After the Thin Man

Plot synopsis:
This is the second installment of the Thin Man series, the story picks up from where "The Thin Man" left Nick and Nora.Arriving home after three days on the train, Nick and Nora were looking forward to spending a quiet new year with just each other. But their house was occupied by drunken friends; and Nora's most uppity relative, the spinster Aunt Katherine, called and insisted that Nora and Nick join her New Year's Eve family dinner. Nora did not care for her aunt but she agreed to go, mainly to visit her distraught cousin Selma Landis.Aunt Katherine had not changed her mind about the flatfoot to whom poor Nora was married, but she needed Nick to discreetly investigate the disappearance of Selma's playboy husband Robert. Selma's mental condition was beginning to deteriorate and Aunt Katherine was worried that even with the close supervision of psychiatrist Dr. Kammer, the scandal will break out and ruin the Forrest reputation.After dinner, Nick and Nora went to say goodbye to Selma before leaving, and met David Graham. David used to be engaged to Selma and was still in love with her. Furious about the way Robert treated Selma, David told Nick that Robert wasn't really missing, he just had enough of Selma and wanted a divorce. He even promised David that if he pays him $25,000, he will divorce Selma and get out of the way.Nick and Nora decided to spend New Year s Eve in a seedy but popular Chinese club called Lichee, managed by ex-con Dancer, once arrested and sent away by Nick, and Lum Kee, whose brother was also arrested by Nick and was still in jail.They found Robert at the club. He had become a regular at Lichee because of the starring singer/dance girl Polly Byrnes, and was planning to run away with her once he gets the money from David. Polly was not in love with Robert, and kept things up with Robert just so that she and boyfriend Dancer could scam money from him. Running into Nick and Nora made Robert, Polly and Dancer uneasy, and Robert decided to not wait for cash and told David that he will take anything and leave town that night.David met Robert secretly and gave him a stack of bonds, and a happy Robert went home to pack up. He woke Selma in the process, the two had a fight, Robert said his final word and stormed out. Selma lost her nerve and ran out after him.David was worried about a confrontation between Selma and Robert and he went back to the Forrest mansion to check on Selma, only to find her standing over Robert's dead body with a gun in her hand. David took the gun and disposed of it for Selma, told her not to mention the incident to anyone.A hungry Nora woke Nick up so that he can make her some scrabbled eggs, and while they were in the kitchen, someone threw in a stone with a note attached to it. Asta, who's being irritable lately because he found out that one of Mrs. Asta's puppies was definitely not his, but that of a black Scottish terrier, got to the stone before Nick and Nora. A chase broke out and when Nora finally got the note, the most important part of the note was already eaten by Asta.Nick and Nora went back to bed and slept till early evening the next day. When Lieutenant Abrams dropped by to tell Nick to that they've ran out of leads, Nick decided to follow the clues from the note and visit Polly's ex-con husband Ralph West, now known as her brother Phil.Nick and Abrams found Phil murdered with the same gun that killed Robert, other evidence was planted and took them no where; except a key to Polly's apartment. Having lost all other leads, Nick decided to check out this one.In Polly's apartment, Nick noticed a hole on the ceiling and went to check the apartment directly above hers. The tenant's name was Anderson, a fake name; and in the apartment, Nick found contraptions that allowed a person to listen in and a makeshift ladder to climb down and enter her apartment through the window.As Nick was testing the earphone, Dancer came back to Polly's apartment, he sensed that someone was upstairs and made a run for it. Nick pursued him and was shot at. The shots missed him, but they did shoot open a box, from which the dead body of the apartment janitor Pedro fell out.Nick now knew exactly what happened but didn't have any strong evidence, he and Abrams decided to test their luck and gathered everyone in Polly's apartment, to see if they can trick the murderer into making a mistake.So arrived the suspects: Dancer, Polly, Lum Kee, Aunt Katherine, Dr. Kammer, David, and the grieving widow Selma.It turned out that Robert was not killed over money, but from a deep hatred; the