BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Bereamic Awesome Movie

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

utgard14 The sixth and final Thin Man film starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as everyone's favorite husband and wife detective team, Nick and Nora Charles. Unfortunately the series does not go out on a high note as this is the weakest Thin Man film by far. The story has Nick investigating a bandleader's murder in order to clear a friend's name. A darker atmosphere, some uninteresting supporting characters, and jazz music that did nothing for me (including the ironically forgettable song "You're Not So Easy to Forget") makes this one a bit of a slog to get through. The biggest problem is that Nick and Nora just seem kind of dull. Also the way they're portrayed as two people out of step with what's cool just makes them look old. Yeah they're maturing and have a kid and all that but I don't like to think of the Charleses like the rest of us. They should always be witty, fun, and adventurous. The rest of the cast includes Gloria Grahame, Keenan Wynn, Patricia Morison, Leon Ames, Jayne Meadows, and Ralph Morgan. Dean Stockwell plays Nick, Jr. and does a good job. It's the one I've rewatched the least because it just doesn't feel like a Thin Man film to me. Still, it's something every Powell and Loy fan will want to see at least once.

T Y For all the talk of the leads getting old, they look fine. Likewise for remarks that this is a mediocre entry in the series. I wish that the final installment of Indiana Jones was this mediocre. The humor is still wonderfully cynical and fresh. The idea that a movie in the 40s promotes the idea that the respectable are awful, and that hoodlums come in degrees of respectability is a delight. It's a great idea that frees the movies from convention and from conventional leads. The plot advances numerous times via visuals. Listening to the audio while distracted by something else won't do. Some very nice noir compositions will make you glad you kept an eye on it. The conflict between a father and daughter seems to have one eye on 'The Big Sleep' from the previous year.

Terrell-4 Song of the Thin Man is a sad-sweet experience, something like meeting a good friend you haven't seen in years and realizing how much affection you still have for him... but also how much you both have aged. It's been 13 years since The Thin Man appeared in 1934. We have to stop and remember that Nick Charles wasn't the thin man back then; that particular thin man was just one of the many murder victims Nick and Nora came across in their six movies. We remember the sophistication and insouciance of this affectionate and clever couple. They were never at a loss for a quick come-back or to shake a cold, gin martini. Even Nick's modus operandi to bring all the suspects together at the conclusion and pick apart the case until he has the murderer squirming never quite got stale. Alas, with Song of the Thin Man we have the MGM factory squeezing out one more film to try to wring a profit from it, this time attempting to make it "contemporary" by setting the story in the post-WWII social world of after-hours jazz clubs, bebop musicians and hep cat dialogue. Nick and Nora never looked uncomfortable anywhere their adventures took them in the past. They look at times now as out of place as salesmen from Peru, Indiana, at a Linda and Cole Porter party. Gone is the sophisticated world of white sofas and polished black floors, of naughty Porter lyrics and earnestly sophisticated Gershwin tunes. Martinis seem oddly old fashioned now (and so do Old Fashioneds) as Nick drinks high balls and Nora sips sherry. And instead of clever repartee, Song of the Thin Man gives us the kind of dialogue only studio journeymen can write. Says one character, "I must have blown my top, kicking Buddy over for a road company Casanova like you!" The solution depends on the kind of half-baked, melodramatic psychology popular at the time. To make it even more tedious, there are no characters except Nick and Nora to care about. The movie is peopled with crooks, opportunists, gold- diggers, scat-talking musicians and the unattractive rich. The acting is so variable that it doesn't take long to realize we're watching the kind of movie that MGM did not waste much effort on. Why spend time on it? Two names: William Powell and Myrna Loy. Even though 13 years have elapsed, even though, at 55, Powell is a little fuller around the face (Loy at 42 doesn't seem to have changed a bit) and even though WWII altered decisively the world of films, they remain one of the most refreshing, attractive and delightful movie pairs in screen history. They raise the movie, if at least not to their level, to a level of enduring affection for their style, their warmth, their intelligence and, that word again, their insouciance. So three stars is too much for the movie but five stars is too little for them.

bkoganbing William Powell was 55 and Myrna Loy 42 when Song of the Thin Man came out to box office that was not as good as the previous five entries. MGM thought they were getting too old for the roles and they and the stars called a halt to this most acclaimed of film series. I think they carried their parts off well myself.I think the problem was that this last one was too violent. Myrna Loy is almost killed by one of the suspects and the final unmasking of the villain was very violent, not at all in keeping with the usual lightheartedness that characterized the Thin Man series. I think the audience rejected it for that reason.A bandleader, Phillip Reed, is murdered on board a gambling ship and later on the band's vocalist Gloria Grahame is also killed. The usual array of suspects is on hand for Bill Powell to sift through and expose.Song of the Thin Man has Dean Stockwell as their young son, Nick Charles, Jr. and Powell and Loy get a sidekick in the form of sideman saxophonist Keenan Wynn. If the series had kept going, Wynn might have become a regular.Though it's not as good as the five previous entries, Song of the Thin Man is good one for this series to go out on.