Twelve Hidden Yuletide Gems
Strangely, in this first movie, The Thin Man is a just-discovered-in-time-for-Christmas corpse!
In later movies, the Thin Man came to refer to William Powell, who made most beautiful music with Myrna Loy in this and a succession of Thin Man sequels and other movies. But among their twelve outings, this original is still the most fun. It’s a mystery, but it’s also exceedingly stylish, witty, and can drink every other holiday film under the table.
Thin Man Image
Powell and Loy were teamed for the first Thin Man movie with no big expectations; it was filmed on the cheap as a B-movie. Loy, a former dancer from Helena, Montana, had been typecast in “vamp” and “exotic” roles; Powell, the ex-husband of Carole Lombard, had more bona fide successes to his credit. Powell had moved from B-movie villainy to the early talkie Philo Vance mystery series, and Fashions of 1934, in which he costarred with a bewilderingly-platinum-blonde Bette Davis.
Enter Dashiell Hammett’s novel, The Thin Man, which introduces us to Nick Charles, a detective who married “up”; his darling wife Nora is not only wealthy, but a fun, smart lady who wants Nick to keep detecting. While this was Hammett’s last big success before a long bout of writer’s block, The Thin Man has remained as immortal as his other major work, The Maltese Falcon. And if the creation of classic detective Sam Spade was influenced by Hammett’s experience working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, Nora in The Thin Man is clearly based on Hammett’s longtime love and companion, playwright Lillian Hellman. And like Hammett and Hellman’s real-life relationship, the romance was as chummy and supportive as it was sophisticated and witty.
Soon after the film opens, tired Christmas shopper Nora joins her already tipsy husband at the bar, insisting upon “catching up,” ordering as many drinks as he’s had. But there’s more to these two than scotch on the rocks; they clearly adore their dog, Asta; and are always ready to pitch in a hand to help an old friend. When Nick is approached by the daughter of a former client, who’s worried that her father hasn’t returned home for the holidays, the couple makes time at Christmas for detective work.
The book had been a hit, but both the movie and the pairing of Loy and Powell were a smash. The public affection for this new team rivaled the excitement over Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’ debut a year earlier. (1933’s Flying Down to Rio didn’t star Fred and Ginger; they were second leads in the story, supporting Gene Raymond and Delores del Rio; and as with The Thin Man, no one expected lightning to strike once or twice.)
Anyone worrying about their big Christmas party can pop this film in just to see the bubbly, semi-sober soiree at the Charles residence, where Nora’s well-heeled friends mix with Nick’s paroled jailbird buddies…Here, the loudest bangs aren’t New Year’s Eve fireworks, they’re the guests demolishing the Christmas decorations.
In the first sequel, likewise, Nora and Nick return from their trip to New York, discovering that a giant New Year’s bash has been thrown in their honor … as a surprise… only more gatecrashers than actual friends have arrived.
Like a good marriage, The Thin Man movies seem more comfortable over time, as their sinewy wit sinks in, year after year.
The next film on our list features another beloved screen couple, but unlike The Thin Man stars, these two, Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, were really in love, continuing a love affair until the end of their lives. Keeping in mind these hijinks, it’s interesting to ponder what Hepburn’s ex-boyfriend Howard Hughes (whose own hijinks are featured in The Aviator) would have done with this Christmas gem.
Hughes had shot Jean Harlow’s star into the stratosphere, and the 1943 publicity for The Outlaw still makes Desperate Housewives look desperately tame, since it rested (literally) on the bosom of star Jane Russell. If Hughes had produced this next film with ex-girlfriend Kate, there’s no doubt he would have replaced the boring, vague title wiics/desk_set_poster.jpgth something a bit more racy, like “The Naughty Librarian”, instead of…
