The Thin Man on DVD
William Powell and Myrna Loy are wonderfully charming as husband
and wife team Nick and Nora Charles in this first of six Thin Man movies.
Nick used to be a well-known and well-respected sleuth, but it
appears hes now a man of leisure since his wife inherited piles of money.
Despite that, on a trip to New York just about everyone else in the cast
(including his wife) wants to drag him into a missing person case that balloons
into murder.
Nicks reluctant, even though he always seems to be a step or
two ahead of everyone else involved in the case, including the police. No,
hes more interested in his boozy life of leisure, in being the affable
and urbane host than in reprising his past career regardless of who eggs him
on.
Naturally, he does get involved when the case takes on a more
personal aspect and, naturally, he solves it - at a dinner party he hosts that
he hopes will be conducive to the murderer revealing him or herself.
Incidentally, the Thin Man of the title isnt Nick, oddly
enough considering that all the movies use Thin Man in their title.
Instead, the Thin Man is the missing scientist Nick is supposed to find.
Anyway, this is a terrific movie! Powell and Loy have incredible
chemistry; they come across as a married couple who truly love each other and
are secure enough in their relationship to make each other the butt of their
humor and practical jokes. If they werent an item off screen as well (we
have no idea), they probably should have been because they work so well
together.
Powell and Loys dialogue is sparkling (its a wonderfully
written screenplay all around, adapted from a novel by Dashiell Hammett), the
cast is uniformly wonderful and the story will keep you laughing and guessing
right till the end.
We can understand why this movie was such as success that it
spawned the sequels After the Thin Man (featuring a young James Stewart),
Another Thin Man, Shadow of the Thin Man, The Thin Man Goes Home, and Song of
the Thin Man. Trailers for all of these films are on the DVD - and now we want
to see every one of them.
The DVD is very good. The black and white picture is presented in
its original narrowscreen (4x3) aspect ratio and the picture is
very good, with excellent contrast and good sharpness. Remember, however, that
owners of 16x9 aspect ratio TVs will have to stretch and/or zoom the
picture to fit their screens. This is an acceptable compromise, however, since
the film hasnt been Panned&Scanned and therefore you wont lose
anything from the edges.
Audio, not surprisingly, is Dolby Digital mono and is
unremarkable.
Extras include the aforementioned trailers.
The Thin Man, from Warner Home Video
91 min. original 4x3 full screen (not 16x9 TV compatible), Dolby Digital
mono
Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen OSullivan, Nat Pendleton,
Minna Gombell
Produced by Hunt Stromberg
Written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich,
directed by W.S. Van Dyke
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