Monday, September 24, 2018

THE THIN MAN GOES HOME (1944) ** ½


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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