Song Of The Thin Man

...

Rating 2¾


Directed by Edward Buzzell

Written by Steve Fisher and Net Perrin, with additional dialogue by James O’Hanlon and Harry Crane, from an original story by Stanley Roberts

Based on characters created by Dashiell Hammett

Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Keenan Wynn, Gloria Grahame, Leon Ames, Patricia Morison, Philip Reed, Jayne Meadows, Ralph Morgan, Don Taylor, Bruce Cowling and Dean Stockwell


Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy) attend a charity function on a ship moored in New York Harbour that is used as a night club where gambling is permitted. A musician is murdered and Nick soon finds himself forced to investigate.

...


‘Song of the Thin Man’ was the sixth and final film in the series, released in August 1947, three years after the fifth film, ‘The Thin Man Goes Home’, and 13 years after the original film, which was based on the famous 1934 Dashiell Hammett novel. As with the preceding film, there are new writers and a new director for this final excursion. Edward Buzzell also directed the late-period Marx Brothers films ‘At The Circus’ and ‘Go West’, both of which contain moments of the free-wheeling anarchic comedy that made them famous, but are a pale shadow of the brothers at their very best. Amongst the various writers credited with contributing to the screenplay is Nat Perrin, who provided additional dialogue for the classic 1933 Marx Brothers film ‘Duck Soup’.

This sixth outing displays very obvious signs of wear and tear. There is even a suggestion in the screenplay that Nick and Nora are “past it”, with the generation gap depicted via their failure to understand the slang talk at the jazz parties they attend in search of clues to help solve the murder. Herein lies one of the problems with the film, with its entirely unrealistic portrayal of the “younger generation”, which is just as false here as it would be later on when film and television turned its attentions to 1950s and 1960s youth culture. Of more concern is the fact that at each of the after-hours jam sessions where the various jazz musicians congregate there is not a single black person to seen anywhere.

On the plus side, the screen chemistry between William Powell and Myrna Loy shines through and the affectionate banter between Nick and Nora still occasionally sparkles. There are even a few great lines of comic dialogue that very nearly match the superior quality of the earlier films. Even below par Powell and Loy are a notch or two above the rest of the pack. The climactic scenes in which the identity of the killer is revealed seem rushed and do rather fizzle out, but all things considered, the film is thoroughly enjoyable, even if overall it is clearly quite a long way below the series at its very best.

Gloria Grahame is featured as a jazz band singer in one of her first film roles. One of the screen’s great femme fatales, she was nominated for an Academy Award in 1947 for her performance in the film noir ‘Crossfire’ and won an Oscar in 1953 for ‘The Bad and the Beautiful’. Keenan Wynn had a long and busy career, including his role as Willard ‘Digger’ Barnes in the hugely successful television series ‘Dallas’. Dean Stockwell, who was just eleven years old at the time of ‘Song of the Thin Man’, plays Nick Charles Jr. In a career that has so far lasted more than 60 years, he has appeared in cult classic films like ‘Paris, Texas’ and ‘Blue Velvet’ and is currently featured in a recurring role in the critically acclaimed television series ‘Battlestar Gallactica’.

Review posted 4 March 2009



...

The Thin Man Goes Home

...

Rating 3


Directed by Richard Thorpe

Written by Robert Riskin and Dwight Taylor, based on an original story by Robert Riskin and Harry Kunitz

Characters created by Dashiell Hammett

Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Harry Davenport, Lucile Watson, Edward Brophy, Lloyd Corrigan, Donald MacBride, Gloria De Haven, Anne Revere, Leon Ames, Helen Vinson, Donald Meek, Minor Watson, Morris Ankrum, Anita Bolster, Irving Bacon and Ralph Brooks


Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy) take a train from New York City to Sycamore Springs, the small town where Nick grew up, to visit his parents and celebrate his birthday. Nick’s father, an eminent local doctor (played by Harry Davenport), has always disapproved of his son’s lifestyle, drinking and chosen profession.

Nick is there for a vacation, but when Peter Berton (Ralph Brooks), a young would-be artist, is shot dead on the doorsteps of the Charles’ family home, he gets to work investigating the murder and unravelling the tangled web of secrets hidden by the inhabitants of the seemingly quiet and sleepy local community.

