Review of The Thin Man (1934) by Alex M — 10 Jun 2004

[size=3]Dialogue was never more crucial to the success or failure of films than in the mid-1930s. After sound had been merged with motion pictures in the late 20s, movies were often notable less for their visual style than for the richness of their dialogue. The dependency on dialogue can be seen in [i]The Thin Man[/i], a comic-thriller that does justice to the term "Talkie". The film is ostensibly a murder mystery, but in reality it is more of a comic portrayal of a perpetually-squabbling yet devoted couple: Nick and Nora Charles (played by William Powell and Myrna Loy, respectively). Nick spends his time as an amateur sleuth, and he is eventually drawn into a murdery mystery involving the high-class Wynant family. Dorothy Wynant (Maureen O'Sullivan), who hires Nick, is worried that her father is the prime suspect in a murder investigation involving the father's lover. Nick resolves to dig deeper into the murder case, and his plucky wife Nora wants to aid him so that she can experience the excitement of detective work. [i]The Thin Man[/i] features a fairly complex mystery at its core, but it never really takes the whodunit elements of the plot too seriously. Instead, we are treated to many scenes that focus on the relationship between Nick and Nora. Most of the humour in the film emerges from the witty banter between the married couple, and although the neverending quips and wordplays occasionally become tiresome, the scenes between the two still sparkle with energy. There is also a comic subtext in the movie about how Nick and Nora are borderline alcoholics: they drink so much in the film that it is a wonder they can stay focused enough to concentrate on a murder mystery. Unfortunately, many of the gags in [i]The Thin Man [/i]now seem forced and quaint (including the focus on the couple's too-cute little dog). This would not be a problem if the film's murder mystery held up to scrutiny, but its resolution seems forced and hurried, as if the audience isn't supposed to even care about what is ostensibly the film's main plotline. [i]The Thin Man [/i]is an interesting relic from the 1930s, and the scenes with Powell and Loy are effortlessly charming, but the film as a whole is so haphazard in its approach to the murder mystery and clumsy in its comedy that, by the end of it, my patience was wearing a little thin.[/size].

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