Song of the Thin Man (1947)

Waste of time

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Finally, the movie everyone (except me) hates: Song of the Thin Man (1947). For this one, Nat Perrin was assigned as both producer and screenwriter (in collaboration with Steve Fisher), whilst the directorial reins were handed to veteran Eddie Buzzell. The writers have taken care to restore Nick's liking (though not compulsion) for alcohol, but they made little change to the bland domesticity of Nora. Admittedly, she isn't quite the dumb housewife here, more the not-so-bright socialite. Her antics aren't funny though. In one particular boneheaded play, she almost gets herself killed! Loy's performance is adequate, but by no means sparkling. Maybe she was miffed that she was handed no witty lines to speak of. Maybe she was just tired. She'd already co-starred with Powell in thirteen films. Aside from Myrna Loy's inoffensively decorative Nora, the main item that irritates most fans is the jazz soundtrack. I thought it terrific. In fact it's my number one reason for welcoming this entry. Sultry Gloria Grahame sings up a storm with "You're Not So Easy To Forget", whilst Keenan Wynn (as an enthusiastic muso) and Don Taylor (as a psychotic reed man) give the most convincingly charismatic performances of their lives. As for Powell, the script not only serves him astringently well, but he still seems right at home tossing off one-liners in the same polished, throwaway, suavely witty form. No doubt he could have continued persuasively playing Nick Charles for the rest of his career. - Which he did with only minor variations.

Aboard a gambling ship where Nick and Nora are invited by rich David Thayar, the atmosphere is obviously pretty much poisonous - and by the end of the night, it becomes murderous, too: band leader Tommy Drake, hated by just about everyone on board, is shot. And suspect number one is - Phil Brant, who just married secretly Thayar's daughter Janet. So the newly-weds seek help from Janet's friends Nick and Nora; but instead, Nick turns Phil over to the police - but why? Because he wants him in a safe place, since he's afraid somebody might kill him - and a prison cell IS (temporarily, at least) a safe place...And then Nick and Nora start their investigations - and very soon we've got a whole bunch of suspects: clarinetist Buddy Hollis, who's become an alcoholic since Drake stole his girlfriend, the beautiful singer Fran (a great performance by Gloria Grahame!), gambling boss Al Amboy, whom he owed a lot of money, and of course Thayar, who disapproved of his daughter's marriage and might want to get Brant out of the way...And then there are the members of the band, of course, who haven't actually got a motive, but certainly hated their 'boss' enough to actually celebrate his death - but here the fun begins: Nick gets the second clarinetist, 'Clinker', to help him search for the vanished Buddy Hollis (he found a razor blade at the scene of the crime, and every clarinetist uses one for cleaning his instrument...); and so we (and Nick and Nora, who don't seem to be very up-to-date anymore on the latest music hits and musicians' slang) get a chance to see some really crazy jam sessions! But then things become serious again: they find Buddy in an asylum, completely deranged by now, then Fran is mysteriously stabbed in her apartment - and when Nick and Nora come back home, where they had left Nickie Jr. in Janet's care, they find them both missing... Could she possible be wanting to take revenge for the way Nick treated her husband?? Although at times a bit too melodramatic and complicated, even this last one of the 'Thin Man' films provides many different elements: a shade of Noir, a glimpse into the jazz world, some humor, some suspense, a quite intriguing plot, and good solid performances.The sad thing about this movie, though, is that the carefree, nonconformist, cheeky Nick and Nora that we knew at last are turning 'typically American', almost bourgeois: they've become rather strict parents (Nick spanks Jr. when he tries to sneak out to play baseball instead of practicing piano), and compared to the 'hep cats' of the band, with first and best Keenan Wynn as 'Clinker', they look - almost intentionally - pretty old-fashioned and stuffy. All this is a mirror of the general atmosphere in the US society toward the end of the 40s, of course; but it also shows that the good old days of crime comedy were coming to an end - and this film is kind of a 'swan song' for that great genre that had blossomed in the 30s and early 40s...

This was another excuse to showcase the wonderful chemistry between Loy and Powell. Thankfully, I cannot say that there is no attention to detail, story, plot, or execution, because there is. It does somehow seem to be secondary, however, to the marvelous on screen relationship the principles enjoy.I like this in spite of the comparatively weak production style, plot, etc. and more for the quirky, sweet element and less for the tremendously compelling story or plot. It has a close feeling to Another Thin Man in that it was enjoyable, not as good as Shadow, or the first two installments, but enjoyable, nonetheless.All in all? This is great for an afternoon, or rainy day movie.It rates a 7.3/10 from...the Fiend :.

It was inevitable that "The Thin Man" series would run out of steam eventually and this last entry is probably why both Powell and Loy never made another one. The background for this mystery is a gambling boat with jazz musicians giving the film a very dated look because of all the jive talk, circa 1940s.And as usual, there are more suspects than there are murders, with Asta and Mrs. Charles trying to help Nick solve the crime. MGM spared no expense in giving the film a glossy, polished look and a sparkling supporting cast--PATRICIA MORISON, LEON AMES, GLORIA GRAHAME, KEENAN WYNN, DEAN STOCKWELL (then 11) and PHILIP REED.The problem is the usual flaw in these Nick and Nora mysteries--the viewer never gets enough clues to solve the crime along with the two sleuths. You're just along for the ride as the two deal with a host of unpleasant characters, among whom is a murderer who invariably slips up in time for Nick to solve the crime.Summing up: Good chemistry between Loy and Powell is still there, but they get little help from a tiresome script.