Thursday, December 16, 2010

Recurring Themes: The Thin Man


Today, we debut a new feature focusing on movie franchises, by which I mean movies that have multiple sequels. The Thin Man (1934) was based on a crime novel by Dashiell Hammett. The witty script and wonderful comedic chemistry between William Powell, as the perpetually tipsy ex-detective and Myrna Loy as his wealthy, thrill seeking and unflappable wife made the film an sensational hit. This, naturally, led to 5 sequels over the next 13 years. Many feel that the series kind of "jumped the shark" after the death of the original director, W.S. Van Dyke, in 1943, but, personally, I like the final two entries. They may not be quite up to the standard of the first 4 films, but I still find them entertaining.


The Thin Man (1934)

The Thin Man (1934)

The Thin Man (1934)

Interestingly, although the term "the thin man" came to refer to William Powell's character Nick Charles, in the original novel "the thin man" referred to the victim. In Hammett's novel, Nick Charles was overweight.

After the Thin Man (1936)

After the Thin Man (1936)

After the Thin Man (1936)

In Another Thin Man (1939), the Charles' are joined by their newly arrived son.

Another Thin Man (1939)

Another Thin Man (1939)

Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)

Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)

Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)

The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)

One of the most popular recurring characters in the series was the Charles' terrier Asta. In fact, Asta was so popular with moviegoers of the 30s and 40s that demand for the breed led to the over-breeding of wire-haired terriers around the country.

Song of the Thin Man (1947)

Song of the Thin Man (1947)

Song of the Thin Man (1947)

Although arguably the weakest entry in the series, I have a soft spot in my heart for Song of the Thin Man (1947) because the murder victim is a big band singer played by Gloria Grahame.

4 comments:

  1. One of my all-time favorite series also. I think I've seen all of them now. And I agree that Song of the Thin Man is pretty good.
    RetroHound.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. As a longtime fan of William Powell and Myrna Loy in general and the THIN MAN movies in particular, these pictures put a big smile on my face! Thanks so much for running them! For the record, I enjoyed all the THIN MAN movies, but I feel that the "weakest" entry is THE THIN MAN GOES HOME. Still, even a merely OK THIN MAN movie is far better than most filmmakers' best films. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Dorian:

    I don't really know which of the final two movies is really the weakest, but I think Gloria DeHaven as the stage struck "Laura Belle" character in "The Thin Man Goes Home" was so over-the-top hilarious that she really makes the movie for me. I also like the small-town "Andy Hardy" feel to it. On the other hand, all the big band "hep" shtick in "Song of the Thin Man" was kind of corny and unbelievable, I thought. As though NY residents that spent as much time in nightclubs as the Charles supposedly did would be that unfamiliar with the music scene.

    That being said, I'm with you. There's no such thing as a bad Thin Man movie. :)

    mark-

    ReplyDelete
  4. William Powell - my heart throbs :)

    ReplyDelete