"Whaddaya mean "illiterate"? My father and mother were married right here in the city hall!"
Added 7/15/2009
William Powell and Myrna Loy return as Nick and Nora Charles in the first "Thin Man" sequel, AFTER THE THIN MAN (1936). Again directed by Woody "One-Take" Van Dyke, this is very much a case of the sequel matching the original, step for lively step.
Arriving back at their San Francisco home just in time for New Years Eve, Nick and Nora are immediately plunged into yet another baffling murder mystery, this time concerning Nora's cousin Selma (Elissa Landi), who is discovered holding a gun over the dead body of her philandering husband. The red herrings fly thick and fast with wonderful performances all-round; including Penny "Blondie" Singleton as the singer of the Lychee Club, Jessie Ralph as Nora's crusty Aunt, and young Jimmy Stewart as a cow-eyed bachelor in love with Selma.
AFTER THE THIN MAN is brimming with all the witty, playful dialogue between Powell and Loy that also marked the original "Thin Man", and it's always a pleasure to see this duo gracing the screen. A real treat!
The DVD includes the vintage Robert Benchley short "How to Be a Detective", cartoon "The Early Bird and the Worm", and the trailer.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Mixed experience- great movie, though
Added 3/20/2009
While I enjoyed the movie (watched it with my parents who love this series), the video came in spurts. I watched this through amazon's video on demand on a G5 iMac. There were several times where the video started chopping. At first I thought the lag was due to a lack of buffering, but throughout the movie (pausing to buffer every ten minutes) I decided that maybe the service wasn't there- amazon VOD was brand new at the time. Never once did it say that it was buffering, and pausing to let it buffer never actually changed the amount of time we could watch it without interruption. And it wasn't my parents' connection speed- they watch hulu all the time and had never seen a buffer in their life. For now, I chalk it up to a new service getting through the hiccups, but my folks are a hard sell to try it again. Maybe after amazon's VOD gets some positive press in a blog or news article I'll return to try it again.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Myrna Loy Dresses Up William Powell!
Added 2/7/2009
This is the second of the series. It takes Nick and Nora to their home in San Francisco - yes they do have a house somewhere! The dog, Asta, steals a few scenes and you get to see a young Jimmie Stewart! It's a typical Thin Man who done it with Nick's benign criminal friends, not too smart cops, and the chemistry of Loy and Powell.
NOTE: Myrna Loy was quite a patriot. During WWII she was at the front of bond drives and the Canteen USO support for our troops. She was so outspoken about Fascism and Hitler that she was placed on Hitler's infamous black list. Later in life she was a civil rights champion - way before it became popular. She was probably on the KKK black list too!
Did I mention that she had a great figure for a California girl!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
"And You Call Yourself a Detective"
Added 7/7/2008
There's more fun to be had in this 1936 sequel to The Thin Man.
Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy) are returning home to San Francisco just in time for New Years. Instead of the early evening they had planned, they are summoned to a family dinner at Nora's Aunt Katherine's (Jessie Ralph). Only after dinner do they learn that Cousin Selma (Elissa Landi) is missing her husband. And they can't go to the police and get their names in the paper. So a reluctant Nick agrees to find Robert (Alan Marshal).
The case seems to be over pretty quickly when Nick and Nora find Robert at a night club. But then the dead bodies start piling up. Can Nick sort this all out?
Once again, we have a fun mix of the comedic and the mysterious. While the climax is once again the "gather everyone in one room cliche," Nick does solve things this time. And there are several fun comedic moments along the way, not to mention the great chemistry between William Powell and Myrna Loy. That makes their barbs all the funnier as they tease each other back and forth. There are truly some funny lines here.
Frankly, I haven't heard of most of the cast. The exception is Jimmy Stewart is an early role.
While I enjoyed it, I found I had to work hard to keep all the men straight. Most of them looked to similar to me to remember who was who. And there are a couple fun but pointless scenes. Heck, I'm still not sure I get the sub-plot involving Asta the dog.
