For Your Friday Video Link, from the Wizard of Oz, here is the "Ding Dong The Wicked Witch Is Dead"
In totally unrelated news, Donald Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury Thursday for his role in a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels in the days before the 2016 election.
Ding Dong!
Because we're America, damn it, we can't go awhile without a mass shooting, tragedy struck Monday in Nashville TN a shooter with two “assault-style” rifles and a pistol killed three students and three adults at a private Christian school.
Three children and three adults were murdered in this assault.
The shooter was shot dead by police.
The slaughter itself is horrific in and of itself but add the context that is is not unique but is only the latest in a series of mass shootings in the United States.
Not counting the shooters and factoring the Nashville tally from Monday, there have been 74 people killed or injured this year alone in mass shootings.
Maybe the takeaway here is that this is happening too many damn times.
That maybe children going to school shouldn't expect to die in body shredding hail of bullets.
Maybe the focus is why anyone needs so many guns including assault rifles.
Or maybe it's doors?
In the aftermath of this tragedy while authorities were still assessing the damage, treating the injured and counting the dead, an alleged expert was on Fox News was opining that the real threat were unlocked doors and that killers can just wander in through unlocked side doors and that my friends is the real danger to America.
For the record, the side door where the shooter made their entrance was locked. The shooter's assault rifle made short work of that barrier.
When information about the shooter became public, the right wing gun loving nutcases had a something new to pin the blame for the shooting on.
The shooter was transgender.
And we're off!
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.): "How much hormones like testosterone and medications for mental illness was the transgender Nashville school shooter taking? Everyone can stop blaming guns now! The female Nashville shooter identified as a man. So shouldn’t we just blame white men again?”
Donald Trump Jr.: "Rather than talking about guns we should be talking about lunatics pushing their gender affirming bullshit on our kids?”
Sen. J.D. Vance: "If early reports are accurate that a trans shooter targeted a Christian school, there needs to be a lot of soul searching on the extreme left. Giving in to these ideas isn’t compassion, it’s dangerous."
I posted several times about the all out war right wing nut cases and the Republican Party have declared on transgender people, targeting American citizens with fear, hatred and vitriol in a blatant grab for political power.
Transgender people are just that, people. People have great potential for good, compassion, kindness.
Unfortunately, people also can have a terrible capacity for rage, cruelty, even evil.
Those innocent victims at that school on Monday didn't die because their attacker was transgender.
Those innocent victims at that school on Monday died because their attacker was fucking ARMED with guns they didn't fucking need.
The victims of gun violence don't die because their attacker was racist, anti-Semitic, Muslim, Islamophobic, homophobic.. the list goes on who the shooter might be.
We're all in danger, living a nation that is war zone while too many fucking people have too god damn many guns they don't damn well need.
The fire this time was Nashville TN. Who knows when the fire will fall again. But as long as too many damn fucking morons would rather look to any excuse other than the actual guns, trust me, the fire will come again.
Today I'm going to write about a comic book I purchased a few weeks ago, Superman: Lost #1.
It is a self contained mini-series that tells the tale of a Justice League mission that goes awry and Superman is lost somewhere else for 20 years although only less than a day has passed on Earth. Wherever Superman was for 20 years and whatever happened to him in that time has left Clark traumatized and distant and it's up to Lois to figure out how to reach out to Clark and get him back with everyone among the living here on Earth.
Now this is not the first time we've had a story involving Superman getting zapped somewhere for a very long time to fight some battle elsewhere only to return to Earth and to Lois on a few short hours later. In Action Comics #761 (on sale 11/24/1999, Joe Kelly penned an epic tale where Superman and Wonder Woman are summoned to Valhalla to fight a thousan year long war. Diana gets lonely but Clark remains faithful to Lois. Then the war is over and Clark gets back to Metropolis mere moments after he left.
There appear to be no consequences to Clark's psyche to have been zapped away for a thousand year long war. It kind of bothered me at the time. Yeah, Superman is SUPER and has learned to cope with all sorts of weird shit.
