Tuesday, September 11, 2018

ANOTHER THIN MAN (1939) **


William Powell and Myrna Loy return for their third go-around as married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles.  This time out, in addition to their loyal pooch Asta, they have their newborn baby Nick Jr. along on their adventure.  An old friend invites the couple to his secluded mansion out in the country because he’s paranoid someone is out to get him.  When someone indeed bumps him off, Nick and Nora investigate and try to bring the killer to justice.

The addition of a baby to the plot enriches the characters, making them slightly less of the caricatures they became in the last installment, After the Thin Man.  Rarely in film franchises do we get to see the characters’ lives continue at a realistic progression.  The baby itself is cute enough and the sweet scenes of Asta and the kid give Another Thin Man a different flavor than the previous installments.  Powell and Loy are their usual charming selves, which also helps, even if their banter isn’t as consistently amusing as it has been in the past.

Unfortunately, the story itself is a bit of an old hat.  After a solid start, the film becomes increasingly spotty as it goes along.  As with After the Thin Man, the plot takes a while to unfurl itself (and takes for too long to wrap itself up), suffers from a bloated running time, and there are too many side characters that gum up the works.  On the plus side, those side characters are played by an entertaining supporting cast that includes Virginia Grey, Nat Pendleton, Sheldon Leonard, Marjorie Main, and a memorable bit by an uncredited pre-Stooges Shemp Howard.  

All in all, this isn’t a bad entry.  Fans of the series will enjoy it for Powell and Loy’s continued chemistry.  Ultimately, there’s just too much fat that gets in the way of the mystery (which isn’t all that interesting to begin with).

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