AFTER THE THIN MAN

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A film that has always been on my must-see list is 'The Thin Man', but so far the opportunity to watch it has never arisen.

So I decided to make do instead with the 1936 sequel, which received a positive reception.

It stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles.  He's a retired private detective and she's a charming heiress,  and they have a nice easy-going relationship in which they gently tease each other, and drink copious quantities of alcohol whilst never seeming to get more than tipsy.

As a bonus, this film also features James Stewart, which was a pleasant surprise although it was also a bit of a shock to realise that as late as 1936 he wasn't yet that big a star.  

The first 'Thin Man' film was based on a novel by Dashiell Hammett which was something of a departure from his normal hardboiled style in being lighter and more comedic.  Although he didn't write any more novels featuring Mr and Mrs Charles, he contributed the storyline for this follow-up.

Based on this film a large part of the success of this franchise was the juxtaposition of the world of 'high society' Nora comes from and the seedy underworld that Nick is at ease dealing with.  Or to put it another way we get both the amusing banter of Nick and Nora, and a gritty murder mystery.  Plus, if you're into that sort of thing there are the shenanigans of a mischievous wire-haired fox terrier named Asta.  

The picture moves quickly and the plot is decent enough even though it does include an outrageous coincidence concerning a janitor.  I've recently watched several British comedy mysteries starring Margaret Rutherford as Jane Marple, which are enjoyable enough but I think this film has the edge, in that I laughed several times (a high bar with me) and I enjoyed  watching Nick put together the pieces of the puzzle (as an aside though, I was disappointed that Nora contributes nothing to the sleuthing).  

Admittedly when at the end he brings all the suspects together Nick hasn't yet identified the murderer, but it makes for an entertaining and satisfying conclusion, as he talks them (and us) through his theory of the case.  As he had hoped, in the course of the various accusations and counter-accusations that are thrown around, and protestations of innocence, the killer makes a fatal mistake.  

Very entertaining all round.  

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