death of Phil and Pedro were just the results of the murderer, the mysterious Anderson, trying to cover his tracks.Anderson found out everything by listening in to Polly's conversations with Dancer, Robert and Phil. He would have climbed into her apartment to plant incriminating evidence had he not been locked out by Pedro. Pedro found out about the special contraptions while doing repair works, changed the lock on the door and called Nick. Anderson heard the phone call and killed Pedro.Anderson then followed Robert until he stepped out of the Forrest mansion and killed him. Knowing that Phil was following Polly and Robert, Anderson killed him too.Crowded and pressured by the cool Nick, jumpy Abrams, and irritating Aunt Katherine, Anderson remained calm. But when it was revealed that the janitor Pedro was once Nora's father's gardener, Nick caught him. All suspects who knew Pedro merely stated that they knew him, only David added a description of him, a description that would describe Pedro the Janitor, not the younger Pedro the gardener.David pulled out a gun and was about to kill both Selma and himself when unexpectedly, Lum Kee came to everyone's rescue. Nora had been wary of Lum Kee the whole time, thinking that he might harm Nick. But It turned out that as Nick sent his brother away, Lum Kee got the chance to go after his brother's girlfriend, whom he likes a lot more than his own brother.Unable to find peace in San Francisco as well, Nick took Nora and Asta on the train again. Noticing that his wife was not paying attention to him, Nick put down his cocktail glass just long enough to get a closer look at what Nora was knitting. It was a baby shoe.

Tags: comedy, mystery, murder, insanity, psychedelic, revenge

Review:
And if you are a fan of Asta's, he gets more screen time in this outing than any of the others (interestingly, in Dashelle Hammett's book, Asta is female).Of course the chemistry on screen between Myrna Loy and William Powell is unsurpassed, that's why they would ultimately be cast together in 14 films during their careers.
It's also fun to remember when you're watching veteran character actress Jessie Ralph play the stodgy Aunt Katherine, you are looking at a woman who was born during the Civil War.All of the key Thin Man ingredients are here: a clever who-dun-it (with more suspects than any other Thin Man film), beautiful photography, exquisite fashions and decor, jokes as dry and plentiful as the martinis, a performance or two of the popular music of the day, and an ending that will surprise you.
Very few sequels ever live up to the film that started the entire franchise--AFTER THE THIN MAN, second in a series of six films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Detective Nick Charles and his inquisitive, charming wife Nora, is one of those that just about manages it.
It brings back the characters we've gotten to know in the first film, THE THIN MAN, and subjects them to even more wacky criminal hijinks.This time, Nick (Powell) and Nora (Loy) return to San Francisco just in time for a surprise New Year's Eve party (at which no one recognises them, ironically enough!).
However, Nora's dour Aunt Katherine (Jessie Ralph) spoils Nick's plans to spend New Year's Eve blissfully alone--and most likely inebriated--by inviting the couple to her house to help Nora's cousin Selma (Elissa Landi).
Throw this cleverly-written murder mystery in with a healthy heaping of literate dialogue, thrown out only as William Powell and Myrna Loy can, and you get a classy film that hints at crime, love, sex, power and hatred without ever needing to resort to cheaper tricks.
It's no small wonder that menfolk in the 1930s used to form 'Men Must Marry Myrna' Clubs--she's able to stand up to her man whenever necessary, and even when she's chattering through the night evidently hungering for Nick's scrambled eggs, Myrna Loy's Nora Charles is one of the cutest female characters ever created.
Mustn't be too pretty in the mornings." I won't spoil the ending of the film, but Nora's own revelation to Nick as they take the train back to New York is also as touching and sweet as can be imagined.If you're up for a good romance story, or a good murder mystery, or better yet, a combination of the two, you really couldn't go wrong with this second installment in the Thin Man series.
Some weeks ago I expressed my absolute enthusiasm for 'The Thin Man (1934),' a delightfully humorous murder mystery/comedy classic, starring the inimitable comedic marriage of William Powell and Myrna Loy as husband-and-wife detectives Nick and Nora Charles.