But the other part of Superman is MAN and it's that part of the equation that has to feel some sort of after effects of being gone that long.
Writer Christopher Priest and artist Carlo Pagulayan apparently agree which is the premise behind Superman: Lost.
The first issue lays out the premise. Clark and Lois are at home combining blissful happy domesticity with their jobs as investigative reporters, bantering about a Senator embroiled in scandal that Lois is investigating.
Then Clark gets a signal, a call to help the Justice League. The mission seems straightforward enough, retrieving a sunken Chinese sub from international waters to prevent an incident that might precipitate escalating tensions or even war, introducing an element of real world tensions between China and the United States.
But the sinking sub is part of a bigger problem. The Chinese were after an alien thingus that is imploding, creating a sort of black hole that if left unchecked will swallow up the Earth. Superman flies in to plug up the hole but it snaps shut with him still on the other side.
Superman is lost and the Justice League doesn't have a clue where he might be.
Well, he's standing in Clark and Lois's apartment and Lois is relieved that he's back after only being gone for a few hours but Clark is acting weird, disturbingly quiet, acting unsure of his environment.
Then he haltingly explains he has been gone for 20 years.
While I'm not following Superman in the main DC universe, this side project's premise intrigued me and with talent like Christopher Priest and Carlo Pagulayan involved, I was more than willing to give this a try.
The first issue spends a lot of time just setting up the premise but it's a promising start and it's a series I'm looking forward to following.
Next week, more comics as we return to Batman but this time with Bruce Wayne as I look at the current story arc, "The Bat Man of Gotham".
Hello and welcome to the Tuesday TV Touchbase where I touch base each Tuesday to post about what I'm watching on TV.
Today we're gonna touch base on a couple of TV shows based on DC Comics.
Let's start with Doom Patrol. The series premiered in 2019 as part of the DC Universe streaming service before moving on to HBO Max. 4 years later, I finally finished season 1.
The members of the Doom Patrol have powers and abilities beyond those of normal humans although their biggest super power is being fucked up.
OK, this Monday post is not about the right wing attack on the transgender community after three weeks of addressing that topic. But I am bringing it up to address that a reader reminded me that transgender is not hyphenated. I went back and edited last Monday's post. Any prior references to "trans-gender" will remain as a monument to my learning curve.
This week we're going touch base on what's up with Donald Trump. So what is up with that motherfucker?
Why are we still dealing with this fucking guy?
Well, over a week ago, Donald Trump proclaimed that on Tuesday (March 21st), he was going to be arrested and called on his supporters to "RISE UP AND TAKE YOUR NATION BACK! PROTEST! PROTEST! PROTEST!"
Isn't just adorable when Li'l Donnie thinks his own personal woes constitute an attack on the nation?
Now you might be thinking, "Arrest Donald Trump? For what?"
As is the case with Li'l Donnie, there are so many options to choose from.
Would you believe none of the above?
Trump is in the cross hairs of being indicted and arrested (which would include being fingerprinted and having his mug shot taken) for his role in the pay off to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Seven years ago, Donald Trump paid $130,000 to Stormy Daniels to buy her silence that he had an affair with her while his wife Melania was pregnant with Baron.
As Al Franken pointed out, "Here we are 7 years later still talking about it. So this counts as another failed Donald Trump business venture."
I have an admittedly limited understanding about the legal mess that surrounds this case but it seems that it's not the hush money itself that's causing all the trouble but as usual with most things involving Li'l Donnie, the squirrelly way the payment was executed.
Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen spent time behind bars for campaign finance violations related to facilitating the payment to quash the Stormy Daniels story.
Basically, if Li'l Donnie had used his own money to buy off Stormy Daniels, he wouldn't be in this trouble.
Anyway, if anyone thought that the thing that would finally get Donald Trump arrested was a bribe paid to a porn star, well, yeah, that sounds about right.
So you would think Donald Trump getting arrested would make headlines but hey, you ain't heard nothing about that.
That's because Tuesday came and went and nothing happened.
As I write this, Trump has still not been indicted for nothing.
I fully expect by the time this posts, ain't nothing going to happen.
