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A true classic mystery comedy that'll have you ROFL. Find out what was funny in 1934. It's very kid friendly too with a funny dog and no cursing or sex talk. Just a lot of drinking! As a heads up, I asked for a link using the "Want to Watch" feature, and got an email in a few days letting me know that links had been posted. NICE! Now I get to watch my wife's favorite movie with her on her b'day next week. Thanks to all

seen on TV

Although not everything works in this film, I ultimately think that it is recommendable.
The film has interesting characters, that are very well established. Powell and Loy are well-cast and create likeable heroes. The plot is surpsrisingly complicated and keeps the viewer's attention. However, all these positive aspects have some negative side effects. The acting is completely over-the-top. The hammy performances sometimes help to create the characters, but are somtimes pretty goofy. Although the complicated plot keeps the viewer attended, the viewer never is allowed to participate in guessing the villain. When Charles unites all the suspects at a party at the end, he doesn't know, who committed the murders and the viewer doesn't either. That gives the film a little arbitrariness.
On the other hand the film is worthwhile historically as a fore-runner of film-noir. In fact, "The Thin Man" is a film noir (lots of drinking, mostly shot inside buildings, hero that gets involved in a crime he doesn's want to be involved in and things like these). The major difference between this film and the post-war film noirs is that "The Thin Man" features shiny, happy heroes lacking a darker side, which is understandable historically.

Dialogue was never more crucial to the success or failure of films than in the mid-1930s. After sound had been merged with motion pictures in the late 20s, movies were often notable less for their visual style than for the richness of their dialogue. The dependency on dialogue can be seen in The Thin Man, a comic-thriller that does justice to the term "Talkie". The film is ostensibly a murder mystery, but in reality it is more of a comic portrayal of a perpetually-squabbling yet devoted couple: Nick and Nora Charles (played by William Powell and Myrna Loy, respectively). Nick spends his time as an amateur sleuth, and he is eventually drawn into a murdery mystery involving the high-class Wynant family. Dorothy Wynant (Maureen O'Sullivan), who hires Nick, is worried that her father is the prime suspect in a murder investigation involving the father's lover. Nick resolves to dig deeper into the murder case, and his plucky wife Nora wants to aid him so that she can experience the excitement of detective work. The Thin Man features a fairly complex mystery at its core, but it never really takes the whodunit elements of the plot too seriously. Instead, we are treated to many scenes that focus on the relationship between Nick and Nora. Most of the humour in the film emerges from the witty banter between the married couple, and although the neverending quips and wordplays occasionally become tiresome, the scenes between the two still sparkle with energy. There is also a comic subtext in the movie about how Nick and Nora are borderline alcoholics: they drink so much in the film that it is a wonder they can stay focused enough to concentrate on a murder mystery. Unfortunately, many of the gags in The Thin Man now seem forced and quaint (including the focus on the couple's too-cute little dog). This would not be a problem if the film's murder mystery held up to scrutiny, but its resolution seems forced and hurried, as if the audience isn't supposed to even care about what is ostensibly the film's main plotline. The Thin Man is an interesting relic from the 1930s, and the scenes with Powell and Loy are effortlessly charming, but the film as a whole is so haphazard in its approach to the murder mystery and clumsy in its comedy that, by the end of it, my patience was wearing a little thin.

(BASIC)

Ah, those fun days when alcoholism was a comedy bit and not a disease. Dashiell Hammett's "The Thin Man" is a story about a socialite couple who like to solve crimes when they're not too busy drinking. The couple are Nick and Nora Charles, and, boy, do they ever drink. When we first meet Nick, he's instructing a bartender on the proper way to shake a martini. When we first meet Nora, she orders six martinis just to catch up with Nick. Immediately after waking up in the middle of the night, Nick goes to the bar, which is conveniently located at the foot of the bed. Nick and Nora are always just a little drunk, but never so much that we don't want to be around them. As played by William Powell and Myrna Loy, they are the most devoted of couples who don't need to be bothered with the rest of the world as long as they have each other. When Nora walks in on Nick with another woman in his arms, she doesn't misinterpret and get mad as so many other movies would have happen; she and Nick make faces at each other over the shoulder of the other woman. They pick on each other, tease each other, play fight each other, and above all love each other. That's the reason we like to spend our time with Nick and Nora. It's certainly not because of the mystery. Greater minds than mine could actually follow the one presented here, I guess, but Hammett wasn't known for stories that made sense, and director W. S. Van Dyke doesn't make much of an attempt to film the mystery clearly. But those are small issues. The appeal of "The Thin Man" series is to be in the presences of that lovely Charles couple. And for that we can thank Powell and Loy.

***.5/****

Pro: Powell and Loy. The dialogue. The drinking.

Con: The plot is absent most of the time. The ending is abrupt.

A Great Picture.

An overrated who-done it film. It has funny moments. Not one of the best films ever made, but is good.

The Thin Man only works because of the two main leads. They are played by William Powell and Myrna Loy. They are also husband and wife in this film and they like to drink. A young woman wants to hire William Powell because her dad's girlfriend is murdered. She thinks that her dad did it and wants William to find him. William use to be a detective but has retired because his wife inherited a lot of money. Although, everyone continues to ask him about the case even though he isn't on it. Then he decides to take it because he is sick of being harrased. This is a clever murder mystery and was well made for its time. Some of the dialogue is a bit cheesy, but the mystery and performances make the movie worth watching.

Madagascar was a suprisingly enjoyable cute litle movie.

The Island of Dr. Moreau was... ummm wtf.

*EDIT*
The Thin Man: I'm so glad my mother pushed this movie on me. It is clever smart and uterrly iresistable. (I'd bother to spell things right, if I weren't so lazy)

**Edit**
Two more movies I saw in may, Whats Eating Gilbert Grape: a terrific well acted thought provocing film. And Man-Thing: a piece of shit.

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE CLASSIC. THE TEAMING OF MYRNA LOY AND WILLIAM POWELL OCCURED SO MANY TIMES, PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF THEIR SCREEN PRESENCE TOGETHER. THEY ARE A PERFECT PAIR. THIS IS A SUPERB WHODUNNIT, OUTSTANDING WRITING AND DIRECTION.