Nick and Nora Charles (and their dog Asta) first appeared in this mystery movie, the first of THE THIN MAN series in 1934. The wit and charm in this movies simply sparkles and flows as does the champagne cocktails and vodka martinis. However, when it comes to murder Nick Charles can be tough and determined as he proves here. In his own fashion Nick hunts the bad guys, follows leads and gets his man or woman. He holds no sympathy for murder suspects or those who hold back information. Nick questions one man whose wife is walking out of the door because of his philandering, he begs Nick to "just let me go after her and explain." To paraphrase Nick, "If you didn't spend so much time chasing other women, you wouldn't have so much trouble with this one."

Most of the action in this movie takes place around Christmas time when the Charles' (William Powell as Nick Charles and Myrna Loy as Nora Charles) arrive in New York to take care of personal business and get caught up in murder. Also in the movie is a very young and lovely Maureen O'Sullivan (actress Mia Farrows mother) and Cesar Romero who plays the "gigolo type" husband to the hilt. The THIN MAN is based on a novel written by Dashiell Hammett.

This movie is just loaded with sharp wit and clever barbs. Rent of copy of this classy classic when you want good fun. You may be surprised how much social drinking goes on in this movie. Movie critic Roger Ebert mentions this in his movie review

Nick and Nora set the bar (no pun intended) for witty husband and wife detective film teams. There are many but the one that comes to my mind is HART TO HART the 1979 to 1984 television series starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as wealthy Jonathan and Jennifer Hart amateur detectives who always find themselves mixed up with murder.

Facts and figures

• Nick and Nora Charles were on radio in the 1940's on the Lux Radio Theatre. There were other THIN MAN radio shows up to 1950.
  
  
• The THIN MAN had a three year stint from 1957 to 1960 on television with Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk as the famous couple.
  
  
• In 1991 NICK AND NORA opened on Broadway in New York and ran for a short time starring Barry Bostwick and Joanna Gleason. The show opened Dec 8, 1991 and closed Dec 15, 1991. However short the run was it won the 1992 Tony Award® for best original score.

It seems that we can't get enough of Nick and Nora Charles. They truly were magic.

The THIN MAN Series:

. AFTER THE THIN MAN 1936 (Look for a young James Stewart)
. ANOTHER THIN MAN 1939
. SHADOW OF THE THIN MAN 1941
. THE THIN MAN GOES HOME 1944
. SONG OF THE THIN MAN 1947



Vannie(~.~)