:: Friday, January 09, 2004 ::

The Thin Man
After the Thin Man
Shadow of the Thin Man
Another Thin Man
The Thin Man Goes Home
Song of the Thin Man
I have now seen all of "The Thin Man" movies. (Thanks to Tivo.)
From the young couple first seen in 1934 to the aging but still cuddling lovebirds seen in the swing era "Song", Nick and Nora Charles fit stars William Powell and Myrna Loy like snug underwear. By the last film, which lampoons both itself as a series and the movies in general, sort of like self aware action films starring people like Will Smith today, there are several in-jokes and subtle asides that the genre was slowly fading out. I wish we could have seen a noir Nick and Nora next, but I believe "Song" was the last. This series is absolutely delightful, as are the two leads. After three or four movies, the series essentially became like a television series today, each film being an episode. I was hit with the realization while watching the first film, set and filmed in 1934, that all the drinking being shown was really rather bold in a country which had only recently been relieved of Prohibition. There is even one episode where Nick goes "straight". I love the conceipt that everywhere Nick goes he runs into old jailbirds whom he "sent up the river". The way in which the feel and the look of the films, which doesn't really vary very much since they are all shot on the MGM back lot, echoes the times changing, even though the films appear very much to be alike. I thrilled seeing William Powell age both in the role and literally.
These films are classics. I have never seen them all, and thanks to Tivo and Turner Classic Movies, my favorite TV channel, I have now experienced the complete set. (I always wanted the laserdisc box set but put it off, and I don't think they're all on DVD.) I'm also attempting to see the complete Andy Hardy on TCM, and have seen about five.

:: Michael Nyiri 10:55 PM Leave a Comment on this Post ::
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