The Thin Man (1934)

Directed by W. S. Van Dyke. Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Nat Pendleton, Maureen O’Sullivan, Minna Gombell, Harold Huber, William Henry, Porter Hall, Cesar Romero, Edward Brophy, Henry Wadsworth.

Retired detective Nick Charles (Powell) is pulled into another case, this one involving a murdered secretary and the missing “thin man.” First film foray for Nick and Nora Charles, the hard-bantering and harder-drinking high society couple (with a scene-stealing wire-haired terrier named Asta). Script, adapted from the Dashiell Hammett book by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, snaps of droll wit and serpentine developments—do not try to watch in the same state of insobriety as Nick. Loy is a wry delight as Nora (“What’s that man doing in my drawers?”), but Powell is peerless, a relaxed and spontaneous departure from his typical buttoned-down demeanor; even the most taxing characterizations-in-support (e.g., Henry’s Harold Lloyd-spectacled swellhead) lend a little eccentric texture. Near the peak of all sophisticated mysteries, sophisticated comedies, and sophisticated benders. Spawned five sequels, starting with After the Thin Man in 1936.

90/100