The Thin Man [VHS]
The intoxicating chemistry and repartee between the oft-teamed William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles--America's favorite soused detectives--is fully 100-proof in the marvelously witty Thin Man movies. You simply won't find more delightful movie company than Nick and Nora. The title, of course, refers not to Nicky the dick, but to the mysteriously missing scientist he and his lovely partner set out to find. Powell and Loy deliver their sparkling dialog with giddy enthusiasm (and occasionally slurred speech) in this rapid-fire, three-martini suspense comedy directed by famously speedy W.S. Van Dyke and adapted from the novel by Dashiell Hammett. The success ofThe Thin Manspawned a litter of sequels, includingAfter the Thin Man(featuring a young James Stewart),Another Thin Man(in which a baby is added to the Charles family),Shadow of the Thin Man,The Thin Man Goes Home, andSong of the Thin Man.--Jim Emerson