Product: Myrna Loy & Williams Powell: Collection (2007)
Rating: 5.0
Nick and Nora step out
After a considerable wait, the remaining five movies which starred Powell and Loy is available on DVD and it is really great to be able to enjoy their efforts. Powell and Loy were stars of the very successful "Thin Man" series (the title character was actually the murder victim in the first series, but most of the fans thought it referred to Nick Charles). Along with the six movies in the Thin Man series, the pair made seven other movies (not counting the Powell vehicle "The Senator was Indiscrete" in which Loy makes a cameo appearance) leading many to believe that they were in fact married in real life.The movies in this series run the gamut from the sorts of melodramas that MGM famously churned out in the 30s. To be honest, I prefer the later comedies. Clearly, after the success of the first of the Thin Man movies, producers understood that the pair was very well suited to light comedy and animated banter. In films like "Love Crazy," "I Love You Again" and "Double Wedding," Powell and Loy perform well in romantic comedy roles. Loy's personna as "the perfect wife" and her own skills at light comedy make her a perfect foil for Powell's wisecrakes and prat falls. My favorite of this series is "I Love You Again" in which Powell plays a gangster who due amnesia has spent ten years as a squirral stuffing club joining guardian of civic virtue much to Loy's dismay. In "Double Wedding" and "Love Crazy," Powell gets to stretch his comedic range. Loy is of course perfect.The two non-comedies are interesting as well. "Manhatten Melodrama" was a massive hit in its day and looks more like the sort of films that Warner Brothers became famous for in which childhood friends follow different paths and Loy is the romantic interest. It is the pair's only teaming with Gable (although Loy made several really good films with "the King"). "Evelyn Prentis" appears to have been billed as a romantic comedy, given the trailer (included in all the movies). It is the story of a marriage on the rocks due to the husband's career and his refusal to spend more time at home. Rosalind Russell is one of the clients in the film in an early role.This is a wonderful series and even includes some cartoons and short subjects. Powell and Loy's other movies include "Libeled Lady" (with Jean Harlow (who was slated to marry Powell), and "The Great Zigfeld" along with the boxed set of Thin Man movies are all available on DVD.