“What enchants, really, is the relationship between Nick and Nora as they live an eternal cocktail hour, bewailing hangovers that only another little drink will cure, in a marvellous blend of marital familiarity and constant courtship.”
William Powell is Nick, a former sleuth coaxed out of retirement by his wealthy wife Nora, to investigate the case of a murdered gold-digger. The story itself, lifted almost verbatim from the Dashiell Hammett’s source novel, hardly matters. The film's strong suit is the witty repartee between Nick and Nora Charles, who manage to behave like saucily illicit lovers throughout the film even though they're married. The chemistry between William Powell and Myrna Loy - not to mention their wire-haired fox terrier Asta, would be seen in several subsequent films, including five additional Thin Man mysteries produced between 1936 and 1948. The Thin Man is one of the breeziest Hollywood films ever made and a pre-code delight.