Various pundits have said that the various legal threats to Donald Trump are circling closer and closer and he has never been in such actual legal danger before.
I will believe that only when I get to see Li'l Donnie behind the iron bars of a cell. For real.
Plagued by various scandals and legal woes, Trump still thinks he has a shot at being President again.
He was in Waco TX on Saturday for a campaign event where Li'l Donnie complained about a long list of enemies:
Trump also thinks the numerous investigations are... a good thing?
“Our opponents have done everything they can to destroy us and break our will, but they’ve failed. They’ve only made us bigger. You put me back in the White House, their reign will be over, and America will be a free nation once again. They’ve got nothing. You get so much publicity that the case actually gets adjudicated in the press. And people see it’s bullshit.”
And the people at the rally seem to see these allegations of misconduct as a badge of honor, a sign of Donald Trump's martyrdom against the dark forces of the woke liberal Trump hating elite.
And this is why we're still dealing with this fucking guy!
Cinema Sunday's Multiple Movie March wraps up with a pair of films about blondes.
Some Like It Hot opened in the week ending March 24, 1959
Today's post starts off with a short film, only 23 minutes long, about a short moment in the movie that took a long time to shoot,
47 takes to say 3 words.
The short film is called It's Me, Sugar.
In the film Some Like It Hot, Marilyn Monroe's character Sugar knocks on a hotel room door and say ‘It's me. Sugar.'
With director Billy Wilder, her co-stars, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, and her husband, Arthur Miller, looking on, Marilyn nails the line.
After 47 takes.
Why did it take 47 takes to say "It's me, Sugar!"
Well... take your pick.
Or she just had a case of the yips.
As defined in Young Sheldon, the yips is when you've climbed too far in your own head and suddenly find doing things that are second nature are now not so easy.
For all the troubles Marilyn Monroe was experiencing as noted above, for a beach scene with Tony Curtis that Billy Wilder scheduled to shoot over 3 days, Marilyn was perfect and the shoot was finished in 20 minutes.
Now she can't say "It's me, Sugar"?
Instead she says "Sugar, it's me" or "It's Sugar, me".
Efforts are made to help mitigate whatever problems Marilyn is having. For example, "It's me, Sugar" is put up on large cue cards. Which seems to only exacerbate Marilyn's difficulties.
Billy Wilder spoke in 1959 about his experience with working with Marilyn Monroe: "I have discussed this with my doctor and my psychiatrist and they tell me I'm too old and too rich to go through this again. My Aunt Minnie would always be punctual and never hold up production, but who would pay to see my Aunt Minnie?"
The text of Billy's comments from that interview are used in It's Me, Sugar as part of Billy's "Go get 'em" speech to Marilyn.
The speech works after Marilyn nails "It's me, Sugar" on take #47.
Commenting on why it took her so long to get this right, Marilyn shrugs and says, "Well, nobody's perfect," which is the iconic closing line of Some Like It Hot.
Next up is a movie that is exactly 1 minute less than an hour long. Clocking in at a run time of 59 minutes, from 1937, it's Smart Blonde. Glenda Farrell is Torchy Blane, a fast-talking wisecracking female reporter investigating the killing of an investor who just bought a popular local nightclub.
Tiny Torgenson is coming to town to buy the Million Club and various gambling and sporting enterprises from his old friend Fitz Mularkey. Fitz has decided to quit the business due to his upcoming marriage to Marcia Friel.
Tiny barely steps off the train before he's shot. Dead. It's "moidah" I tells ya and Torchy's on the scene with the scoop and the start of her next big story. Torchy is on the case!
So is Steve McBride, police detective and Torchy's erstwhile boyfriend. Steve is a big guy with a badge so he gets in to talk to big wheels like business owners and the like while Torchy has to settle for talking to hat check girls, waitresses and bartenders and such.
Guess who winds up spinning his wheels looking for clues that ain't there and guess which brassy blonde dame is get the real scoop on whose doing what with who and why and getting closer to who really killed Tiny and why? Of course Steve is the flummoxed ox and Torchy's the one with a bead on who the real killer is.
