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Michael - 2005-12-24 21:39:30
The best Thin Man movie, of course, is the first one, one of the most effervescently energetic movies this side of Cagney's "The Public Enemy." The Thin Man movies got progressively tamer over the years, but that first one was a euphoric celebration of alcohol second only to Robert Benchley in "China Seas," in which he's literally reeling drunk from one end of the movie to the other. The second one, "After the Thin Man," features an electrifying performance by James Stewart at the end of the movie that must've had 1936 audiences jumping in their seats. I love rereading Dashiell Hammett's original novel. Hammett also wrote "The Maltese Falcon," which John Huston practically shot verbatim for the Bogart classic (I used to hate that commercial on IFC in which the concession stand girl calls Huston the "auteur" of that fine film, as though Hammett didn't write it). The more you learn about the great Hammett, the more fascinating he becomes, with his finest hour being before the House Un-American Activities Committee: he proved to be as tough as any of his characters and they threw him into prison.
By the way, I guess you know Don Adams based his Maxwell Smart character's voice in "Get Smart" on Powell in the Thin Man movies.
Merry Xmas!
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Michael - 2005-12-24 21:43:34
Imagine if you wind up with half a dozen pairs of "Thing feet." Visualize what that would look like in the bottom of your closet, and what people would think when they saw it.
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Michael - 2005-12-24 21:54:07
One more thing. They're doing an hour and a half interview with Dick Cavett on Wednesday, January 18 at the Museum of TV & Radio, conducted by the producer and director of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," Robert Weide. It'll be permanently available in their archives afterward, though.
Okay, Merry Xmas again.
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Flasshe - 2005-12-25 00:26:23
What happens if you mix Thing Feet with Hulk Hands? Then it's more than just "clobberin' time", baby!
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Paula - 2005-12-25 08:44:55
What happens if you mix Thing Feet with Hulk Hands
That violates every law of Kashrut, I'm afraid.
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Paula - 2005-12-25 08:54:02
The best Thin Man movie, of course, is the first one
They strike me as being all pretty much the same level of quality, which is to say fun and charming but not without some clunky moments. I just love the interplay between the Charleses. And Asta of course.
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MIchael - 2005-12-25 15:37:30
I always felt that they gradually went downhill from that first pinnacle, until by the latter stages that jaunty verve and fantasic energy bouncing through the earliest ones were more or less depleted, although you're right that it was always good to see Powell and Loy (who had amazing separate careers as well) interacting as those wondrous Hammett characters. I think the first one is on a whole different level, though, partly because it was based on Hammett's superb book, and the second one is transported at the end by what must have been James Stewart's first really great scene (oh god he was magnificent in that sequence). The lighting, sets, and energy level of the later ones engender a whole different feeling, though, as though the Charleses had gone [ugh! vomit!] suburban. Kind of like watching the Three Stooges without Curly or even Shemp. Asta, by the way, is the same little dog that played George in the finest screen comedy yet produced, 1938's "Bringing Up Baby" with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant.
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