Director: Richard Thorpe
Year Released: 1944
Rating: 3.0
Part four out of five of the charming Thin Man series sees Nick and Nora meeting Nick's parents, Nick trying to impress his father by quitting the drink (and switching to ... cider! the heathen!) and of course, another murder mystery so absurd you have to see it to believe it (secret paintings, sniper rifles and corrupt doctors all come into play). I'm not going to defend the plot in any way - and this certainly isn't the best picture of the lot (changing directors from Van Dyke to Thorpe may have played a part) - but I get such a kick out of seeing Myrna Loy and William Powell make faces out of each other that it doesn't matter. One of the many magical qualities of the Thin Man movies is how their quaintness and sweetness compensate for the underlying themes of corruption and death at place in society, and give off the feeling that no matter what goes wrong, it can always be fixed and that the guilty will always go punished - a beautiful (though impractical) sentiment, if you ask me.
