The Song of the Thin Man (1947)

The least of the series, 31 December 2005

What started with a bang in The Thin Man sadly ends in something of a whimper in Song of the Thin Man. By 1947, William Powell and Myrna Loy had become a little too long in the tooth to portray the dashing, urbane mystery solving couple. Both still do a good job, but I always picture Nick and Nora a little younger. The writing is not up to the standard set by the first three Thin Man films. It often seems more like what you would find in a cheap Monogram Charlie Chan film. I'll always argue that the writing in this series as a whole really suffered with the departure of Dashiell Hammett. And, with a child at home, the jokes centered on Nick's drinking seem out of place and not as funny.

So how can I rate a movie a 6/10 if I see so many problems with it? The faults I point out are found when comparing Song of the Thin Man with the other movies in the series. On it's own, it's an enjoyable enough movie, just not the best I've ever seen. But when compared with the previous five films, it fails. Still, we're talking Powell and Loy, my all-time favorite movie couple, so a 6/10 seems about right.

6/10