The Thin Man (film)
"The Thin Man" is a 1934 film that features the charming couple Nick and Nora Charles, portrayed by William Powell and Myrna Loy. Nick, a former private detective turned gentleman, and Nora, a wealthy socialite, find themselves drawn into a murder investigation involving the disappearance of inventor Clyde Wynant and the murder of his secretary, Julia Wolf. The couple's investigative approach is characterized by their witty banter and leisurely lifestyle, as they navigate a world filled with quirky suspects, including former convicts and a variety of shady characters.
Set against the backdrop of 1930s America, the film combines elements of glamour and humor, offering an escape from the economic hardships of the Great Depression. The chemistry between Powell and Loy is central to the film's success, establishing a dynamic that would influence romantic comedies in Hollywood for years to come. The narrative unfolds with a mix of suspense and comedy, culminating in a dinner party where the couple cleverly unravels the mystery amidst cocktails and oysters.
"The Thin Man" received critical acclaim, earning multiple Academy Award nominations and spawning a series of sequels, as well as a lasting legacy in cinema and popular culture. Its portrayal of a confident and equal partnership in marriage resonated with audiences, suggesting that humor and companionship could thrive even in challenging times.
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The Thin Man (film)
Identification Comic detective film
Director W. S. Van Dyke
Date Released in 1934
The Thin Man features a glamorous couple whose playful, uniquely egalitarian relationship outshines the murder mystery they solve. While retaining some popular features of its cinematic predecessors, The Thin Man offered a fresh kind of Hollywood romance between well-matched equals—both self-assured and witty—that resonated with Depression-era audiences. The film garnered four Academy Award nominations, sparked five sequels, and remains a historically significant classic.
Nick and Nora Charles are sophisticated sleuths, played by actors William Powell and Myrna Loy. He is a former private detective turned gentleman; she, a wealthy socialite whose family money supports them. Reluctantly, Nick agrees to help Dorothy Wynant, played by Maureen O’Sullivan, the worried daughter of missing inventor Clyde Wynant, one of Nick’s previous clients. Wynant had promised Dorothy to return from secret travels by Christmas. In absentia, he has been blamed for the murder of Julia Wolf, his pilfering secretary. Nora sympathizes with Dorothy, and Nick takes the case.
Nick and Nora’s investigative style, like their marriage, is understated and seemingly effortless. The bemused couple strategizes over drinks and witty repartee at well-heeled spots, with Nick tracking some clues in New York City’s underworld. They face guns, intruders, and reporters unruffled. Asta, the Charleses’ canine sidekick, sniffs out a hidden corpse. Among the suspects in three linked murders of the Wynant case are the inventor’s former wife, her shiftless new husband, an accountant, an amateur psychologist, a lawyer, and an unsavory lineup of former convicts and tough-talking dames. To sort the guilty from the innocent, Nick and Nora host a dinner party for the suspects, with policemen posing as waiters. The final reveal and arrest are made over cocktails, oysters, and the couple’s wry remarks.
The Thin Man was a box office hit in 1934, partly because it embraced favorite elements from earlier films. It retained the upper-crust visual glamour of many 1920’s films, showcasing evening gowns, lavish penthouses, and freely flowing alcohol. Such things were beyond the reach of ordinary 1930’s moviegoers, and that may have been the point: The Thin Man provided escape. While the film conspicuously sidesteps national economics, the issue of money—who schemes for it, who is corrupted by it, and who might have killed for it—underlies the crime probe. Later, Depression films such as My Man Godfrey (1936) addressed the widespread effects of the stock market crash.
From 1930’s gangster films, The Thin Man borrows crooks, thugs, and drifters, but it softens them with humor. Some of these characters get laughs with self-deprecating wisecracks; others, such as the drunk calling home at Christmas, are amusingly sentimental.
The Thin Man’s success stems largely from the chemistry between Loy and Powell, which catapulted them to stardom and triggered a Nick and Nora craze. Albert Hackett and Frances Goodman, the husband-and-wife screenwriters who crafted Dashiell Hammett’s 1934 detective novel of the same name into a film, facilitated the chemistry; their script imitated the camaraderie and verbal sparring of the book’s twosome, reputedly modeled on Hammett’s own relationship with playwright Lillian Hellman.
Moreover, The Thin Man helped launch a trend in Hollywood romance films geared to Depression audiences. Specifically, W. S. Van Dyke, Frank Capra, and other innovative filmmakers subdued the powerful male protagonist and placed him beside a savvy, feisty, and well-loved woman. Accordingly, Nora is confident and securely married; she does not need rescuing or reforming, as did many female leads of weepy melodramas and other 1920’s and 1930’s films. Unlike those vulnerable ladies, Nora orders herself martinis to match Nick’s, volleys back his quips, and savors cosleuthing.
To 1930’s audiences, Nick and Nora Charles suggested that couples might survive the Depression with marriage and humor intact. Indeed, the film ends on a train headed west, on which the Charleses celebrate the news that Nora is pregnant.
Impact
In a decade of financial insecurity, The Thin Man offered an uplifting, if quirky, model of cinematic couplehood for 1930’s audiences. The fast-paced whodunit portrayed a romance of sharp-witted equals that appealed to Depression-era sensibilities and tastes.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated The Thin Man for best picture, best actor, best director, and best adapted screenplay of 1934. The original film and the first of its five sequels were presented as Lux Radio Theatre plays. The Thin Man legacy continued with a popular television series during the 1950’s.
Bibliography
DiBattista, Maria. Fast-Talking Dames. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2001.
Hark, Ina R., ed. American Cinema of the 1930’s: Themes and Variations. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2007.
Kyvig, David E. Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1940: How Americans Lived Through the “Roaring Twenties” and the Great Depression. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2004.