The third in the Thin Man series also comes up third in quality. Nick and Nora go out to Long Island to visit the manager of Nora's father's finances, because he's worried about a former employees threats. Former employee Phil Church (Sheldon Leonard) claims that if he dreams about a person 3 times, that person winds
up dead. Sure enough, the old man winds up dead, and it's Church who is the prime suspect. Things only get more convoluted from here, as the detectives hunt down Church and his gang. If you've seen the previous two Thin Man movies, it's fairly easy to spot the murderer early on, as a formula seems to be developing. They also seem to be running out of gags to do with the dog, Asta. At one point, and for no apparent reason, the dog does a backwards flip while walking towards the stairs, in what appears to be cuteness for cuteness' sake. Speaking of cuteness for cuteness' sake, a baby has been added to Nick and Nora's life, although it plays a very minor role in the proceedings (just at the end). There's still some great dialogue here, though I find it odd when characters who appear to be good, are suddenly found out to be bad, and their manner of speaking changes from erudite to bowery in a matter of seconds. Very odd indeed, see. If youz mugs are in da mood fer a old-fashioned "who-done-it?", you'd best stick wit the foist two movies, see. But if youz arredy seen em, and ya needz yer fix o' flatfeets and gumheels, with hot petunias and dames wit heaters under their jalopies, i guess dis is bettah dan nuttin.
July 31, 2009
