A classic romp in so many ways. The cast, writing and performances are fresh and funny as the day they were filmed. Some of the dialogue is a reflection of the era, but will not be lost on 21st century ears. No political correctness here, everyone drinks too much and has fun doing it. "Nora: How do you feel? Nick: Terrible. I must have gone to bed sober." Young or old film buffs will enjoy the entire Thin Man series, but I think this and the second in the series are the best.

Nick Charles, a retired private detective, is pressed back into service by Dorothy Wynant, a young woman worried by the disappearance of her businessman father Clyde. The case starts out as a simple missing person inquiry, but when Wynant's former secretary and mistress, Julia Wolf, is found dead, it becomes a murder. The police believe that Wynant is the obvious suspect, but Nick is not convinced. The mystery is eventually solved at a classic Agatha Christie-style dinner party at which all the suspects are present. The "Thin Man" of the title is Clyde Wynant; the fact that he is thin rather than fat turns out to be an important plot point, although I will not say what its significance is as that would be to give away too much of the ending. Audiences, however, frequently assumed that Nick himself was the "Thin Man", and five sequels were made between 1936 and 1947, all with the words "Thin Man" in the title. The film was made in 1934, just before the Production Code came into force. (Had it been made a bit later, the Hays Office might have taken exception to the fact that the hard-drinking Nick is seldom seem without a glass in his hand). Although it involves a murder case it is much lighter and more comedic in tone than the films noirs which were to dominate the crime genre in the American cinema a few years later. Nick's wife Nora, who helps her husband solve the mystery, is as important a character as he is, and their light-hearted bantering exchanges are a notable feature of the film. The third member of their team is their wire-haired fox terrier Asta, who frequently steals the scene from both Nick and Nora, although it is said that Asta, real name Skippy, was not as engaging away from the cameras as he appears on screen. (He is said to have bitten Myrna Loy in one encounter). The characters were originally invented in a novel by Dashiell Hammett, who based them upon his own difficult relationship with Lillian Hellman. The screenplay was written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, themselves a married couple. The film stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora. Neither would have been the first choice of the studio, MGM, but the director W. S. Van Dyke persuaded the studio bosses that they were right for the roles. Van Dyke's instinct was a happy one, because it is the chemistry between these two which is largely responsible for lifting "The Thin Man" out of the category of "run-of-the-mill whodunit and turning it into a stylishly entertaining classic, still fondly remembered today more than eighty years after it was made. 8/10

You couldn't make The Thin Man the way they did it back in 1934. For one thing, the book by Dashiell Hammett - which I have to imagine the filmmakers were faithful as could be within a 90 minute run time - has as its two main heroes characters who love their booze. There's only so many moments that you see Nick (William Powell) without a drink, or looking for one, and Nora is only so far behind (though Nick is certainly more the booze-hound). Nowadays, a producer would look at material like that and want to take it out. And yeah, in reality, being a drunk or the "A" word (alcoholic) isn't much fun. But this was the movies and Hollywood and 1934 after all! This is a world where a hangover isn't necessarily glossed over completely - see as Nick is in bed after the Christmas party and has to get another drink to make himself, uh, 'regular', and of course has to get Nora one right after he comes back to bed. But... yeah, it's a comedy after all.The Thin Man is a glorious escapist movie, and a riot at times. The story itself is fine enough, a solid, mostly serious yarn about an engineer (the 'Thin Man' of the title actually) who goes missing, and a woman he was seeing is found dead. Who killed her? Where is Clyde Wynant? Did he commit the murder and go off with money and skip town? There's a lot of questions to be answered, to be sure - it is Hammett, after all, the author of The Maltese Falcon and all those Continental Op thrillers. But that's not why the film is still fresh today, maybe even better by the passage of time like wine, because of the characters and the snappy dialog.By the 'characters' I do mean mostly our leads, Nick and Nora, though the supporting characters - played by the likes of Maureen O'Sullivan, Nathalie Moorehead and the original Joker himself Cesar Romero - are perfectly fine and acted memorably. They are a catty couple of people, and are constantly kidding themselves, though certainly are very seriously in love. They're the kind of couple who, when Nora walks in and sees Nick trying (little as he really can given his disposition) to give comfort to a sorrowful Dorothy, they make faces at one another to kill the tension. Outstanding comic timing. And speaking of not being able to do certain things today as in 1934, the moment where, to distract a heavy holding a gun on the two of them, Nick slugs Nora so he can then get HIS gun away! Whether this was right before the Code fully took effect, I'm not sure, but it wouldn't surprise me (the innuendo at the end is perfectly cute, though I'm sure rather scandalous also for 34).There are so many juicy and awesome moments between these two that it's little wonder they went on to make five more films over the course of fifteen years, and the public thought the actors were married in real life (!) The chemistry enough would make it a crackerjack semi-screwball comedy, though what levels it out as a great film of its year is that the director, WS Van Dyke, and the screenwriters, make some indelible set pieces. The Christmas dinner party, for one, really gets the audience fully immersed into the quick wit and here-to-there-and-again timing of a party where everybody wants a drink, one guy really wants to call home to his mother, and everyone keeps hounding Nick Charles to take on a case after being away from the sleuthing for years. This alone would make the movie a must see - but that ending, where everybody involved with the case is brought in so that Nick can crack it (he even admits, you know, he isn't entirely sure to Nora, who can do nothing but make spectacular quips) pushes it over into classic territory.When The Thin Man wants to be suspenseful, it can be as well. When Nick has to go looking in a dark place after hours and someone is coming in, all the lights go off and it takes on the air of an early noir. This, again, really is necessary though, and Van Dyke really makes sure that the more dramatic elements work in their vein, the comedy in its own, but that the two sides can meet, rather deliriously and uproariously into a charming package of a Hollywood movie. It's the kind of movie that I'm sure inspired Hitchcock, too, with the younger brother obsessed with morbid crimes and bodies; notice the reaction of the police when he offers to help them with forensics work. Again, 1934 people.

Former detective Nick Charles (William Powell) has come out of retirement to investigate the case of a missing inventor whose wife has just been found murdered. Nick is reluctant to get back into the sleuthing business but his wife Nora (Myrna Loy), a wealthy heiress, thinks it's all very exciting and pushes him to solve the case. The first of a wonderful series of comedy-mysteries. Possibly the best. Based off of Dashiell Hammett's last novel. Nick and Nora would become the trademark roles for Powell and Loy. This first entry in the series is excellent and one of the finest detective films made in the '30s. The wonderful comedy is a great plus. Nice support from Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton, Edward Ellis, Cesar Romero, and many more. Just a fantastic cast with a great script and fine direction from Woody "One Take" Van Dyke. The Thin Man series was also one of the best at the wrap-up segments where all the suspects are gathered together at the end as the detective explains what happened (to them and to us, the viewers). These parts of detective movies are always either exciting and fun or boring and talky. This series always managed to be fun.