04.11.05
Movie Reviews: The Thin Man, After the Thin Man, Another Thin Man, Shadow of the Thin Man, Dash and Lilly

The Thin Man (1934) and After the Thin Man (1936)

When I was about 10, my mother thought it would be a "culturally enriching" home schooling project for me to watch the entire Thin Man series; it probably was, though not in the way she intended. The six films made between 1934 and 1947 followed the adventures of "retired" private detective Nick Charles, his socialite wife Nora and their dog, Asta. (Later entries also included their son, Nicky Jr.)

Really now, is there any woman in her right mind that doesn’t want to be Nora Charles? She’s possessed of tremendous wealth, wit, and endless tolerance for liquor, plus William Powell.

In the first installment of the series, Nora plays a strictly supporting role- the real leading lady is Nick’s client, played by Maureen O’Sullivan.

After the Thin Man has a reputation for being the best of the series, and I’m inclined to agree- and a great deal of the improvement comes with playing up the relationship between Nick and Nora. Bestscene: Nora drinking with a table full of gangsters in a Chinatown nightclub.

The supporting cast includes Joseph Calleia, Elissa Landi and Dorothy McNulty (aka Penny Singleton) as a Chinese (?) lounge singer. A very young Jimmy Stewart gives a surprising performance as a murder suspect.

Another Thin Man (1939)

New parents Nick and Nora head back to New York for a quiet vacation, but are summoned out to Long Island at the behest of Nora’s lawyer and get involved in multiple murder and blackmail plots- I’m not even going to try and sort out who did what to whom. The plot is at least as complicated as The Big Sleep. Perenial favorite Sheldon Leonard (Nick the Bartender from It’s a Wonderful Life) plays a Cuban gangster, and Tom (Detour) Neal plays the household help in love with the lawyer’s illegitimate daughter. Back in the city some of Nick’s loveable gangster friends throw a birthday party for Nicky Jr. and show up with all of their babies.

Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)

This was the point where the series lost something and started becoming sitcom-ish. (In fact, in the 50’s there would be a sitcom based on the films, starring Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk as Nick and Nora.) It’s still eminently watchable, but the jokes have gone from sophisticated to somewhat silly: Nora and the maid (Louise Beavers) joke about Nick’s drinking; Nora wears a ridiculous hat to a wrestling match.

The first three films also did a wonderful job of creating a sense of both time and place (New York, San Francisco, and Long Island, respectively) while this entry seems to be set in a generic “Anycity, USA”.

A very young Donna Reed co-stars as the ingénue, and famed Method acting teacher Stella Adler has a small role as a gangster’s moll.

This was the last entry in the series to be directed by W.S. Van Dyke. He’d commit suicide two years later.

Dash and Lilly (1999)
 
A Made-for-Cable biopic of Dashiell Hammett (Sam Sheppard) and Lillian Hellman (Judy Davis) it works as a reminder to not get swept up in the romantic sophistication of the Thin Man movies. In her later years Hellman claimed that characters of Nick and Nora were based on her longtime relationship with Hammett; but remember- it’s not cute or funny to be an alcoholic in real life!

The film opens with Hellman preparing to testify before the House of Un-American Activities Committee on her alleged Communist associations during the 1930’s; Hammett is in prison for contempt of congress for refusing to "name names" during his testimony. The main part of the film unfolds as an extended flashback, beginning with Hellman and Hammett’s meeting in Hollywood in the early 1930’s.

The screenwriters make some oddball choices as far as taking artistic license: Hammett is presented as the respected artist and successful screenwriter, while Hellman is the novice writer who struggles in Hollywood. In reality, Hammett was one of those guys who was strictly pulp until the French rediscovered him, and his only "official" screenwriting credit was for "additional dialogue" on the film adaptation of Hellman’s play Watch on the Rhine. Meanwhile Hellman had a number of successful plays produced on Broadway, and wrote the screenplays for several "prestige pictures" for producer Samuel Goldwyn. Surprisingly, film is mostly done from Hellman’s perspective, but it remains a fairly superficial treatment of their lives.

Bebe Neuwirth is in support as a suspiciously pleasant (not to mention tall) Dorothy Parker.