Monday, November 24, 2014

After the Thin Man


After the Thin Man ~ The second of the Thin Man movies, and the sequel to The Thin Man, a terrific Dashiell Hammett novel (which I recommend heartily as I do all of his books). Hammett also wrote the story of this film as well, not based on any previous work, and was nominated for an Oscar.

After the Thin Man is also the second of six Thin Man movies starring William Powell and Myrna Loy (and just one of fourteen total the pair appeared in together) as married freelance detectives Nick and Nora Charles. He a retired detective and she an heiress with a frisky doggie named Asta, they drank, smartassed, and sassed their way through six of these, with this entry, in my opinion, being the best. Their chemistry, even when it became a bit rough and self-deprecating later on, was still some of the best ever on film.

Powell and Loy as Nick and Nora were so popular that in this film series they often got lead billing over much bigger stars like Maureen O'Sullivan, or in this case, James Stewart. Directed by W.S. Van Dyke as were all the Thin Man movies, and he was also known for the Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy films as well, one of the classic Hollywood directors.

This is a fun and suspenseful entry in the series, and as I mentioned, in my opinion, the best. After the Thin Man is definitely worthwhile viewing. Thanks again to the TCM Classic Cruise for the opportunity to see this as it was meant to be seen, on the big screen.

1 comment:

  1. Nick Charles=My Favorite Fictional Substance Abuser.

    But seriously...every time a new THIN MAN movie is mentioned I always pray that it will set in period as Nick's heroic consumption of alcohol is a habit that could only be portrayed and tolerated in today's PC insane society as belonging to the the 1930's. A Nick Charles who isn't boozing just isn't Nick Charles.

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