Finally, Nick feels the Cockroach of Doom in his underpants. Why he let his wife adopt such a creature has puzzled film historians for generations. It also produced a film of film historians searching for a Cockroach of Doom to add to their collections, and the terrible Fate they each met – and often dated – but that’s another story for another time.
And I’m not going to tell it.
The Thin Man (1934) is a member of the private detective genre, a category in which success often depends on the strength of characterization. Think of Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade: at least half of the charm of the stories of which they are a part is the detectives themselves, their toughness, their reaction to temptations, their outlook on life.
The attraction of The Thin Man and its sequels is, in part, the chemistry of the characters. This is true not only of Nick and Nora Charles, the former a retired private detective, the latter Nick’s rich wife and the reason he’s retired, but also of Nick and Nora’s relationship with Nick’s nabs. The affection the nabs have for Nick and Nora is both unexpected and brings a bit of charm and comic relief to the story.
And the story? A former client of Nick’s, successful inventor and curmudgeon Clyde Wynant, has disappeared. His daughter, beau in her wake, can’t find him to walk her down the aisle at her wedding, and attempts to enlist Nick to find Clyde. But Nick is retired, more interested in wife and dog, Asta, than his former client, and refuses. Several times.
But Nora is intrigued. She’s never seen her husband in action, and pushes him to investigate. Nick reluctantly does so, trading barbed pleasantries with … Asta. But the dog is more than a conversational foil, as we discover when he finds a body.
But it’s not Wynant’s, even if it’s buried in his basement. Was Wynant a killer of the worst sort, as he’s a genius? In a classic big windup, all the suspects at the dinner table, waited upon by Nick’s nabs, Nick announces the name of the victim and of the killer … by letting the killer name themselves.
Add in a jealous ex-wife and a nerdy, self-important son, and don’t forget the ex-wife’s paramour, and there are suspects simply pouring out of the windows of the hotel. Which one will Nick and Nora pick while trading puns, cocktails, and kid toys with each other?
Tune in and find out. If you like old-fashioned murder mystery movies in which characters aren’t too deeply explored, and silly head-splitting crap doesn’t occur, The Thin Man may be for you.
