USA 91m Dir: WS van Dyke Key Cast: William Powell and Myrna Loy
The Thin Man was based on a book written by Dashiell Hammett and so I was expecting a film noir similar in tone to The Maltese Falcon. Though this is a mystery it's tone is very light and it's a sharp-tongued comedy.
Former police detective Nick Charles (William Powell) has married wealthy heiress Nora (Myrna Loy) and retired. He is called on to investigate a murder apparently committed by 'the thin man' Clyde Wynant. As more bodies start appearing the police are convinced Wynant is a serial murderer but Charles isn't so sure.
This film works because of the excellent lead characters. Charles is an excellent detective full of wit and an apparently care-free attitude. He bounces brilliantly off Nora, who unfortunately doesn't have equal weight in the investigation despite what the promotional material for the film implies, and together they are wonderful. Traditionally couples had the icy banter and flirtation as they were getting to know each other and the film would end with their wedding but this film has the couple already married.
The highlight of the film for me was the climax where Charles invites all the suspects in the case to a dinner party. Though it has a similar feeling to your classic Agatha Christie climax, the difference here is that Charles doesn't actually know which one of them is the murderer so it's a mass interrogation. The suspects are really shifty as Charles attempts to pull information out of them and the moment that the murderer is revealed is excellent.
Whilst I'm not against a bit of responsible drinking, or frankly even a little irresponsible drinking, I was surprised by just how much alcohol the lead couple consume in this film. In their first scene they consume six martinis each and then in almost every subsequent scene they are drinking or at least complaining that they haven't had anything to drink. I don't think I've ever seen a film to clearly depict that it's characters have an alcohol problem without ever alluding to any negative consequences whatsoever.
The mystery side of things isn't that great, complicated by implicating lots of characters yet the actual event is simple and underwhelming. This film isn't really even here for the mystery, there's no real satisfaction from the plot, it's exists for the fun of these characters solving the mystery.
I can totally understand why this film became so successful that it had five sequels with the same leads. It's script is just so brilliantly spiky and witty and it's given to a pair of actors who have fantastic chemistry.
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