After the Thin Man (1936)

"After the Thin Man" begins where "The Thin Man" left off. Nick and Nora are once again on the train, headed west this time, following their adventurous trip to New York City. Great touch, that, and indicative of the care taken by really good film makers and script writers back "in the day".This film is as good as, or perhaps better than, the first in the set. Witty, fast paced dialogue, pretzel-like plot twists which wrap up with "get all the suspects together and figure it out at the last minute. The solution in this "who dun it ?" is a true one of a kind, best not known ahead of time so avoid visiting spoiler-ville until after you "know."The "walk this way" scene shown so often in Classic Clips is from this film.Great character actors galore, period Hollywood glamor costuming, 1930's setting details. All worth checking out and if you fall asleep, blame the hour not the movie and give it a look-see in the morning.

Directed by W. S. ("One Take Woody") Van Dyke, this is by consensus the most appealing of the Thin Man series. Not a masterpiece, it's a delightful divertimento.They may never have been a more enjoyable married couple in such a series. Not only does William Powell (Nick Charles) love Myrna Loy (Nora) but they serve as a good illustration of the complementary theory of marriage. Powell is sharp as a tack but often half gassed. ("Let's get something to eat. I'm thirsty.") Loy is the sensible wife with a mind of her own and an appreciation of irony. He represents adventure; she provides the class.This case is a lot of complicated nonsense and it's most interesting element is that Jimmy Stewart is revealed as a homicidal maniac. Other than that, there are multiple suspects and red herrings and George Zucco wearing a pair of glasses that look like Coke bottle bottoms. Sam Levene is the frustrated San Francisco police lieutenant who barks out orders that nobody follows and questions that nobody answers. ("Just what was the poi-puss of your visit?") And Asta the dog is cute -- too cute.But the plot doesn't matter. It's the repartee between the characters that counts and the dialog here is very keenly written and nicely supplemented by the physical comedy and by glances and sneers. Powell finds himself seated after dinner with five old men who are asleep and snoring loudly. He carries on a mock conversation with them. "Why, NO!" "You AMAZE me." "Well, surely you have an opinion on that." He turns from one immobile sleeper to another and waits for the answers that come apace as loud snores.The series had a cult following and it's easy to see why.

Our recent trip to see The Artist got me nostalgic for some classic cinema so I decided to sit down with one of my favorites, After the Thin Man. The second movie in the the Thin Man series based on the book by Dashiell Hammett. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the series, it was very popular in the 1930's and they eventually made six films in all. It featured Willam Powell as Nick Charles, a retired detective from New York who has settled into a life of leisure after marrying a wealthy heiress named Nora (Myrna Loy). Despite being retired Nick finds himself being dragged into various investigations.In After the Thin Man, Nick and Nora have just returned from New York to their home in San Francisco. As soon as they arrive they are asked to attend a dinner party at Nora's aunts house. While at the party, Nick finds out that they were asked there to look into the whereabouts of Nora's cousins husband (Robert). He has been missing for several days and Nora's cousin (Selma) thinks he might be out having an affair. Nick and Nora locate Robert and soon discover that he is up to no good. Robert is having an affair with a night club singer and is planning to extort money from David, a wealthy business man who has always loved Selma, and would love to have Robert out of the way. Robert promises to move away and leave Selma to David if he pays him $25,000. Robert has pushed his luck a little too far though and he winds up on the wrong side of dead. Now, Selma is the number 1 suspect and Nick and Nora have to find out who the real killer was.The plot sounds a little bit more convoluted than it really is. The movie plays out like a pretty typical who dunnit right down to the final scene where all the murder suspects are brought together in the same room so the killer can be revealed. What made this movie and all the Thin Man movies great was the chemistry between the two leads. William Powell and Myrna Loy play off each other so well that many people assumed they were married in real life. The thin man concept has been duplicated many times on TV. Show's like Hart to Hart, Remington Steele, and Moonlighting all tried to play off a similar theme. There are a couple of other things worth checking out in this one as well. Jimmy Stewart is in the movie in one of his very early roles. Also, check out Asta the Charles family dog. You should be able to see where the idea for the dog in the artist came from. If you have never seen any of these films I recommend checking out the original The Thin Man first and then trying out some of sequels but, After the Thin Man definitely stand out on its own as true classic.

The Thin Man was a box office smash, and MGM wanted another hit so what are you going to call a sequel made so long After The Thin Man.There was a two year delay while Myrna Loy fought with Louis B. Mayer for a better contract, and for writer Dashell Hammet to sober up enough to write the story.27 year old James Stewart ran around the set taking pictures of Loy telling everyone he was going to marry her someday, problem was she was already married to producer Arthur Hornblower! In the beginning of the film his character adds a well grounded performance in a sea of out of balance characters.Same story writer Hammett, same married screenwriters Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett, same director Van Dyke and same 3 leads, Powell/Loy/Asta. But a new character is introduced, Mrs. Asta!James Stewart said later in his career he appreciated this film because the screen writing team of Goodrich and Hackett actually discovered him on the Broadway stage and wrote this part for him!This film starts just 3 days after The Thin Man left off and aboard the same train going from New York to San Francisco.The "dog leash gag" which everyone was talking about in the original Thin Man is repeated as soon as they arrive at the station.The formula of the criminals as Nicks friends continues with an assortment of colorful characters and we now meet some of Nora's high classed (read boring) friends and family.In The Thin Man they celebrated Christmas, in After they celebrate New Years Eve.The best gag in After also includes Asta, a black puppy and a Scottish terrier, but you'll have to discover that yourself.Elissa Landi plays a neurotic young wife, Jessie Ralph plays a pompous rotund lady who intentionally mispronounces names, Sam Levene plays a world weary police inspector, George Zucco plays an odd psychiatrist. This was the first film in more than five years made by actress Dorothy McNulty, who had been appearing on Broadway during the early 1930s. She changed her hair color and name in 1938 to Penny Singleton, and became more familiar under that name when she played the lead in Columbia's Blondie series. She plays the mouthy nightclub singer. (The Illiterate gag is priceless!)One of everyone's favorite character is the stranger who welcomes them to a surprise party not knowing they are the guests of honor, advising them to crash it just like he did and drink up the Napoleon Brandy before they are caught.Just like the original you have to pay attention, the cast of suspects and murders add up quick between the jokes and danger. And just like the first film it all works out when the usual suspects are gathered together and the clues are gone over… and it all adds up. For a mystery to be good it has to have a satisfactory resolution in facts and it AFTER THE THIN MAN does!The most romantic scene is when Nick lists his complaints about Nora.The formula works so they still use many of the same elements: 1) Nick wants to stay retired & drunk. 2) Nora is still rich but wants to have fun detecting. 3) Nick gets dragged into another case and knows more than the police. 4) Asta finds a valuable clue."Say what is this Bank Night," refers to the common practice during the great depression for cinemas to host games, contests or give away dishes to increase attendance.This same year, 1936 Powell & Loy appeared in another great screwball comedy LIBELED LADY with Spencer Tracy & Jean Harlow and THE GREAT ZEIGFELD which won the Oscar that year for Best Film Of The Year! Check the trivia for the great San Francisco Hotel story…They made 14 films together and only 6 of them were Thin Man films. The next in the series, what better title than Another Thin Man. And who was named the number one box office attraction of 1936, who else Myrna Loy!