The greatest movie ever!

An action-packed slog

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The Thin ManThe hardest part of being single at Christmas is figuring out what gift to get your sex doll.Luckily, the couple in this whodunit can verbally communicate their wish list to each other.When ex-gumshoe Nick Charles (William Powell) and his heiress wife Nora (Myrna Loy), along with their faithful terrier Asta, head to NYC for the holidays the last thing they expect to do is solve a murder. But when a client's daughter (Maureen O'Sullivan) asks him to find her missing father, Nick has no choice but to help when a decomposed body turns up.The first episode in the long-running film series based on Dashiell Hammett's fast-talking, hard-drinking, crime solving couple of independent means, this initial installment is a triumph, not only in its sleuthing but in the chemistry between Charles'.Incidentally, sticking a suspect's tongue to a frozen pole is a good way to get a confession. Green Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

I found the sequence of four movies woefully inadequate. They seemed awfully dated, awfully thin story line. The dog, Aster, was the best actor. Myrna Loy was pretty in that unusual way we want in pretty woman. But the story lines seemed drawn out for no good reason, making the story lag; and the crimes seemed predictable with predictable solutions. Dialogue was strong and humorous and brought a little sparkle to the films. I was surprised that the films were essentially centered in San Francisco, which I did not realize. Yes, Coit Tower is visible from the Western span of the Bay Bridge. William Powell played the role for laughs and I'm not sure that didn't detract from the movie; Monk found himself in absurd situations of the crime, but played his perplexity straight; William Powell seemed to be playing for laughs. But since there was such thin story line, it really didn't matter. As a matter of film history, they were interesting; as material borrowed from Dashiell Hammet's book--The Thin Man--they were of interest. But they certainly were not 'classic' Hollywood, just 'of interest' Hollywood.

Based on the Dashiell Hammett novel, Nick Charles is a retired detective who is asked to investigate a case of a rich, eccentric inventor who failed to return from an announced trip. Living the high life thanks to his heiress wife Nora, Nick initially refuses, but he is slowly drawn in, thanks to the encouragement of his wife who wants to be a detective too, as well as an invasion of his apartment by a suspect, and pressures from both the police and the man's family.The movie is played for laughs, which is good as banter between husband and wife, as well as the other characters, works well. Yet the movie has serious parts such as graphic killings, and the serious aspects of the movie are downplayed. The movie could have had both the comedy and the tension that would have come with a more serious treatment of the story.

Nick Charles (William Powell) is a former detective who returns to NYC with his new wife Nora (Myrna Loy) and their dog Asta after 4 years in California. He's happily retired after Nora's father left them a fortune. His friend inventor Clyde Wynant has mysteriously disappeared after he confronts his secretary Julia Wolf about $50k in missing bonds. Clyde's ex-wife Mimi (Minna Gombell) is looking for more money but finds a dead Julia Wolf instead. Clyde becomes the prime suspect. Clyde's daughter Dorothy (Maureen O'Sullivan) refuses to believe it. Nora convinces Nick to take the case after gangster Joe Morelli barges in on them.William Powell and Myrna Loy are terrific together. Their dialog is quick and snappy. It's loads of fun. If anything, this movie needs more of them. That's my only complaint. The movie takes too long to get to them as it concentrates on Wynant and the murder. The murder mystery works well but not necessarily anything original. This is simply a fun couple and the movie is best with both of them on the screen.