'After the Thin Man' is the first of these sequels, released in 1936.As the original trailer for the film proudly proclaims, 'After the Thin Man' brought back the three writers of the original hit (Dashiell Hammett, Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett), the same director (W.S. Van Dyke) and, of course, the three huge film stars in Powell, Loy and, of course, Asta the dog (the wire-haired terrier whose birth-name was Skippy).
True to its promise, the film is every bit as witty, hilarious and suspenseful as its predecessor, masterfully melding Nick and Nora's playful banter with another twisted mystery of love, betrayal, blackmail and murder.
And look out for a memorable supporting performance from a young James Stewart, who was yet to hit it big with the likes of Frank Capra and Alfred Hitchcock.The sequel takes place just a day or two after where 'The Thin Man' left off, as Nick and Nora prepare to depart from the train that brought them back home to San Francisco.
The good-natured inter-marital sledging that made the original film so enjoyable still carries a razor-sharp wit, and, in one hilarious sequence, Nick even goes as far as pretending not to recognise his wife so she can be temporarily detained in a jail cell.'After the Thin Man' is one of those very rare occasions when a sequel is good enough to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with its predecessor.
Appearing here in a supporting role, he gets to show off some acting chops he didn't always get a chance to display in his later career.Add to the mix a topnotch screenplay, the chemistry between William Powell and Myrna Loy that is so strong you find yourself believing that only a week has lapsed since their previous outing (rather than two years), at least one sight gag worthy of Groucho Marx (Nick when he and Nora go to visit her stuffed-shirt relatives), and -- oh, yes -- some vintage location footage shot in San Francisco back in the days when "the city that knows how" still knew.
After solving the famous Thin Man case in New York and acquiring a trademark in the process, Nick Charles returns to San Francisco with wife Nora to spend some time with some of her family.
But in the wee small hours of New Year's Day, he gets himself murdered on the streets of San Francisco and two more bodies turn up before William Powell solves the case.James Stewart appears in this second Thin Man film as Landi's patient former boyfriend.
It seemed as though the script wanted to make it so that anyone could have been a suspect (one of which is James Stewart in a fun role)which normally would be a good idea, but can make it a little confusing (and I'll admit that I wasn't paying 100% attention, but the light-heartedness seems to almost encourage you not to take it all seriously...which is why 'The Thin Man' movies are so much fun in the first place!).
In this first sequel to the celebrated film "The Thin Man", detective Nick Charles, (Powell) his socialite wife Nora (Loy) and their beloved terrier Asta are on their way home to San Francisco after a long trip.
It is up to Nick and Nora to help the police solve the crime and clear Selma's name.I thoroughly enjoyed "The Thin Man", and was absolutely charmed and delighted with this sequel.
But while the story itself in "After the Thin Man" was good, and strong enough to stand on its own merit, but the film itself is great because of Powell and Loy. Myrna Loy, one of my favorite classic film actresses, made a career out of being the non-plussed wife or object of affection to varying degrees of spastic leading men.
(Particularly Cary Grant in "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" and "The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer", both films I would definitely recommend.) Loy's straight-faced elegance is perfection as Nora Charles, a young and beautiful wealthy socialite who married Nick, a detective from the wrong side of the tracks who loves liquor and ribald humor.
"After the Thin Man" also has some hilarious lines, and while a lot of the appeal is in the delivery, dialogue like a scene between Nick and Nora, who are waiting to be let in to her aunt's house, (Nick and her aunt have a mutual dislike for one another) when Nora asks, "What ARE you muttering to yourself?" Nick replies, "I'm just trying to get all of the bad words out of my mind." And then later, when reintroducing her husband to her aunt, Nora says, "You remember my husband, Nick" her aunt replies with "Hello, NicholASS." (And proceeds to call him that the entire film.) Even Asta has a subplot in this film; when they arrive home in the beginning of the film, he runs back to the kennel to see Mrs. Asta.
All the fun is simply watching Loy and Powell go through their routines with such skill and sophisticated good humor.The surprise is watching a youthful James Stewart make his first noticeable appearance in an MGM film as part of the supporting cast.
