Song of the Thin Man (1947)

But first, a Thin Man marathon...

9:50 - The Thin Man

"a manhattan, you shake to a foxtrot..."

"Waiter, will you serve the nuts... I mean, will you serve the guests the nuts."

11:45- After the Thin Man

"Nick-oh-laas!"

*a long walk to a coffee shop and back...*

3:00 - Another Thin Man

"I wish my old lady were bats that way."

Asta acrobatics!

5:04 - Shadow of the Thin Man

"Daddy, drink milk!"

"But Daddy doesn't like milk."

7:09 - The Thin Man Goes Home

"Why did he herd us into the room like this?"

"...this is the way he always works."

and the finale... 9:04 - Song of the Thin Man

I waited so long to finish this series of films. I think I was worried I would be sad when there were no more "new" Thin Man movies left to see. (And maybe a little worried that I would be disappointed in the later films.) Not sad, though, because I am perfectly happy re-watching. Not disappointed, either. The Asta actors do more cutesy tricks in each film, now there is a child to provide occasional silly kid quotes, and maybe there's less drinking, but Nick and Nora are still Nick and Nora. And Nora even gets to participate more in this mystery. Nick doesn't shove her in any falsely directed cabs or lock her in any rooms to prevent her from helping. Good for him. So, while the first film is definitely my favorite, I will still give this movie three stars, and I'm sure I will see it again sometime. Not sure there will ever be another marathon, though.

The Thin Man (1934)

Up until this week, Jess and I had no idea that Myrna Loy was decapitated. As a 16-year-old high school student in Venice, CA, Loy posed for a student-made statue representing the "Spiritual." Her statue was flanked by "Mental" and "Physical." The statue was eventually surrounded by a tall white fence to protect it from graffiti. Most recently it was seen headless, lying in a scrap pile behind the school. Now it is gone and the only way to see it is to watch for a glimpse of it in the movie "Grease," filmed at Venice High. Watch the screen around Danny when he meets back up with his friends after the summer. Sigh.

We went to see a screening of The Thin Man at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood sitting on a picnic blanket with palm trees in the background.

We don't know where to begin with this movie - it represents all the reasons to love classic movies: the costumes are awesome - remarkable without being laughable - all the details and style of another era plus the elegance that we miss these days. Jess wants this dress:

The writing is awesome: witty and quick and dry and calculated to keep the plot moving so that even though the movie is only an hour and a half long, the plot is quite complicated and intriguing.

There are great characters, and plenty of them, and the bit players are every bit as good as the leading actors.

The mystery is great and the clues are dropped in a satisfying way, creating suspense and leaving you lots of room to speculate without giving away the guilty party until the last minute.

Two things that this movie has, though, make it stand out above even other great classic films in its genre: the chemistry between Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy) who play a canny, irreverent, affectionate couple who are as likely to elbow each other as they are to embrace and are constantly ribbing each other - and the antics of Asta, their adorable, clever and comical terrier.

Four stars, of course, from each of us. That means eight total. We will both be seeing this movie again.

The Thin Man Goes Home (1944)

Thin Man number five, and I am still giving the movie four stars. Although, I just read that this Asta is not the original Asta, and that is making me a little bit sad. This Asta is just as good of an actor as the original, though. He even has a happy dance for when things are going well.



So, in this movie Nick and Nora go off to visit Nick's parents. Nick is prepared for a restful vacation, but of course there is a new murder to solve. Nora is thrilled about the case, hoping that this will be Nick's chance to finally show his dad that he is a great detective and has chosen the right career. Nick being Nick, he works on the case while pretending not to work on the case, driving Nora so crazy she eventually tries to take it on herself.



I think that one of my favorite scenes is near the end of the movie when Nick and Nora attend some kind of charity auction at a hotel. Nick wants to go do some sleuthing, so he hands Nora off to a poor sailor without a dance partner who immediately starts jitterbugging with her. He throws her up in the air, swirls her around on the floor...

Also, the bonus to being at Nick's childhood home, is that when the final scene comes around with all the suspects gathered together in one room, Nick's mom is there to make them "cocoa to calm the nerves."

Only one more movie in the set (unless you count the William Powell and Myrna Loy documentaries). I guess I'll have to start re-watching soon...

Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)

Three stars...will have to watch again to figure out what was going on!

I have definitely learned my lesson that it is not a good idea to do other things while watching a Thin Man movie. Everyone talks too much and too quickly, and there are just too many characters to keep track of. So, unfortunately, I got a little confused until I finally gave up on the birthday present I was making for my friend's son.