Everyone talks fast and walks fast but we got a lot of murder mystery ground to cover in only 59 minutes.
In 1936, Warner Bros. began to develop an adaptation of the MacBride and Kennedy stories by detective novelist Frederick Nebel. According to what I read about this film, Kennedy was changed to a woman named "Torchy" Blane who was more compatible with the Hays Code than a faithful on-screen adaptation of Kennedy would have been.
You can make of that what you will.
Smart Blonde was the first of nine Torchy Blane films by Warner Bros. I've only seen the first one.
The "It's That Person Who Was In That Thing" Department
Which brings us full circle for this post.
Coming up next week in Cinema Sunday: Shazam! Fury of the Gods!
Coming up the week aftr next week in Cinema Sunday:This year's Oscar winner for Best Picture... Everything Everywhere All At Once!
Until then, remember to be good to one another and it's me, Sugar!
No more Mr. Nice Music Guy! Songs For Saturday needs to rock out!
Cranking up some Foo Fighters, y'all with "Times Like These"
If we're posting Foo Fighters, I gotta get in some "Everlong"
And that is that for this week's Songs For Saturday.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive!
For Your Friday Video Link...
What can I say?
It's vintage French minimal synthpop from 1980.
Or to put it another way...
The French are weird.
I was genuinely surprised to learn that I Am Batman#18 was the last issue of this series.
I just don't keep up with the comic book news like I used to. It seems this series has fallen prey to the semi-regular deck clearing of another DC publishing initiative, the Dawn of DC.
I Am Batman told the story of Jace Fox, scion of Lucius Fox who has taken up the mantle of the Bat in New York City.
Moving Jace to New York City was an inspired move that allowed writer John Ridley to forge his own unique identity as Batman.
Having a black man be Batman in a real city led this series to cross paths with real world upheavals such as police brutality, the Black Lives Matter movement and lives subsumed by fear, hatred and paranoia.
While I Am Batman had to deal with a revolving coterie of artists, most of the art was provided by Christian Duce who had a dynamic style for action and a dark brooding atmospheric flair for the shadows Batman operates in. Duce's artwork was fantastic and if Jace Fox doesn't return anytime soon, I wouldn't mind seeing Christian Duce take on the mothership title of Bruce Wayne's Batman.
The driving heart of I Am Batman was Jace Fox's relationship with his family which took a major hit in the last issue when Jace learned the woman he thought was his mother, Tanya Fox, is in not his real mother. Lucius had an affair with a woman named Aoki who became pregnant but was unable to care for the child so in a major act of forgiveness and foregoing the desire to kick Lucius to death in his balls, Tanya agreed to bring little baby Jace into their home to raise as her own child.
Lucius' secret dalliance is uncovered and some bad guys looking to put the hurt on the Fox family kidnaps Aoki. Jace has to Batman up and save a woman he never heard of before who turns out to be his real mother and yeah, it's a lot.
Remarkably, Jace manages to hold his shit together, rescue his mom, make peace with a family he doesn't quite understand and embrace his role as NYC's Batman.
Hell, Jace has his own "Robin" now in the form of his sister Tiffany who is not lacking in her own kick ass moves.
The issue ends on a hopeful note, as Jace and Tiffany suit up and ride out into the night, doing their best to make the city a safer place.
Reading the adventures of someone other than Bruce Wayne being Batman is not new. The stories of Dick Grayson as Batman were some of my favorite tales of the Caped Crusader. The less said about Commissioner Gordon's turn as Batman, the better.
But Jace Fox offered a totally new take on what it means to be Batman, a new and fresh perspective on what achieving justice actually means.
Whatever is coming with this whole "Dawn Of DC" thing, I sincerely hope we have not seen the last of Jace Fox as the Batman.
Next week is more comic book stuff as I look at a new Superman series from DC.
Tomorrow, I'm taking a day off from the blog.
Unless Donald Trump is arrested.
Today, the Tuesday TV Touchbase takes a look at a couple of series that are part way through their current season.
