After the Thin Man (1936)

I remember very little from my viewing of The Thin Man (1934) years ago. I'm pretty sure it didn't do much for me. So why watch the immediate sequel? Partly as a refresher course for the iconic characters of Nick Charles (William Powell) and his wife Nora (Myrna Loy). Besides, perhaps they're an acquired taste like the alcohol Nick constantly consumes. Or for another drink analogy, perhaps my taste gets better with age.

From the looks of it, this story begins almost immediately after the events of the previous. The detective duo is receiving lots of positive attention from the media, tho Nick finds himself getting more from the riffraff types on the street. It serves to highlight the difference in background between him and aristocratic Nora. Nick would like never to take another case, but this time it's a family matter, and Nora's haughty aunt would rather call on a despised in-law than let the police handle it.

In a supporting role is James Stewart, younger than I'd ever seen him before. He apparently hadn't made a big name for himself yet; none of his earlier titles rings a bell. That doesn't stop him from delivering as a love interest to Nora's unhappily married (and then unhappily widowed) cousin.

I can't say I like Nick as a person. Binge drinking aside, he simply doesn't act like he cares about much. But he does have a way with, ironically, dry delivery. He and Nora get to make a lot of wisecracks, largely bouncing off exaggerated minor characters.

The series is probably more mystery than comedy, given Dashiell Hammett as the writer. The plot does get moderately convoluted, which makes Nick's performance under the influence all the more impressive. Sadly, despite efforts to make Nick and Nora look like equal partners, he does the bulk of the insight, in addition to having the more interesting character.

Am I just bringing my own biases on that last part? I doubt it. This was the '30s, after all, when the Battle of the Sexes routinely reared its ugly head in comedies. Even Asta (the protagonists' male terrier inexplicably sporting a female Norwegian name) is not immune, having a side arc in which he determines himself to be a cuckold. Asta also has the misfortune of becoming worse than useless to his owners on the present case, but at least he's a cutie.

Ultimately, I got a few kicks out of AtTM and succeeded in understanding the series' popularity, but it didn't make me want to check out any of the four(?) more sequels. I'll also skip Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, for other reasons.