Any fan of Myrna Loy and William Powell will surely find pleasure in watching these two at work.As for the revelation of the murderer, it comes out of left field and can't be taken seriously.
It's not as naughty and racy, and the pacing feels much more sluggish.I thought, as good as Myrna Loy was in the original "Thin Man" film, that she was underused and that William Powell dominated the movie.
That is even more the case here, with Loy a decidedly supporting character.But it's still entertaining, and not many films are as good as the first "Thin Man," so it had very high standards to meet.
In the beginning of the film his character adds a well grounded performance in a sea of out of balance characters.Same story writer Hammett, same married screenwriters Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett, same director Van Dyke and same 3 leads, Powell/Loy/Asta.
But a new character is introduced, Mrs. Asta!James Stewart said later in his career he appreciated this film because the screen writing team of Goodrich and Hackett actually discovered him on the Broadway stage and wrote this part for him!This film starts just 3 days after The Thin Man left off and aboard the same train going from New York to San Francisco.The "dog leash gag" which everyone was talking about in the original Thin Man is repeated as soon as they arrive at the station.The formula of the criminals as Nicks friends continues with an assortment of colorful characters and we now meet some of Nora's high classed (read boring) friends and family.In The Thin Man they celebrated Christmas, in After they celebrate New Years Eve.The best gag in After also includes Asta, a black puppy and a Scottish terrier, but you'll have to discover that yourself.Elissa Landi plays a neurotic young wife, Jessie Ralph plays a pompous rotund lady who intentionally mispronounces names, Sam Levene plays a world weary police inspector, George Zucco plays an odd psychiatrist.
I'm sure this must have been noticed before, but in all honestly, the mystery herein was not very complicated, and not very hard to figure out, and indeed it seems as though the mystery is superfluous to the opportunity to showcase Myrna Loy and William Powell and the beautiful and enchanting dynamics of their on screen relationship.Actually, there IS a story, and the plot is progressive, while leading us down the primrose path, but the twists are slow and obvious and the entertainment is heightened by the delightful repartee between Nick and Nora.
I can't imagine better people to do these roles than William Powell and Myrna Loy. Talk about a match made in heaven.Nick and Nora return from a trip, looking forward to being alone and celebrating New Year's.
"After the Thin Man" is the second film in the "Thin Man" series that stars William Powell and Myrna Loy. Oh, yes, and Asta their talented pet, Scottie.
It's a wonder Nick can function at all with the number of drinks he has - like the previous film, at least the subject of hangovers does come up, which is funny in and of itself, for the moment it is - but Powell is relentlessly charming in the role, giving a look like he may be aloof, and secretly he's the farthest thing from it, hearing every word of a policeman's inquiry into shady characters at a nightclub, or what's said during an interview.
Oh, he may look all out of it here and there, but it's all part of the fun - not to mention Loy, and it would be unthinkable without her, especially as she has to contend with being by this wild-man's side and give the sometimes look of 'Oh, you'.The case has a lot of good twists and turns, and this time the movie is longer than the predecessor.
It's all of a piece and it mostly works splendidly as a mix of serious character development and mystery, and the air of a delightful romp and hoot that might be best watched with a drink and a love-of-your-life by your side.It's not perfect though, and there are a couple of scenes where, seriously, the dog becomes the star of the picture.
It's cute, to be sure, to see all the other dogs and puppies and such, but it's diverting from seeing more of Loy and Powell and the other excellent character actors (a young James Stewart, right before breaking out as a leading man and already showing his chops, especially in the climax, as a 'blue-blood' is one of them).
Amusing followup to "The Thin Man" has Nick and Nora trying to solve another murder mystery while finding plenty of time to flirt and drink.
What saves AFTER from being a routine sequel is the acting of Powell and Loy, along with the marvelous Sam Levene as a pushy detective and veteran actress Jessie Ralph as Nora's dowager aunt Catherine, who looks down on Nick.
Its been two years; Nick(William Powell)and Nora(Myrna Loy)once again show us how to enjoy alcohol and cigarettes  all the while solving another murder caper.