Things I did notice:

Nora's hats! Despite the fact that everyone at the wrestling match Nick and Nora attended laughed and told Nora her hat was screwy, I love her hats. She wears so many great ones in this movie.

Fast motion effects! Was fast motion used in all the movies to try to make Asta's movements funnier? The culmination of the fast motion use was when poor Asta got stuck in a revolving door and kept going around and around really really quickly.

Toddler leashes! It is apparently not a new thing to parade your toddler around on a leash. The movie begins with Nick leading Nick Jr. leading Asta through the park.

A very young Donna Reed!

I did answer some of my questions from the previous Thin Man, too. Nick Jr. has not started to drink yet. In fact, he may be a good influence on his dad. "Drink milk!" he declares. Even though Nick protests, "But I can't drink milk now. I'm a big boy. I wear long pants and go out with girls," Nora makes him obey his son so that they can drink milk together. And yes, Nick does always seem to work by gathering up all the suspects and waiting for someone to slip up.

I must not do other things while watching Thin Man movies.

Another Thin Man (1939)

Asta does tricks! I had to rewind a few times to watch. He gets so excited that he does a full backflip. The backflip alone earns this movie at least four stars. Plus, one of my little first graders had just written a story about her dog Canada who she claims can do a flip, so I got to tell my student I watched a movie that made me think of her story. So Asta's backflip made a first grader very happy, too. And now, as the owner of a Thin Man box set, I can watch this movie as many times as I want. Will I ever review a movie I don't like?



Anyways, this Thin Man movie finds Nick and Nora with a baby, Nick Jr. So of course baby humor becomes an important part of the plot, mixed in with the new murders. Imagine all the cute and zany things one can do with a movie baby, especially when the baby's father knows a lot of crooks. Some of Nick's crook friends even throw a baby party for the Charles family...hilarity ensues (am I allowed to use that phrase, too?)

Mostly, ignoring the plots of the different movies, I just continue to love Nick and Nora and their witty dialogue.

I'm left wondering a few things, though, after this movie: As the series goes on, will the movies really remain good? (Although, Amy, you seem to have seen the later ones and liked them...so maybe I shouldn't be worried.) Will Nick Jr. help solve any crimes? Will Nick Jr. and Asta have to take up drinking? And, do all the Thin Man movies need a scene in which all of the characters are forced to get together so that Nick can work his brilliance in front of them all? I need to keep watching and find out.

After The Thin Man (1936)

Many many stars...will watch it many more times along with the first movie...am buying the Thin Man box set!

Ever since rewatching the first Thin Man movie this summer, I have been so excited to see more of the series. I was not disappointed. After the Thin Man picks up right where the first movie left off with Nick and Nora on a train to San Francisco. As they prepare to pull into the station Nora asks, "Are you packing?" to which Nick responds, "Yes, dear, I'm putting away this liquor."

They arrive home ready to sleep for a week and recover from their detective work in New York, only to be dropped right into the middle of a new mystery. Nora's cousin's husband has been missing for three days... Is he dead? Is he with another woman? What does young Jimmy Stewart have to do with all of this? Does Nora ever get her middle-of-the-night scrambled eggs? Asta even gets his own storyline in this movie involving Mrs. Asta and a lot of puppies.



I laughed through the whole movie. Now I just have to wait for Another Thin Man to arrive from the library...

The Awful Truth (1937)

Cary Grant wishlist again! I've seen this one so I only watched half of it and then Jess and I fast-forwarded through the end to remind ourselves how it ended. She remembered the weird cuckoo-clock and the door that factors into the happy reunion of the couple.



Basically, this is one of those movies where a married couple starts the movie off with a hasty divorce and we wait for them to get reunited (and remarried) at the end.

Cary Grant also does this in The Philadelphia Story, doesn't he? He's often divorced. In House Boat, too, he's about to get a divorce when his wife dies.

Anyhow, they are supposedly sharing custody of the dog, who is played by Asta again! In the movie his name is Mr. Smith.

I have to say, though, I love Irene Dunne's outfits, even her cooky hats are kind of entertaining more than annoying, but I HATE her hair.

I feel too sorry for the characters (especially Ralph Bellamy's Oklahoma Oilman) to give it more than three stars, but it's a great romantic comedy.

Will definitely watch again, sometime.
Three stars.