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.
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