...


The fifth film in the series, ‘The Thin Man Goes Home’ was released in December 1944, three years after ‘Shadow Of The Thin Man’. Production was originally due to start in 1942, but Myrna Loy refused to make the film at that time, instead leaving Hollywood for New York City to marry for the second time and concentrate on her wartime work for the Red Cross. It was intended to have Irene Dunne assume the role of Nora Charles, but in the end production was delayed until Loy was once again available. She was divorced during the making of the film. William Powell and Irene Dunne later played husband and wife in the 1947 film ‘Life With Father’, for which Powell received a best actor Academy Award nomination.

There are new writers and, for the first time, a new director (Richard Thorpe, the original director of ‘The Wizard Of Oz’, who was sacked two weeks into the production of that film) and producer, Everett Riskin, the brother of writer Robert Riskin. He took over from Hunt Stromberg, who produced the first four films. Stromberg had been one of the so-called “big four” executives at MGM (the biggest of the Hollywood film studies) during the 1920s and 1930s and was once the most powerful producer in Hollywood. He left MGM in 1942 to become one of the first independent film producers. Robert Riskin was a hugely successful screenwriter, whose credits included the classics ‘It Happened One Night’, the first film to win all five major Academy Awards (best film, director, actor, actress and screenplay), ‘Mister Deeds Goes To Town’, ‘Lost Horizon’ and ‘You Can’t Take It With You’. He was married to the actress Fay Wray, of ‘King Kong’ fame.

The franchise was starting to become a little tired at this stage and the first thirty minutes of the film is not especially good. The jokes are a little forced and the two leading players are a little old for the portrayal required of their characters by the screenplay. This is particularly true of William Powell, who was 52 years old when the film was released. He was only thirteen years younger than Lucile Watson, the actress who played his mother. However, once the murder has occurred and the investigation begins the film picks up enormously, even if it is not quite up to the standard of the earlier films.

All in all, ‘The Thin Man Goes Home’ benefits from its new setting away from the big city (either New York or San Francisco) and is an enjoyable addition to the series.

Review posted 1 March 2009



...

Shadow Of The Thin Man

...

Rating 4½


Directed by W S Van Dyke

Written by Harry Kurnitz and Irving Brecher, based on characters created by Dashiell Hammett

Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Barry Nelson, Donna Reed, Sam Levene, Henry O’Neill, Loring Stephens, Joseph Anthony, Lou Lubin, Alan Baxter and Stella Adler


Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy) are pulled over for speeding on their way to the race track. They end up with a police escort to the track and find themselves in the middle of a crime scene when a jockey who was accused of throwing a race is found shot dead. Nick does everything to keep out of the investigation, but when investigative newspaper reporter Paul Clarke (Barry Nelson) is accused of a second murder, that of Whitey Barrow (Alan Baxter), he gets dragged into the case.

...


“He’s getting more like his father every day.”
“He sure is. This morning he was playing with a corkscrew.”

‘Shadow Of The Thin Man’, the fourth in a sequence of six films based on the characters created by the celebrated crime thriller writer Dashiell Hammett, was released in 1941, two years after ‘Another Thin Man’. Like the second film ‘After the Thin Man’, it is set in San Francisco, whereas the first and third films took place in New York City. This was the last ‘Thin Man’ film to be directed by W S Van Dyke, who was subsequently diagnosed with cancer. He refused medical treatment and committed suicide in February 1943 at the age of 53.

There are new writers this time around, replacing Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, who wrote the first three films, and also no direct involvement by Dashiell Hammett, the author of the original 1934 novel. He wrote the stories on which the second and third films were based.

The film continues the pattern already established in the earlier instalments, mixing comedy and crime thriller, as Nick and Nora banter their way through a labyrinth of clues and possible suspects. Nick still drinks at every opportunity. It’s a tried and tested formula and although this is no competition for the classic first film, it is still very enjoyable and of a superior standard. William Powell was one of the best film actors of the era and his easy-going charm, coupled with his celebrated on-screen chemistry with the equally excellent Myrna Loy, plays a big part in the success of this and the earlier films.