Oh there's still plenty to like about the movie - William Powell and Myrna Loy are still a wonderfully banter-ful couple, and the dog Asta is one of the cutest screen pets still, but the movie drags in some scenes, and it just lacks the freshness of the first.This is one of James Stewart's pre-fame roles but I think it must've helped jump-start his career.
Disover the charms of Powell and Loy in After the Thin Man. After the Thin Man is the first movie I've seen in the William Powell-Myrna Loy series and what a treat it is to finally discover the charms of Nick and Nora Charles as well as their dog Asta!
For the suave and debonair couple Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell, Myrna Loy), the detective work that they do shares equal time with romance, quips, danger and mystery.
Nick Charles (William Powell) is asked by the cousin of his wife Nora (Myrna Loy) to locate her ne'er do well husband, missing for three days.
Supporting Actresses Over Act. Landi and Singleton make you grit your teeth at times, but Loy and Powell make all the Thin Man movies a joy to watch over and over..
Two years later, "After the Thin Man" continues exactly where the immensely successful first "Thin Man" movie had left off: Nick and Nora come home to California after solving the difficult Wynant murder case in New York - and find themselves in their own house right in the middle of a wild New Year's Eve party that their friends are giving to welcome them back; although they'd planned to just take a big rest for about a month...But they can't do that anyway, because they're 'summoned' to dine with Nora's distinguished family by her aunt, whose neurotic daughter Selma once more has got love trouble: her unfaithful husband has been missing for days...
Supported by a brilliant cast (especially young James Stewart as Selma's eternal worshiper, Joseph Calleia as the crooked night club owner, and George Zucco as Selma's psychologist, who seems somewhat nutty himself...), Powell and Loy give an equally marvelous performance as in the first 'Nick and Nora' adventure, and director W.S. van Dyke once more grants us a hilarious mixture of crime and comedy - this film certainly established 'Mr. and Mrs. Charles' as the audience's favorite married sleuthing couple, which they remain until today....
I've not seen any of these on TV and I've just bought The Thin Man Collection.Two years after The Thin Man we see the sleuthing married couple, the debonair William Powell and beguiling Myrna Loy, plus dog, Asta take on a new case that involves an early prominent role for James Stewart.
With Nick's constant boozing, chances are he never noticed it.San Francisco bound on the Sunset Limited, Nick and Nora Charles (Powell and Loy) along with their wire haired terrier, Asta, coming off the train finding themselves surrounded by reporters and assortment of oddball character friends of Nick's congratulating him on solving the "Thin Man" murder case.
Through its title, this is the film responsible for labeling Nick Charles as "The Thin Man." Separately or individually, Powell and Loy are in top form playing society sleuths with great chemistry and sense of humor.
The first "Thin Man" introduced us to Nick and Nora Charles (and their dog Asta), and the whole film had a fresh, wonderful feeling to it.
The movie works so well, just as The Thin Man did, because the mystery is complicated, because William Powell and Myrna Loy were probably the classiest and funniest pairing Hollywood has ever come up with, and because the dialogue crackles with wry humor that is just as funny now as it was 70 years ago.
Both the mystery and the characters are interesting, and William Powell and Myrna Loy work together at least as well in this one as they did in the original.
Nora dogs his every step as she attempts to convince her family Nick is a good man even if he wears a "blue" collar.James Stewart, prior to becoming famous, does well as the rejected love interest of the accused murderer.
As THE THIN MAN ends, Nick and Nora (William Powell and Myrna Loy) are headed back to their home in San Francisco, accompanied by Maureen O'Sullivan and her husband.
By the time After the Thin Man was made, William Powell and Myrna Loy had really grown into their characters.
A little long, compared to the other films in the series, but William Powell and Myrna Loy make this kind of movie, which is essentially a comedy mixed with a murder mystery, seem much more fresh than any other MGM film made in the 30's.
Not only does William Powell (Nick Charles) love Myrna Loy (Nora) but they serve as a good illustration of the complementary theory of marriage.