Some friends gave me the complete Thin Man series for Christmas, and I have to say after several viewings of all six that the pairing of William Powell and Myrna Loy is one of those matches made in Hollywood Heaven. There are few teams that leap to mind as being better suited to each other; their screen energy is a
beautiful phenomenon to behold. Powell is already on my very select all-time favorite actors list, and I'm thinking that Loy is going up there right after I finish writing these comments. What I find most interesting about the critical comments is not that almost everyone agrees that Powell and Loy are great, but that the series is short on story, flimsy of narrative, lacking in substance -- and one critic goes to far as to say that each successive film is weaker than the one before. Sorry, I have to disagree. I think the stories are interesting, cleverly conceived, and well written. They are so smartly written, in fact, that the writers have managed to let the plot play in the background so that we can all concentrate on the chemistry of Powell and Loy. Seriously, if I were looking for great literature, I'd turn to the book shelf and dig around for Shakespeare or something, but just like the live audience members back when this series played the theaters, I'm here to see Powell, Loy -- and Asta -- make their magic. And I definitely think that the last one, Song of the Thin Man, is just as magical as the first : )
February 9, 2011
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