But if you enjoy old movies and are looking for a funny mystery, you can't go wrong with this film.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Arguably greatest of the THIN MAN series
Added 7/4/2008
I bought the entire set (The Complete Thin Man Collection) to get this, my perennial favorite, before it was released individually. What W.S. Van Dyke did so well in The Thin Man, he topped and delivered even more of in this superb sequel. Even more affectionate banter between Nick and Nora, even more harebrained, screwy upper crusters, and the usual mob of colorful bottom dwellers from Nick's former life as a "flat foot." Everything about this film is better, including the photography, the sets, dialogue, plot complications, location shooting (including a surprise that always gets San Francisco natives chuckling; watch for the semi-completed Golden Gate Bridge in the background of a location shot). And Jimmy Stewart. Yep, Jimmy Stewart. Has no one mentioned a very, very young James Stewart in a supporting role? His charisma and talent are apparent even in this thankless part. You might also recognize Dorothy McNulty's voice as the nightclub singer ... later (as Penny Singleton) she was the voice of Jane Jetson.
The product number of this individual release is different from the version in the collection, so I can only assume that the extras are lacking here: a Robert Benchley short ("How To Be a Detective"), cartoon, radio show with Powell and Loy, theatrical trailer. If you'd like those extras, go ahead, get the entire set. THE THIN MAN, ANOTHER THIN, and SHADOW OF THE THIN MAN are all entertaining in the same vein, though AFTER THE THIN MAN truly stands out.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
"Hey, would you mind putting that gun away? My wife doesn't care, but I'm a very timid fellow"
Added 7/13/2009
In the classic original THIN MAN (1934), we first meet adorable Nick and Nora Charles and their pet dog-mascot, Asta. Nick (William Powell), a former sleuth, wants to settle down into a quiet lifestyle and manage Nora's (Myrna Loy) various inheritances, but his fun-loving wife would adore for Nick to involve them in the occasional murder mystery. She gets her wish when Nick's former client Wynant (Edward Ellis) goes AWOL shortly before his daughter (Maureen O'Sullivan) is to be married. To complicate matters further, Wynant's beautiful secretary Julia (Natalie Moorhead) is later found shot to death in her office.
Can Nick and Nora manage to track down the killer--and Wynant--before the bodycount rises again? Is Wynant the killer? The mystery almost becomes incidental as we watch the most wonderful married couple ever to set foot on the screen! William Powell and Myrna Loy were, I'm convinced, born to play the roles of Nick and Nora Charles. Their performances are sublime. Sit back and revel in the snappy dialogue and witty banter. A classic that only gets younger.
The DVD includes a bonus trailer gallery for the other titles in the "Thin Man" series. Highly recommended!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Laughs a plenty
Added 12/25/2008
This movie is one hour and thirty-three minutes long and came out in May 23, 1934. The Thin Man is actually the inventor that has gone missing not the detective. William Powell and Myrna Loy do a great job as Nick and Nora Charles, a wealthy married couple. Those two reprise their role for another five more Thin Man movies. The best part is at the end; where Nick Charles host a dinner party to unmask the murder. By the way he does not know who it is. It is his hope something unravels at the party. To quote Nora Charles: "It is the best dinner that she ever heard." If you are a Thin Man fan, then this movie is for you.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Witty banter, cigarettes and booze: what else do you want?
Added 12/16/2008
Back in the days when a cigarette wasn't the cinematic equivalent of a black hat and when real men had scotch for breakfast, Nick and Nora Charles enthralled Depression-era America with their witty repartee, beautiful clothes, and glamorous parties. And with their idleness - they didn't work! All this wealth but no work! All they did was drink, sleep, throw parties and solve the occasional crime.
The book is clipped and breezy. Nick is economical in his words, not least because talking slows down his drinking. (Reporter: Say listen, is he working on a case? Nora Charles: Yes, he is. Reporter: What case? Nora Charles: A case of scotch. Pitch in and help him. ) There are frequent asides, the hard-boiled detective equivalent of `yadda, yadda, yadda,' to skim over the pleasantries and glad handing that consume so much dialog in books and movies.
"The Thin Man," like the movies that followed it, is heavy on style and that makes it a pleasant read. As a book its aims are modest, its execution is excellent, and you just enjoy the journey from mysterious murder to having everything neatly wrapped up, courtesy of your tour guide to both the under and over worlds of New York, Nick Charles.
"After The Thin Man" is the tenth best mystery/detective film set in San Francisco and the second best of the Thin Man series of movies (based on my analysis as a reader/watcher of San-Francisco based noir/detective books and movies).
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
