Review by Calvin Trager

July 24, 2002

Nick Charles was once a celebrated private detective, solving high-profile cases and landing on the front pages of the tabloids. He married well and retired, committed to loving his wife and spending her money. However, murder seems to follow him, and he gets drawn back into the life of solving crimes.

Such is the thin plot of The Thin Man (1934), and of all the subsequent films in the series, for that matter. As mundane as the premise sounds, The Thin Man is tremendous fun, due in part to a fast-paced script filled with witty repartee and the enormous chemistry between Nick and Nora Charles, played by William Powell and Myrna Loy.

Dashiell Hammett created the characters of Nick and Nora; Nick is the smooth, suave man of the people; Nora, the rich socialite. Despite their differences, the two are made for each other. Both are never far from a martini and a perpetual party seems to be surrounding the two of them. Nick gave up his job, content, as he put it, to work at spending Nora's money, but despite his flippancy, you know he gave it up because of its danger and his love of Nora. Nora, on the other hand, seems fascinated by Nick's former profession, and when a murder case falls into Nick's lap, she pushes him to investigate. Of course, she gets involved too, and a fashionable detective team is born. There is one more member of the Charles investigating team: Asta, the Charles' wire-haired fox terrier. Asta is as memorable a cinematic pooch as they come. He's a cute bundle of energy who uncovers some key clues in the murder mystery.

Unfortunately, they don't write characters like this any longer, and dialogue is seldom this quick and fun. The murder, and its subsequent solving, is really beside the point. In fact, Nick does not really solve the crime so much as draw out the murderer. He gets everyone together for a black-tie dinner and lays out the clues and waits for the murderer to reveal himself. No matter. You don't watch a Nick and Nora film for the intricacies of the murder plot. You watch it for the zing of the dialogue, the fabulous dresses and, most of all, fun of watching Powell and Loy embody the roles of social swells-cum-sleuths. If you get a chance, grab a copy of The Thin Man at your local video store. I can guarantee by the end of the film you'll want to grab a martini and raise your glass to Nick and Nora.