The Thin Man

I was in the mood for a comedy so I searched the archives at Filmstruck and found that they were calling some films comedies that weren't really that funny. Then I came to The Thin Man, which is funny, and I have seen many times, but not recently, so I had an imaginary martini and put it on.

The Thin Man, one of the essential classics of Hollywood cinema, was made in 1934 quickly and cheaply. It was directed by W. S. Van Dyke and written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, who were a married couple. It shows, because it is one of the best depictions of a married couple in love that we have.

Based on a novel by Dashiell Hammett (I read it when I was in a kid in one sitting), The Thin Man is a mystery, but that really plays second fiddle to the chemistry between stars William Powell and Myrna Loy. They are Nick and Nora Charles, respectively. He's a former detective, she's an heiress, so he's retired and enjoying the easy life. When she suggests he take the case of the missing scientist, he says "I haven't the time. I'm much too busy seeing that you don't lose any of the money I married you for."

The film is full of lines like that, such as when Nora says, "It says you were shot five times in the tabloids," and his response is "They never got near my tabloids." Or Nora, at the culminating dinner at the end, says: "Waiter, will you serve the nuts? I mean, will you serve the guests the nuts?"

There is a lot of drinking in this film, so it probably shouldn't be screened at an AA meeting. The very first thing we hear Nick say is his tutorial on shaking mixed drinks: "The important thing is the rhythm. Always have rhythm in your shaking. Now a Manhattan you shake to fox-trot time, a Bronx to two-step time, a dry martini you always shake to waltz time." Nora, catching up with him at the bar, finds that he has already had five martinis so she orders that same number, lined up in a row.

The mystery part of it doesn't make a lot of sense--Nick knows things just because he knows them. The body count is high for a comedy: three dead. And it ends with one of those corny gathering all of the suspects in one room tropes. But none of that is important.

There were five more films featuring the Charles', all with the "Thin Man" in the title, even though Nick Charles is not the thin man--that was the sobriquet for the first murder victim. Those are not as good as the original. I still enjoy watching Nick shoot Christmas ornaments off a tree with an air gun between his legs, or their beloved wire-haired fox terrier, Asta. Perhaps my favorite line in the film is when Asta, playing with a balloon, pops it. Nora, sad as can be, says, "Oh Asta your balloon busted."