MOVIES: Another Thin Man

1939's Another Thin Man, the third in the famous comic detective series, is yet another terrifically entertaining film. Perhaps not quite up to the levels of the first two, but very nearly there.

The fantastic William Powell and Myrna Loy star once again as the hard-drinking mystery-solvers Nick and Nora Charles -- although this time only Nick is drinking, for the most part; Nora has to care for the newest addition to the family, Nick Jr. (Why did they decide to have a baby? Nick is asked. "Well, we have a dog, and he was lonesome," he replies.) I was wary of the baby being thrown into the mix, but he remains enough in the background not to hamper the main proceedings.

The high comedic point in this chapter of the series, I'd say, takes place at the West Indies Club, where Nick and Nora have both gone, following separate leads. Nora takes the chance while there to try to stir up Nick's jealousy; she's recently learned from a police detective of Nick's many former girlfriends. Nick, of course, is more amused by her efforts than threatened, casting her grins as she's swept up dancing with the man she mistakenly thinks has a clue for her. Fortunately there aren't any singing numbers (the previous film, After the Thin Man, was brought to a dead halt by two completely superfluous performances), but there is a dance routine by two of the club's performers that is quietly astonishing in its pure grace.

There's also a very funny scene near the end of the film, in which a gaggle of Nick's lowlife friends decide to throw Nick Jr. a birthday party. The room is packed with thugs and hoodlums, all cradling babies in their arms. Enter Shemp Howard (!), who is stopped at the door because he doesn't have any kids. Sure he does, he says, and produces a baby -- "I rented him for an hour."

The mystery is even more convoluted than in the first two films, to the point of where I gave up rewinding and pausing the DVD, trying to figure out who was who and what they were up to. I just trusted Nick would figure it all out for me at the end, and what do you know -- he did! But for the third film running, I picked the culprit right from the beginning; my theory that it's always the most likeable, least suspectable of the suspects who's guilty was confirmed yet again.

Next up: Shadow of the Thin Man!