At the end of the second film we learned that Nora was pregnant. In the third film they were parents to a baby. This time around, little Nicky is old enough to go for walks in the park with his father, who reads the racing form to him, under the pretence that it is a fairytale. Little Nicky gets his own back by making Nick drink milk at dinner, rather than his usual cocktail, and then getting him to ride a merry-go-round horse. We are undoubtedly intended to find the child cute. He’s not, but he isn’t on screen long enough or often enough for this to be a problem.

I am biased because from the moment I first watched a William Powell and Myrna Loy film sometime in the mid 1970s they have been two of my favourite stars of the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood, but this is another worthy addition to the ‘Thin Man’ series.

Review posted 24 February 2009



...

Another Thin Man

...

Rating 4½


Directed by W S Van Dyke

Written by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett and Anita Loos (no credit), based on an original story by Dashiell Hammett

Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Virginia Grey, Otto Kruger, C Aubrey Smith, Sheldon Leonard, Abner Biberman, Muriel Hutchison, Don Costello, Tom Neal, Patric Knowles, Phyllis Gordon and Nat Pendleton


For the third instalment of the ‘Thin Man’ series, Nick and Nora Charles are back in New York City. They now have a baby boy called Nicky. They are summoned to spend the weekend at the house of Colonel MacFey (C Aubrey Smith) in Long Island. A former employee, Phil Church (Sheldon Leonard), who went to prison for ten years for dodgy business deals, allegedly undertaken on the instructions of the Colonel, has recently been released and has made threats against his life. MacFey dismisses the threats, but is then found murdered in his bed. The police target several suspects, including Nick, and he is reluctantly dragged into helping to solve the case.

...


‘Another Thin Man’ premiered in November 1939, three years after the second film. William Powell and Myrna Loy are once again cast in the lead roles, with the same director, producer and writers as the first two films. Anita Loos, although not credited, also contributed to the screenplay. She had been a hugely successful screenwriter during the silent era and is probably most famous for her book ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’, first published in 1928, which was later adapted as a stage musical, receiving its Broadway debut in 1949. The 1953 musical film version stars Marilyn Monroe.

The pattern established in the first two films is followed again here, although Nora, now a mother and referred to by Nick throughout as “Mummy”, is not seen drinking. Nick continues to drink, although he is no longer the perpetually drunk character introduced in the first film. The banter between the two, however, remains undiminished, if not quite as memorable. Although it is generally accepted that ‘After the Thin Man’ is the best of the five sequels and thereafter there was substantially diminished returns to be had from each successive film, I actually think ‘Another Thin Man’ more or less matches the quality of the second outing.

‘Another Thin Man’ was the eleventh highest grossing film at the box office in America in 1939.

Review posted 21 February 2009



...

After the Man

...

Rating 5


Directed by W S Van Dyke

Written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, based on an original story by Dashiell Hammett

Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart, Elissa Landi, Joseph Calleia, Sam Levene, Jessie Ralph, Alan Marshall, Penny Singleton, Paul Fix, Teddy Hart and George Zucco


Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy) arrive back in San Francisco following a three day train journey from New York City, after solving the murder of Charles Wynant (told in ‘The Thin Man’), only to discover a raucous party in full swing in their house. They reluctantly leave to go to a stuffy family dinner with Nora’s formidable Aunt Katherine (Jessie Ralph), who disapproves of Nick. Nora’s cousin Selma (Elissa Landi) tells them she is worried because her husband Robert (Alan Marshall) is missing. David (James Stewart), who is in love with Selma, tells them Robert has tried to extort money from him to disappear. Later that night Robert is shot dead and Selma becomes the prime suspect.

...


“Come on, let’s get something to eat. I’m thirsty.”

This sequel was made two years after the unexpected success of the 1934 film ‘The Thin Man’. It reunites William Powell and Myrna Loy and once again their on-screen chemistry crackles with life. The same writers are involved and the same director is at the helm. The screenplay is based on an original story written by Dashiell Hammett, the author of the original novel. Like the first film, ‘After the Thin Man’ was produced by Hunt Stromberg, who won a Best Picture Academy Award that same year for ‘The Great Ziegfeld’, which also starred Powell and Loy.