5 episodes in, Star Trek Picard has gone a LONG way towards righting the wrongs of seasons 1 and 2. The big threat turning out to be a follow up to the Dominion War from Deep Space Nine was a most unexpected but welcome development.
Speaking of unexpected, the return of Michelle Forbes as Ro Laren was completely a surprise. We haven't seen here since the 7th season TNG episode "Preemptive Strike" where Ro went undercover and wound betraying Starfleet and Capt. Picard by joining the Maquis. 30+ years later and Jean-Luc Picard is still pissed off about that.
It's a heartbreaking moment when Ro and Picard confront each other over how much each hurt the other. But they have to trust each other since Ro is getting close to the truth of how far the Changelings of the Dominion have infiltrated Starfleet. It is a mission that will cost Ro her life and puts the burden of finishing her work in the hands of Jean-Luc Picard.
It also finally connects Worf and Raffi's plot line with the rest of the cast.
While season 3 is a vast improvement on the previous seasons, Star Trek Picard is still beset by pacing issues. It takes too long for the plot to get from point A to point B.
I'm loving this show's take on Worf, older and wiser, darn near philosophical but still more than able to kick anyone's ass.
We still do not know what Jack Crusher's deal is and quite frankly, this has played out too long. Why Vandic and the Changelings have such an interest in Jean-Luc and Beverly's son remains frustratingly unclear and Jack's own mental lapses and hallucinations should mean something by now.
We've learned more about Capt. Shaw. Yeah, he's still an asshole but we have a clearer idea why. He's a random survivor of the Borg assault at Wolf 359 and his survivor's guilt fuels his worse impulses. But for all his being a total jerk, Shaw is still a good guy with some considerable skills trying to do the right thing.
The promised TNG reunion is still not quite a thing yet. As of episode 5, Geordi LaForge is still a no show but his daughter as a navigator on the Titan has been an endearing presence so far. Deanna Troi has only made 2 appearance on communication monitors. And Brent Spiner's return as Lore is still pending.
Star Trek Picard is giving more of what fans want with some deep dives into the legacy of not just Star Trek: The Next Generation but also the larger Star Trek universe. Pacing issues and some plot logic problems aside, season 3 has been the journey we were hoping for all along with this series.
Meanwhile...
We're in the middle of a break for Young Sheldon while the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament takes up space on the CBS Thursday night schedule.
When we last left the Coopers...
Mandy gave birth to a baby girl and in an echo of Bernadette's situation on Big Bang Theory, Mandy's baby will not stop crying. Georgie despite being shy of his 18th birthday has been remarkably wise and helpful during this post birth trauma.
Sheldon's database debuted and within the show no one cares and out here for us folks watching the show, no one cares. Too often, the star of Young Sheldon is the least interesting part of Young Sheldon.
The big drama is when George Sr, Brenda Sparks, Mary and Youth Pastor Rob wind up in the same room. George and Brenda have a close relationship as do Mary and Rob. The ever hypocritical Mary (who we know has had sex dreams about Rob) is immediately suspicious of George & Brenda. On the other hand, George (who does seem to spend a lot of time with Brenda in the Sparks family chicken coop) isn't sure of Mary's intentions around Rob. He's seen how she lights up with he's in the room.
While both insist to each other they are not cheating, Mary nonetheless is staying with her mother.
Which leaves Missy. Between the drama of her older brother knocking up a woman 10 years older than him, whatever shit Sheldon is sucking up the air around him about in any given moment and whatever the hell is going on with her parents that no one is talking to her about, Missy feels estranged from her family. So she steals her dad's truck and runs away from home.
The Coopers are heading for a crisis that will tear the family apart. We know from Big Bang Theory that George is no far from the point in his life where he cheats on Mary. Despite his attraction to Brenda, George is really trying to be a good and faithful husband. But when Brenda treats him with more respect and affection than Mary and is also a damn sight more fun to be around, well, George is facing quite a challenge.
And we are also about a year from where George Cooper is going to die.
OK, that is that for this week's Touchbase.
Next week I'm posting about the return of Superman & Lois. Also I've finally finished the first season of Doom Patrol.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.
