The Thin Man

Has there ever been a detective movie more sophisticated, swift, charming, breezy, fun and less interested in the crime than the The Thin Man?  As Nick and Nora Charles, William Powell and Myrna Loy (along with the dog Skippy playing Asta) created two of the most iconic characters of the early years of sound.  Witty, bantering, smooth, rich, the Charles are unique in Hollywood as a couple that actually enjoys being married.  

A mega hit from 1934, The Thin Man is based on the book by Dashiell Hammett.  MGM bought the rights to the book for $14,000 and then relegated the production to B movie status.  

However, after Louis B. Mayer tapped W.S. Van Dyke to direct, Van Dyke in a moment of genius, cast Powell and Loy as the disinterested sleuths, Nick and Nora Charles.  At first, Powell at 41 was considered too old for the role, and Loy usually was cast as the femme fatale.  However, Powell and Loy had just shot Manhattan Melodrama with Van Dyke and Clark Gable, and Van Dyke insisted on making the movie with the two stars.  Fortunately, Mayer relented.

The movie was shot over twelve days for the small amount of $231,000.  Eventually, the movie made $1.4 million in it's initial run, a giant hit for the time.  

Powell became one of the biggest movie stars of the 30s and Loy was reinvented as the witty, professional, urbane perfect wife.  The movie became the symbol for Hollywood escapist fun during the early days of the depression.  A good looking, fun couple, spending money, going to parties in New York City, laughing at each other, and maybe solving a crime. 

Hammett first claimed that the banter was based on his relationship with the playwright Lillian Hellman.  Then, the screenwriters Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich said that the dialogue was based on their relationship. 

Yet, to anyone watching the movie, the source of the dialogue is less important than the chemistry between Powell and Loy.  Their ease and comfort with each other comes across as effortless fun, a treat to watch.

The pairing of the two actors was so successful that they starred in fourteen movies together, including five more Thin Man movies.

Oh, and then there's the plot.  Nick Charles is a retired private investigator who lives with his wife in San Francisco managing her families investments.  The Charles are visiting New York City during the Christmas holidays.  A former client of Nick's, Clyde Wynant, has gone missing and the Wynant's, their lawyer, and the police all believe that Nick will solve the case.  Some people die, but mostly Nick and Nora drink. 

A lost fact in all the success of the movie is that the title actually refers to Clyde Wynant, not to Nick Charles.  Plus, to add to the confusion, most of the paperbacks of the The Thin Man are published with a dapper looking Dashiell Hammett on the cover.  However, Powell's characterization of Nick Charles is so extraordinary that it ended up embodying everything Thin Man forcing all subsequent sequels to have the name Thin Man in the title.  The Thin Man is a state of mind, a level of coolness, suaveness, dapperness, unflappability, swing jazz and the perfect martini. 

The other less talked about but equally as crucial piece of casting by Van Dyke is that of Skippy to play the dog Asta.  Originally, Asta in the book is a female schnauzer.  Skippy is a male wired-hair fox terrier.  If Nick and Nora is the couple ever wants to be, then Asta is the best friend that everyone wants.  Especially since Asta never interferes with the Charles' banter, he's the perfect companion.  He tugs them around town, hides from danger, and does a bit of detective work on his own.  After the success of the movie, the interest in terriers as a pet skyrocketed.  

My family's love for the Thin Man movies was such that we, also, had a wired hair fox terrier, Casey.  Casey was my high school and college dog.  He had more energy and personality than I thought possible from dogs.  Aggressive, funny, proud, cocky and at times obnoxious (if that's possible from dogs), he would drag my parents around the neighborhood chasing after birds and rabbits.  When they visited me in college, Casey would drag my parents through Colonial Williamsburg, and chased one girl living in my dorm, up, over a couch and into the arms of one of my friends..  I almost felt bad, but I couldn't stop laughing.  Casey might not have solved crimes, but he was the perfect companion for me. 

The Thin Man was nominated for four Oscars:  William Powell for best actor, Van Dyke for director, best screenplay, and best movie.  The movie didn't win any awards, but it's energy is still infectious.  A young Maureen O'Sullivan, the former wrestler Nat Pendleton and a very young and dapper Cesar Romero also star.  Skippy went on to have one of the great movie careers for animals.  He also starred in The Awful Truth as Mister Smith with Cary Grant and Bringing Up Baby as George, again with Cary Grant.  That dog was in three classics......