The
fifth Thin Man adventure finds Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna
Loy) returning to Nick’s hometown to visit his parents. His crusty father (Harry Davenport) is still
smarting that his son never went into the family business and takes every
opportunity to mention it. When a man is
murdered on their doorstep, Nick takes it upon himself to solve the crime to
show up his old man.
Having
Nick and Nora take their antics out of the city prevents the series from
becoming stale. The way small town gossip
expedites the case is amusing, as is the colorful town characters whose various
skeletons in the closet help to complicate matters. After too many movies of interchangeable thugs
in fedoras, this was a nice change of pace.
Richard
(Jailhouse Rock) Thorpe takes over directing duties for W.S. Van Dyke and for
the most part, he does a fine job. He’s able
to wring plenty of atmosphere from the night time scenes and moves the camera
around a lot more than Van Dyke ever did.
This certainly gives the film a look that distinguishes it from the
other entries in the series.
Powell
and Loy’s banter is as sharp as its ever been, even if the film is at its best
when Nick is off on his own cracking the case.
This time around, they drink cider instead of martinis (due to the
wartime rationing of alcohol), so if you love their inebriated antics, you
might feel a bit shortchanged with this installment. They still have their dog Asta, who has one
or two funny moments, but their son Nick Jr. is nowhere to be seen.
The
Thin Man Goes Home isn’t perfect by any means, but it’s the best entry since
the first one. Although the plot spins
its wheels occasionally, Powell and Loy’s performances help it over the rough
patches. The final wrap up of the plot
goes on too long and the culprit is predictable. Really, the same can be said for any of the Thin
Man films.
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