After the Thin Man

Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Romance

William Powell	Nicholas 'Nick' Charles
Myrna Loy	Nora Charles
James Stewart	David Graham
Elissa Landi	Selma Landis, Nora's Cousin
Joseph Calleia	'Dancer', Lichee Club Owner
Jessie Ralph	Aunt Katherine Forrest
Alan Marshal	Robert Landis, Selma's Husband (as Alan Marshall)
Teddy Hart	Floyd Casper, Dancer's Lawyer
Sam Levene	Lieutenant Abrams, San Francisco Homicide Squad
Penny Singleton	Polly Byrnes (as Dorothy McNulty)

Director	W.S. Van Dyke
Producer	Hunt Stromberg
Writer	Dashiell Hammett; Frances Goodrich

Selma asks Nick to find her missing husband. He had been seeing a bit on the side, and blackmailing a local criminal. David Graham claims he paid the missing husband to get rid of a former girlfriend. Will Nick locate him?

Back in San Franciso after solving his last case in New York, Nick and Nora find another case. Nora's cousin Selma is accused of having murdered her husband, but for Nick it's clear that she is not the murderer and he starts to investigate, supported by Nora and Asta.

In the view of many fans, "After the Thin Man" (1936) is the best episode in the series; and I can't say I disagree. The setting this time out is San Francisco, where Nick says they're heading at the end of the first story and where author Hammett himself lived. Apparently, Nick and Nora maintain residences on both coasts.

Everybody in the City knows Nick Charles, from the pickpockets to the news boys and from the truck drivers to the prize fighters. Nora's rich, stuffy family disapprove of Nick, his disreputable friends, his outspoken sense of humor, and his sleuthing, but when Nora's cousin's husband goes missing, the family are quick to ask Nick to investigate.

By the midway point in the movie, we've got murders piling up all over the place and suspects galore. There's Selma Landis (Ellissa Landi), Nora's cousin with the missing husband. There's Robert Landis (Alan Marshall), the errant husband. There's David Graham (an early role for a young James Stewart), a friend of the family and Selma's former suitor. There's Katherine Forrest (Jessie Ralph), Nora's aunt, whom Nick describes as an "old battle-axe." And there is the usual collection of really suspicious types: "Dancer" (Joseph Calleia), the shady owner of the Lichee night club; Lum Kee (William Law), "Dancer's" partner and co-owner of the Lichee; Polly Byrnes (Dorothy McNulty, later Penny Singleton of the "Blondie" series), a dancer at the club who is about to run away with Selma's husband; Phil Byrnes (Paul Fix), Polly's tough-guy "brother"; and Dr. Adolph Kammer (George Zucco, who generally specialized in mad scientists), Selma's peculiar psychologist. Sam Levene plays Lt. Abrams, the harried homicide detective trying to sort out the business. And, needless to say, there's Asta, the Charles's dog, playing a bigger role in this film than in the first.

W.S. "One-Take Woody" Van Dyke again directs in a light, breezy style; and there's a lot more music and dancing than usual, possibly because much of the story occurs during New Year's Eve and possibly because the filmmakers wanted to liven up the spirit as much as possible. As always, we seldom see Nick and Nora without a drink in their hand, and Nick does have one good line on the subject: "Let's get something to eat. I'm thirsty." Overall, "After the Thin Man" is as delightful an entry in the series as the first movie was, and the resolution of the mystery comes as a pleasant surprise. 8/10