Let me start by saying I did not intend for each Monday post to be about conservative attacks on transgender Americans.
Two weeks ago, I posted about how a speaker at a conservative conclave called for the eradication on transgenders from public life, a call that was greeted by cheers.
Last week, I wrote about how the U.S. House of Representatives are trying to restrict and curtail Americans who are transgender at the national level, following actions being taken by state legislatures across the country.
This week, some of those state houses took up certain extreme measures that call out for attention and for more than a little outrage.
But before I get into that, I want to address why this issue is important to me.
I could say there are people that Andrea, Randie and I know and care about who are transgender. And that would be a true statement.
But "I know people who are <fill in the blank>" is the cop out of conservatives who change their minds about some previous opposition to equality for women, racial equality, gay rights and more.
There was a story recently of a state senator who voted against a measure to help provide free lunches to hungry children because he didn't know any hungry children.
I suppose it helps to have a personal point of reference to have empathy for others but I do not think it's necessary.
I'm going to turn part of today's post over to a 1970's sitcom called Maude starring Bea Arthur. Maude was a ground breaking TV show that was not afraid to take on critical socio-political issues of the day. Below is an exchange between Maude and a conservative ideologue who is trying to shut down a neighborhood gay bar.
Dr. Arthur Harmon: There are laws that prohibit places like this and this one should be closed down.
Maude Findlay: Oh, come on, you don't care anything about the law. You just want to persecute people whom you thing are different than you are.
Dr. Arthur Harmon: Do you approve of homosexuals?
Maude Findlay: Arthur, it doesn't matter whether I approve or disapprove. They are human beings; they exist.
On the subject of people who identify as transgender, I am not going to pretend I have anything approaching a complete understanding of what that means.
But my understanding, even my approval, is irrelevant. They are human beings, they exist.
And here in the United States, they are also American citizens whose fundamental rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are under attack.
For example the sweeping anti-trans bill in Kentucky that Republicans rushed through approvals in both the state House and Senate.
The bill sets up the following:
What makes passage of this particular passage of this bill especially galling is that in open debate with Democrats, the bill appeared to be dead, that the bill went too far. Instead of further debate, Republicans put the bill on a fast track for a vote before anyone could raise any objections.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear isn’t expected to sign the bill, which passed along party lines but the GOP has enough of a majority to override his veto.
Meanwhile in Montana, Republicans are moving forward with legislation to eliminate the legal existence of trans, nonbinary and intersex people in the state by codifying the definition of sex to be based on a person’s reproductive system.
This is what Dr. Lauren Wilson of the American Academy of Pediatrics had to say about the Montana bill: “I think this bill is trying to solve a problem that doesn’t really exist, and in doing so, they’re using a really faulty understanding of biology to try to change the legal code in ways that I don’t think they’ve fully thought through."
The Montana bill would define sex as “the organization of the body and gametes for reproduction in human beings and other organisms” and states that among human beings, “there are exactly two sexes, male and female, with two corresponding gametes.”
What would make you a woman in Montana? "Produce a relatively large, relatively immobile gamete, or egg, during her life cycle and have a reproductive and endocrine system oriented around the production of that gamete.”
What would make you a man in Montana? "Produce “small, mobile gametes, or sperm, during his life cycle and a reproductive and endocrine system oriented around the production of that gamete.”
After some debate, the bill was amended to include some exceptions for intersex individuals, who are born with anatomy or chromosomes that don’t fit into a male or female binary. However, the bill forces these individuals to align with the male or female gender.
On the intersex part of this bill, here's more from Dr. Wilson: “Some intersex people, they identify themselves as a third category. Having the definitions really be centered around people’s reproductive capacity means that there are certain people who just will never be able to be categorized that way. And this bill appears to give them no legal status whatsoever."
Which is the whole point, to marginalize a part of the American population, to make them (to borrow a term from the novel 1984) "unpersons". A handy dandy vulnerable target to gain political power.
But these are not unpersons to be shunted aside out of fear and a blatant grab for power.
