of the comedy in The Thin Man Goes Home.

Of course no one also believes that Powell could be in town on anything but business and his mere presence touches off one guy ready to confess to some illegal activity when he's shot to death right on the doorstep of Davenport. An espionage ring his uncovered during the course of the investigation and the murderer who is eventually uncovered is not someone we would suspect. Due to some falsification of evidence the murderer almost gets away with it.

Here's a hint for you though. Forensics here more than in any other Thin Man film plays a part in the solution leading Harry Davenport to be proud that his influence was for the good with Powell.

When World War II started Myrna Loy unlike any other female star in Hollywood completely abandoned her career to devote herself to work with the Red Cross and other civilian agencies. It was a sacrifice that no other star of her gender made during the war years. This film was the only one she made from Pearl Harbor to V.E. Day.

This fifth film of the Thin Man series is also the first made without director Woody Van Dyke who committed suicide when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. One of MGM's able studio directors, Richard Thorpe, pinch hit admirably for Van Dyke.

Funniest scene in the film is when Powell ditches Loy onto a jitterbugging sailor while he investigates. Worth it to see that alone.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Enjoyable Change-of-Pace Entry in the Thin Man Series, 1 March 2005
Author: Snow Leopard from Ohio

This entry in the "Thin Man" series is enjoyable in itself, and it also works well as a change-of-pace from the rest of the series, in placing the familiar Nick and Nora characters in a new setting, when Nick returns to his old home town. It makes for a much different atmosphere, since Nick is received quite differently at home than he is in the big city where his crime-solving skills are so renowned.

Some things, of course, are still the same. William Powell is as witty and elegant as always, Myrna Loy is as engaging and as charming as ever, and the mystery that crops up is interesting and enjoyable. The screenplay does a nice job of keeping the best elements of the series while placing Nick in some new situations. The Powell/Loy characterizations of Nick and Nora are so good that when you see them in a somewhat new setting like this, you take an interest in them as you would old friends.

Harry Davenport heads up a very good supporting cast, and he gives one of his many fine character performances as Nick's father. The relationship is quite believable, and it's easy to empathize with Nick in his inability to please his father.

For all that this is a lesser-known movie in the "Thin Man" collection, it is quite good. The mystery itself is set up cleverly and efficiently, and it has the same combination of the offbeat and the logical that you hope for in these features. It's well worth seeking out for anyone who enjoys the "Thin Man" films.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
The Vacation That Wasn't, 4 September 2004

Author: Winslow Bunny from International Falls, MN

Nick & Nora Charles (William Powell, Myrna Loy) decide to go back to Nick's home town and visit his parents. It had been some time since the Charles family had been back to see Nick's parents, as relations between Nick and his father had been strained. We are introduced to a wide cast of characters in the small town and, as this took place in World War II, the themes of "wartime work" and "wartime security" became watchwords. As with any situation with "security", mysterious happenings soon take over, and a man is killed in front of the Charles house as he comes to Nick for help. In typical disavowal of taking on the case - preferring to leave the investigating to the local police - Nick finds himself getting more and more involved, as does Nora, both more by choice than by events. In the end, in the usual showdown of all potential subjects to the murders (there are others as the story develops), Nick uses his disarming wit and pointed questions to find the murders and traitors involved with wartime intrigue at the local manufacturing plant. This movie is quite entertaining, perhaps not as top-notch as other "Thin Man" movies, but very close, and in the process of solving the crime there is always the delightful word play and verbal sparring between the movies two stars, Powell and Loy. Watching them work together on the screen is a delight, as always.

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8 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the few examples of a *good* sequel..., 3 April 2001

Author: kergillian (kergillian@hotmail.com) from Montreal, Canada

This film is hilarious! Powell and Loy's chemistry just doesn't let up, even after four sequels. I've now seen three of these films (The first, third and fifth), and the quality is as high as ever. I liked this one better than the third (Another Thin Man), though it's not quite as good as the first (The Thin Man).

The humour is excellent. These films wouldn't be half as good without the oft-subtle, always hilarious dialogue rampant throughout. And Powell and Loy are always perfect, they never miss a beat. One of the problems I had with the third one was that it felt forced, the humour just wasn't top-notch. But it's full-force here, nearly at the level of the first one. As well, the story is much more interesting than the third one, and almost at the level of the first. The first one had the spark, the originality, that won't ever be reproduced. But this script is sharp (although I really missed all of the great drinking jokes;), and it didn't (thankfully) have the brat of a baby;) And Asta is as cute as ever, what more could I ask for??

