The Thin Man (film)

The Thin Man
Theatrical poster
Directed by	W. S. Van Dyke
Produced by	Hunt Stromberg
Written by	Albert Hackett Frances Goodrich
Based on	The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
Starring	William Powell Myrna Loy
Music by	William Axt
Cinematography	James Wong Howe
Editing by	Robert Kern
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	May 23, 1934 (1934-05-23)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$226,408 (est.)

The Thin Man is a 1934 American comic detective film starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a flirtatious married couple who banter wittily as they solve crimes with ease. Nick is a hard drinking retired detective and Nora a wealthy heiress. Their dog, the wire-haired fox terrier Asta, played by Skippy, was also a popular character.

Completed in 1934 and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, the film was directed by W. S. Van Dyke from a script by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich; the screenplay was based on the mystery novel The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett, supposedly based on his relationship with playwright Lillian Hellman. Also appearing in the film were Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton, Minna Gombell, Cesar Romero and Porter Hall.

The "Thin Man" of the title is not Nick Charles, but the man he is initially hired to find, Clyde Wynant. (Partway through the film, Nick Charles characterizes Wynant as a "thin man with white hair".) However, the "Thin Man" moniker was thought by many viewers to refer to Nick Charles, and after a time, it was used in the titles of the sequels as if it did. The understanding of exactly who the "Thin Man" is has led to contemporary confusion.

Plot

Nick Charles (Powell), a retired detective, and his wife Nora (Loy) are attempting to settle down when he's pulled back into service by a friend's disappearance and possible involvement in a murder. The friend, Clyde Wynant (Ellis) (the eponymous "thin man"), has mysteriously vanished just after his former girlfriend, Julia Wolf, was found dead. Wynant quickly becomes the prime suspect, but his daughter Dorothy (O'Sullivan) can't believe he did it. She convinces Nick to take the case much to the amusement of his socialite wife. The detective stumbles off to find clues, and manages to piece things together through intensive investigation.

The murderer is finally revealed in a classic dinner-party scene that features all of the suspects. A skeletonized body, found during the investigation, had been assumed to be that of a "fat man" due to its being found in clothing from a much heavier man. This clothing is revealed to be a diversion, and the identity of the body is finally revealed, on the basis of an old war wound to the leg, as that of a particular "thin man" instead— the missing Wynant. The murder has been disguised in a way to frame the dead Wynant, by people who have stolen a great deal of money from Wynant and killed him on the night he was last seen.

Cast

• William Powell as Nick Charles
• Myrna Loy as Nora Charles
• Skippy as Asta, their dog
• Maureen O'Sullivan as Dorothy Wynant
• Nat Pendleton as Lt. John Guild
• Minna Gombell as Mimi Wynant Jorgenson
• Porter Hall as Herbert MacCaulay
• Henry Wadsworth as Tommy
• William Henry as Gilbert Wynant
• Harold Huber as Arthur Nunheim
• Cesar Romero as Chris Jorgenson
• Natalie Moorhead as Julia Wolf
• Edward Ellis as Clyde Wynant
• Edward Brophy as Joe Morelli

Uncredited cast members include Clay Clement, Pat Flaherty, Douglas Fowley, Christian J. Frank, Creighton Hale, Edward Hearn, Robert Homans, Walter Long, Fred Malatesta, Lee Phelps, Bert Roach, Rolfe Sedan, Gertrude Short, Lee Shumway, Ben Taggart, Harry Tenbrook and Leo White.

Crew

• David Townsend - Associate Art Director

Production

The entire film was shot in twelve (out of fourteen) days. Some of the interior scenes were shot inside the Bidwell Mansion in Chico, California. The film was released on May 24, 1934, only five months after the release of the book, which had been released in January 1934.

Reception

The film was such a success that it spawned five sequels:

• After the Thin Man (1936)
• Another Thin Man (1939)
• Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
• The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
• Song of the Thin Man (1947)

In 2002, critic Roger Ebert added the film to his list of Great Movies. Ebert praises William Powell's performance in particular, stating that Powell "is to dialogue as Fred Astaire is to dance. His delivery is so droll and insinuating, so knowing and innocent at the same time, that it hardly matters what he's saying."

In 1997, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry having been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." In 2000 American Film Institute acknowledged the film as one of the great comedies in the previous hundred years of cinema.

Trailer

The trailer contained specially filmed footage in which Nick Charles (William Powell) is seen on the cover of the Dashiell Hammett novel The Thin Man. Nick Charles then steps out of the cover to talk to fellow detective Philo Vance (also played by Powell) about his latest case.

Charles mentions he hasn't seen Vance since The Kennel Murder Case, a film in which Powell played Vance. The Kennel Murder Case was released in October 1933, just seven months prior to the release of The Thin Man.

Nick goes on to explain to Vance that his latest case revolves around a "tall, thin man" (referring to Clyde Wynant), just before clips of the film are shown.

Adaptations

The Thin Man was dramatized as a radio play on the June 8, 1936 broadcast of Lux Radio Theater, with William Powell and Myrna Loy reprising their film roles.

Remake

In May 2011, it was reported that Johnny Depp will star in a remake of the film, directed by Rob Marshall.

Influence

In the 1976 comedy spoof movie Murder by Death, the characters of Nick and Nora Charles became Dick and Dora Charleston, played by David Niven and Maggie Smith. The 1979-1984 ABC television weekly romantic detective series Hart To Hart also mimicked the central conceit. It starred Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers and Lionel Stander. In the 2005 animated film Hoodwinked!, the character Nicky Flippers, a frog detective voiced by David Ogden Stiers, was based on Nick Charles.

External links

• The Thin Man at the Internet Movie Database
• The Thin Man at AllRovi
• The Thin Man at the TCM Movie Database
• The Internet Archive holds a radio adaptation of the film, originally broadcast on June 8, 1936 by Lux Radio Theater.
• The movie on Google Videos