They are, as Maude said nearly 50 years ago, "They are human beings; they exist."
Today's Cinema Sunday post continues our Multiple Movie March with a post about six (yes, count them, SIX!) movies.
Andrea and I watched 2 of these on New Year's Eve night and recorded the others to watch on subsequent movie nights. These films star William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a rich, sophisticated couple who know all the best night clubs with all the best martinis that they enjoy while engaging in the most wickedly witty and flirtatious banter.
They also find themselves frequently at the center of murder mysteries. Despite telling everyone who will not listen he is retired from the private detective game, Nick still despite himself gets sucked into solving a new otherwise intractable mystery with a little goading from his adventurous wife Nora.
Today we discuss the Thin Man series.
The Thin Man (1934)
Nick Charles is dragged into finding a missing scientist named Clyde Wynant (also known as "the thin man") who is either the culprit in the murder of his mistress or another victim of the murderer.
Nick is dragged into this case because he doesn't want to. "I am retired," says Nick to anyone who will listen but no one is.
In what would become a staple of the series, Nick gathers all the parties in one room to lay out the particulars of the case and we find out the nicest person among the suspects is the murderer.
The "It's That Dog Who Was In That Thing" Department
Nick and Nora have a white Scottish terrier named Asta. While the credits tell us Asta is playing herself, the dog who portrays Asta is Skippy who parlayed this appearance in The Thin Man into being cast in two screwball comedy classics, The Awful Truth (1937) and Bringing Up Baby (1938).
After the Thin Man (1936)
Although the "thin man" of the first movie is no longer around, "Thin Man" remained the brand for the Nick and Nora films.
This murder mystery centers around some dysfunctional shit involving Nora's high society family. They don't care for Nick and his sketchy background as a private detective but damned if they don't need his skills to sort out a scandal.
An errant son in law is off gambling and carousing with other women and then winds up dead, shot, possibly (and quite reasonably, if you ask me) by his estranged wife. The family needs famous private detective Nick Charles to sort this out.
"I am retired," says Nick but no one is listening so...
It's a tricky one, you betcha but Nick susses it out, gathering all the parties in one room to lay out the particulars of the case. And is the murderer the nicest person among the suspects in the room? Since that person is played by a very young Jimmy Stewart, I would say yes.
Another Thin Man (1939)
Among the cast is Sheldon Leonard who would eventually move on from acting to become a successful TV producer. And yes, the characters of Sheldon and Leonard in Big Bang Theory are named after that guy. And if you think the character of Wacky looks like Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges, well it is Shemp in an uncredited role.
And yes it's Nick and Nora and baby makes three.
It seems the old dude who is the chief financial officer of Nick and Nora's various businesses is being threatened with death. This guy is a total pain in the ass and when he is murdered, well, it's kind of a relief. But damn it, now Nick has to solve another god damn murder mystery which eats into his martini drinking time.
Nick gathers all the parties, lays out the deets and damn it it if the murderer isn't the nicest person among the suspects and the murder is for the first and only time in the Thin Man series a woman!
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
The seedy underbelly of the sports world serves as the linch pin of this latest mystery. Look, all Nick and Nora wanted to do is get to the track, bet on the ponies and watch the horse races while being plied with martinis.
But damn it, there's a dead body and look, since famous detective Nick Charles is on the scene, well, we'll get to bottom of this one.
"I am retired," says Nick but no one is listening so it's off to solve this murder.
There's a funny bit when Nora is tailing a suspect and tells a cab driver to "follow that cab". The driver says "Yes, ma'am!" and drives off to follow that cab before Nora can actually get in.
After his investigation, Nick gathers everybody, lays out the case and damn it, it's the nice guy you didn't suspect.
But I've got the rhythm of these movies now so yeah, I suspected him.
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
This film takes Nick and Nora out of their big city sophistication to hang with Nick's parents in a bucolic small town. Mom's happy to see her son and his wife but Nick's dad, a medical doctor, is a judgmental prick who thinks his son is a failure for not following him into medicine.
Nick's off the martinis for this installment, indulging instead in good old fashioned and totally wholesome cider in his flask. Everyone still assumes it's liquor in the flask.