‘After the Thin Man’ does not quite have the same sparkle as ‘The Thin Man’, one of the best films to come out of Hollywood in the 1930s, but it is very nearly as good. There is slightly less emphasis on Nick’s drinking (and Nora’s, for that matter) this time around, especially following the murder that becomes the focus of the investigation. A couple of comic scenes involving Asta the dog and “Mrs Asta” could easily have been cut out without causing any detriment to the film, but they do lend it a certain period charm. So too do two enjoyable musical numbers, sung by Penny Singleton.

The story follows a similar pattern to the first film, with Nick bringing together the various suspects at the climax of the film and holding court as he unravels the labyrinth strands that tie them all together, much like Agatha Christie’s famous detective Hercule Poirot.

The film is also notable for an early appearance by James Stewart, who had made his film debut the previous year.

Review posted 19 February 2009



...

The Thin Man

...

Rating *5*

Directed by W S Van Dyke

Written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett

Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O’Sullivan, Nat Pendleton, Minna Gombell, Porter Hall, Henry Wandsworth, William Henry, Harold Huber, Cesar Romero, Natalie Moorhead, Edward Brophy, Cyril Thornton and Edward Ellis


Inventor and industrialist Clyde Wynant (Edward Ellis) announces his plans to leave on a secret business trip on the day that his daughter Dorothy (Maureen O’Sullivan) gets engaged. On that same day, he discovers that $50,000 worth of bonds have been stolen from his safe. When he fails to return on the agreed date, Dorothy expresses her concerns to Nick Charles (William Powell), who is in town for Christmas. Nick, a former private detective who once worked on a case for Wynant, is now married to wealthy socialite Nora Charles (Myrna Loy) and happily spends his days getting drunk. When Wynant’s mistress Julia Wolf (Natalie Moorhead) is murdered, the missing industrialist becomes the prime suspect and Nick reluctantly becomes involved in the investigation.

...


“I read you were shot five times in the tabloids.”

“That’s not true. He never came near my tabloids.”

This celebrated comedy thriller is based on a novel by the famous crime thriller writer and Pinkerton detective Dashiell Hammett, whose other literary creations include Sam Spade in the novel ‘The Maltese Falcon’. ‘The Thin Man’ was his last novel and was first published in 1934, the same year that the film was made.

William Powell had been a successful film actor during the silent age, before making the transition to sound films. He was signed to Paramount Pictures, before moving to MGM, where he appeared in ‘Manhattan Melodrama’ alongside Clark Gable and Myrna Loy. That film achieved notoriety when the gangster John Dillinger was shot dead by police outside a Chicago movie theatre after watching it.

Director W S Van Dyke had observed the screen chemistry of Powell and Loy and cast them together again immediately afterwards in ‘The Thin Man’, a low-budget support feature (what would now be called a b-movie). The film, which took just sixteen days to make (twelve days according to some sources), was an instant success, both with critics and cinemagoers, grossing $1.4 million at the box office against a production budget of $230,000. It received four Academy Award nominations, for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Powell and Loy are, probably, the most celebrated screen couple in American film history. Their on-screen chemistry is apparent instantly, especially in ‘The Thin Man’ and its five sequels as the wisecracking Nick and Nora Charles. The first film, in particular, includes some sparkling comic sparring. They appeared in fourteen films together all told.

Myrna Loy was one of the most popular and highest paid actresses in Hollywood during the late 1930s, when she was dubbed “The Queen of Hollywood”. She worked for the Red Cross during the Second World War and for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) later on in life. She died in 1993 at the age of 88. William Powell was a three times Best Actor Academy Award nominee. He was married to the actress Carole Lombard between 1931 and 1933 and was in a relationship with Jean Harlow at the time of her death in 1937, a period during which he was receiving treatment for colon cancer. He retired from acting in 1955 and died in 1984 at the age of 91.

The reputation of ‘The Thin Man’ is now almost entirely based on the performances of Powell and Loy and the wisecracking characters they play. Without them, it is probably not an especially memorable film. With them, it is one of the greatest films of its time. Also featured in the film are Maureen O’Sullivan, the mother of actress Mia Farrow, and Cesar Romero, who became an iconic figure to many for his role as the Joker in the 1960s television series ‘Batman’.

Review posted 17 February 2009



...