It's not perfect, it's not as good as the first. But it's up there! Another definite must-see; I'd recommend these films to all, an eternal classic!! 8/10.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
A delightful - and sober - Nick Charles returns to his hometown, 5 November 2006

Author: blanche-2 from United States

It's 1945, the trains are packed with people, Asta doesn't remain hidden under Nora's fur coat so Nick, Nora and Asta end up in the baggage car as they travel to Nick's home town. And Nick is drinking only cider - his father never approved of drink. Thus begins, "The Thin Man Goes Home," made as the war was ending and a lot of people whose lives had changed were thinking about going home.

Nick, it turns out, has an uneasy relationship with his doctor dad because he himself never became a doctor. When the inevitable mystery arises around a murder, Nora wants Nick to solve it to impress his dad.

The fact is, the scripts of "The Thin Man" series never mattered. It was always the acting and interaction of William Powell and Myrna Loy, and here, as usual, they're great - loving, flippant, and funny. Since Nick is always falling on the floor or getting hit on the head, it's hard for anyone to believe he's sober. At a charity dance, in order to do some investigating, he gives his dance tickets to a sailor and Nora becomes his partner. The dance scene is hilarious as the sailor tosses Nora all over the place and swings her around with the kind of maneuvers you see in pair figure skating.

The war is still on so the story involves espionage. A very young Gloria de Haven does nicely as a self-consciously over-dramatic young woman; Harry Davenport and Lucile Watson are great as Nick's parents; and the later blacklisted Anne Revere does a fine job as Crazy Mary.

William Powell could read the phone book with class and humor; Loy looks beautiful and their teamwork has never been better. Highly recommended.

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6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
"Is There Anything Better Than Dancing?", 25 June 2006

Author: Gary170459 from Derby, UK

With entry 5/6 it was a more conventional series, more mature and sedate than the sophisticated romp of 10 years previous. But still good clean fun, even with the Ed Brophy in the bushes gag!

Nick and Nora vacate to Nick's parents home in in quiet Hicksville, but find it suddenly bristling with murder, base intrigues and seedy bars. The plot's easier to follow than before, but that doesn't make it less entertaining: Based on the data collected whilst watching the first four films I deduced who the murderer was straight off (but not the real baddies) - but it was still wonderful to take part in the denouement. Character actors from the Falcon and Boston Blackie fill the screen, and even Donald MacBride appears as yes, a detective. Asta followed Nick closely throughout, Junior was left at school for the sake of all the viewers, however Nora was given a few out of character padding sequences. Favourite bit: At a dance Nora getting whisked into a prolonged hep jive with a sailor much to Nick's transfixed amazement.

So well worth watching for those of us who are looking for olde time production-line family entertainment and not High Art.

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12 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
Sobering.....and Fun, 15 October 2005

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

This is a very pleasant entry into "The Thin Man" series. I found it much less aggravating than the other stories simply because of the drinking and smoking factor.

Unbelievably, William Powell and Myrna Loy don't have a drop of alcohol to drink in the entire film, which is a refreshing change of pace. Hey, don't get me wrong - I love my beer, but I get tired of seeing these two think that alcohol is the answer to every situation. That gets old and stupid.

In this film it's just "Nick" and "Nora" solving a crime on their own and then - in Charlie Chan-type style - rounding up all the suspects in one room and exposing the criminal while explaining the case.

Generally, it's a fun movie with interesting characters. Don't look for a lot of action but you'll get a lot of laughs.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
A quiet vacation for Nick and Nora? No chance., 28 June 2003

Author: Michael O'Keefe from Muskogee OK

This is the fifth in the "Thin Man series" and some of the magic is beginning to fade. Nick(William Powell) and Nora(Myrna Loy)Charles decide to vacation in Nick's small home town. Sipping cider is interrupted when Nora buys a painting that in turn gets Nick involved in a murder mystery against his disapproving parents wishes. My favorite scene is when Nora not so innocently starts a bar room brawl. Story line meanders a bit and is not as energetic as the previous installments; but still a fun movie to watch. The team of Powell and Loy still have "it". A great supporting cast features:Lucille Watson, Edward Brophy, Gloria DeHaven, Harry Davenport and Lloyd Corrigan. Interest in the husband and wife sleuths continues.

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