This movie's murder is instigated by Nick Charles but it's not really his fault. There is some sketchy shit going down with a nearby factory building thingys for the government and foreign spies trying to get their hands on the specs and the bad guys assume Nick is in town to investigate and start killing people to cover their tracks.
Damn it! Nick's just in town to see his folks and... well, I guess he has a murder mystery to solve.
In case you're unclear what happens at the end of one of these movies by now, Nora explains it to Nick's dad: "So Nick gets everybody together who has anything to do with the case and he goes over the case and narrows down to the killer who is usually the last person you suspect. There's a lot of tension and it can be quite exciting."
Dad does realize a new found respect for his son, the great detective.
Speaking of children, Nick and Nora's kid is written out of this installment with a line that he couldn't miss school for this trip. Which is totally bogus. Look, your parents may still love you but once grand kids enter the picture, they want to see the grand kids.
(Even if the grand child is a dog. Hello, Randie!)
Song of the Thin Man (1947)
Nick Jr is back for this installment having aged into child actor Dean Stockwell (who would later age into Al on the original Quantum Leap.)
Nick and Nora are back in the big city again (New York City, that is) attending a charity event on a harbor cruise ship when there is a murder.
Murder? Again?
There's some sketchy shit going down with the jazz musicians and a shady club owner and then BAM! We've got ourselves a murder!
Don't worry! With famous detective Nick Charles on the scene, well, we'll get to bottom of this one.
"But I am retired," says Nick but no one is listening. So he's got himself a case whether he wanted it or not (and the answer was "not" but no one's paying him any attention.
Since jazz musicians are involved, there's a lot of inside lingo from some really hep cats, you dig?
And this marks the end of the Thin Man series.
And probably just as well. These films were enjoyable comic mysteries right up to the end but the sexy zing of the original film was watered down by parental domesticity which I'm sure was probably an imposition by the notoriously restrictive Hays Code. (The first movie was made pre-Code.)
The lack of involvement by Dashiell Hammett in the latter installments I think may have diluted the brand. Hammett created Nick and Nora for the original Thin Man novel and his stories served as the basis of the next 2 films. Nick and Nora were deviations from the usual hard boiled detective genre that Hammett specialized in.
The Thin Man series did play with the conventions of the hard boiled detective. Nick may have moved up in the high society world with his marriage to Nora but the tough and sketchy characters that were part of his life as a private eye still intersect with his current life. They're still willing to help Nick on any case he doesn't want to be involved with but is nonetheless stuck with solving.
Nick's protests aside, you can see the wheels turning the moment a mystery crosses his path. He may proclaim "I am retired" but even without goading from Nora or others, Nick's mind is inexorably focused on unlocking the puzzle.
I've long heard about the Thin Man movies and was well aware of their reputation. "Nick and Nora" is short hand to describe a couple of sophistication, razor sharp wit and sex appeal.
I'm glad I finally got a chance to experience these clever movies and Andrea enjoyed them as well.
Spring has sprung and I am in the mood for some Enya.
The play list for this week's Songs For Saturday kicks off with "Storms In Africa"
Next up is "Caribbean Blue"
And if "Book Of Days" is not my favorite song by Enya, well, it's pretty darn close.
That is that for this week's Songs For Saturday.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive.
This coming Monday is the first day of spring.
So Your Friday Video Link is an ecstatic tribute to the one of the wondrous joys of this beautiful season.
From 1998, here is the great Tom Lehrer with a fun and exciting way to pass a lovely spring day.
It's time for another edition of Dave-El's Book Report where I read a book then write about it.
The text in the graphic I use for this book report is an accurate representation of my attitude towards reading. If given a choice between reading and actually doing something, I will choose reading every time.
The graphic's visual component is a woman and I am not but that does not change the truth of the message.
Or consider that's me in drag in it helps you to cope but it may prevent me from reading to children in libraries.
Well, it's been a wild ride on Cinema Saturday for the month of April. We started off with a nuclear submarine on a mission to stop a ...
