The Thin Man

"A laugh tops every thrilling moment!"

1934 1h 31m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

★7.5TMDB · 558

ComedyMysteryCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Former detective Nick Charles has retired from police work, preferring a life of cocktails, parties, and relaxation with his wealthy wife, Nora. Their holiday is interrupted when the daughter of Nick’s former client asks for help finding her missing father, eccentric inventor Clyde Wynant. When Wynant’s body is discovered, Nick is drawn back into the investigation, with Nora eagerly joining him. As the couple questions Wynant’s family, friends, and business associates, a tangled web of greed, deception, and murder begins to unravel.

“A laugh tops every thrilling moment!”

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Cast

William Powell
Nick Charles
Myrna Loy
Nora Charles
Maureen O'Sullivan
Dorothy Wynant
Nat Pendleton
Inspector Guild
Minna Gombell
Mimi Wynant
Porter Hall
Herbert MacCaulay
Henry Wadsworth
Tommy
William Henry
Gilbert Wynant

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Writers: Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 6.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

92 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Thin Man Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

AWARDS

Did you know

Directed by W.S. Van Dyke, shot by James Wong Howe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by William Axt. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert Kern shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

William Powell and Myrna Loy and Maureen O'Sullivan carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

W.S. Van Dyke directs. James Wong Howe behind the camera. William Axt scores. Robert Kern cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 6.3× over at the box office.
392 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Part of the "The Thin Man Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by W.S. Van Dyke, shot by James Wong Howe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by William Axt. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Robert Kern shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8William Powell and Myrna Loy and Maureen O'Sullivan carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "A laugh tops every thrilling moment!".
10IMDB entry: tt0025878 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 18 themes, including "husband wife relationship", "police", "detective", "mistress".
12Released under 18 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: James Wong Howe
Original score: William Axt
Editing: Robert Kern
Costume design: Dolly Tree
Runtime: 91 min · 1h 31m
Status: Released
Budget: $226,408
Box office: $1,423,000
Return: 629% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Thin Man (1934)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

The Thin Man Collection

Comedy-mysteries featuring Nick and Nora Charles: a former detective and his rich, playful wife. They solve a murder case mostly for the fun of it.

Also by

W.S. Van Dyke

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2018-12-23
★ 9/10
Waiter, will you serve the nuts? ...I mean, will you serve the guests the nuts? The Thin Man is directed by W. S. Van Dyke and co-written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich. It is based on the Dashiell Hammett novel of the same name. Starring are William Powell and Myrna Loy, with support coming from Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton, Minna Gombell, Porter Hall and Skippy as Astra the dog. William Axt scores the music and James Wong Howe is the cinematographer. Plot finds Powell and Loy as married couple, Nick and Nora Charles, he is a retired detective, she a good time heiress. Planning to finally settle down, their life is upturned when Nick is called back into detective work due to a friend's disappearance and the possibility he was also involved in a murder. Murder, malarkey and mirth are about to become the order of the day. It was the big surprise hit of 1934. Afforded only a tiny budget because studio head honcho Louis B. Mayer thought it was dud material, and he ordered for it to be completed in under three weeks time! Film made stars out of Powell and Loy and coined an impressive $2 million at the box office. Also birthing a franchise (5 film sequels and a radio and television series would follow), it's a film that has irresistible charm leaping out from every frame. It's easy to see even now why a mid 1930's audience could take so warmly to such an appealing motion picture. From the off the film was in good hands, Dyke (One-Take Woody as he was sometimes known) was an unfussy director with a keen eye for pacing and casting, both of which are things that shine through in this production. There's also considerable talent in the writing, both in the source material and with the script writers. Hammett based his witty bantering couple on himself and his relationship with playwright Lillian Hellman, this was ideal material for Hackett and Goodrich, themselves a happily married couple fondly thought of in the cut and thrust world of Hollywood. As a couple they would go on to write It's a Wonderful Life for Frank Capra and win the Pulitzer Prize for their play The Diary of Anne Frank. It stands out as a film of note because it successfully marries a murder mystery story with a screwball comedy spin, this was something new and exciting. While the believable relationship between Powell and Loy was also a breath of fresh air - a married couple deeply in love, devoted, funny, boozey and bouncing off of each other with witty repartee. It can never be overstated just how good Powell and Loy are here, true enough they are given an absolutely zinging script to work from, but the level of comedy, both in visual ticks and delivery of lines, is extraordinarily high. Small budget and a small shoot, but everything else about The Thin Man is big. Big laughs, big mystery and big love, all bundled up into a joyous bit of classic cinema. 9/10

Production companies