Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
NICK & NORA VISIT THE PARENTS, December 8, 2004
In the 5th installment of the Thin Man series, Nick and Nora decide to visit Nick's parents in the small town of Sycamore Springs. During the train ride there, they smuggle Asta aboard in Nora's fur coat but leave little Nicky Jr. at home!
Nick's father (Harry Davenport) is a well-respected Doctor who is trying to get a new hospital built. He never liked Nick becoming a detective and always looked down on his son because of his career choice and lifestyle. Naturally, the first time they meet...Nick is lying on the floor after bumping his head on a table, but dad thinks he's drunk again.
Of course, everyone in town knows Nick Charles and they all think he's there on a case. Soon he is, as a series of murders takes place as well as a phony painting con and of course Nick has to step in and solve the murders. In the end his dad finally says how proud he is of Nick.
Still the humor is quite sharp. At one point Nick Gives Nora a spanking since she shot her mouth off to the newspapers about Nicks involvement in the case. Very funny there and his dad takes glee in Nora getting smacked on the behind.
The movie still has some of its great character actors such as Edward Brophy (who appeared in the first Thin Man film as a gangster) as Brogan...a con man friend of Nicks, and Donald Meek as art store owner Willie Crump. Also look for a young Gloria DeHaven as a teenager smitten with Nick.
Not the best of the series but not the worst either. Still a great deal of fun.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Charming as always, April 20, 1999
This time Nick and Nora goes to see Nick's parents. Of course someone gets whacked and Nick has to solve the murder, now with the aim to impress his father whom obviously never has shown him any encouragement before, regarding Nick's chosen profession as a sleuth. This is a Thin man film with the usual ingredients wich we all know and love, except that Nick stays sober as his parents don't approve of drinking. I would say though that Nora (Myrna Loy) is not as funny and vibrant in this film as in some of the others, wich dissapoints me a little. I like her character very much in the other films, but here she's a bit wimpy to my taste. Well...the murder gets solved of course and if you like the other Thin man films, this will be an enjoyment too.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Just keep on doing what you're doing; I'll have the cocoa in a few minutes.", July 31, 2006
10 years later, Nick and Nora Charles (and Asta) are back for a delightful fifth installment in the Thin Man series. This time, on Nick's birthday, the Charles are visiting Nick's parents in the rural, small town of Sycamore Springs. But all is not well between Nick and his dad, Dr. Bertram Charles (Harry Davenport). Nora is distressed to find out that Dr. Charles patronizingly looks down at Nick's "policeman" profession, and she asks Mrs. Charles if there are any cases lying about which Nick could solve to impress his father. If he could just make his father proud once, Nick'll pop a vest button. Well, no sooner asked than granted. One evening, a man is murdered at the Charles' front door and Nick and Nora find themselves suddenly embroiled in another humdinger of a murder mystery. Yes, this is a bit of a departure from the usual cosmopolitan settings in which we routinely see the Charles. However, it doesn't take long for Nick to start feeling right at home again as he strives to crack the case, despite the number of corpses piling up. En route, he unearths several small town secrets and uncovers a murderer and a spy ring. But is it enough to make a father proud?
True, Nick and Nora Charles, formerly the lives-of-the-cocktail-party, may have settled down a bit (after all, they have a brat now), and Nick now imbibes cider rather than martinis. But, even after all this time, Powell and Loy's dazzling chemistry is still very much intact. As usual, the murder mystery is secondary to the charming play between Nick and Nora. In fact, the mystery isn't even introduced until 30 minutes into the picture, as director Richard Thorpe first has the film leisurely wallow in an amusing train escapade, several introductions of quirky character actors, Nora's virtuoso breakdown of the case of Stinky Davis, and Nora's epic cage match with a lawn chair.
But even with the advent of the mystery element, the film still takes time to indulge in Nick and Nora frolickings. There's a little scene with Nick and Nora and her frustrated attempts to introduce his birthday present, a painting of a windmill from Nick's childhood. There's Nora's amateurish shadowing of a "suspect," with Nora, in turn, being followed, which all climaxes in a pool room brawl. And what about Nick foisting off his wife onto a partnerless sailor who longs to dance at a charity event? Jitterbug, anyone?
I get a kick out of how Nick Charles's urbane sophistication seems to strand him in the face of his father's low expectations. Dr. Charles never got over the disappointment of Nick not following him in the doctoring biz. A nice touch early on, which whets the viewer's appetite, is the scene of Nick ineptly fixing an endtable, only to have it fall apart and bushwhack him, leaving him prone on the carpet, which is exactly where his father finds him. Nick has to insist that Dr. Charles take a sip of his cider drink to convince him he isn't inebriated.
The dialogue as usual is smart and snappy; the plot is convoluted but is ably enlivened by two leads in full rapport with each other. The character actors, a great staple of the series, once again sparkle and divert. Lucile Watson as Mrs. Charles, Harry Davenport as Dr. Charles, Donald Meek as the pawnshop owner Mr. Crump, Gloria DeHaven as the overly dramatic Laura Ronson, Anne Revere as Crazy Mary, and Anita Sharp-Bolster as the suspicious Charles' housekeeper all do very credible work. The Thin Man Goes Home may not have the fresh and seminal quality of the first Thin Man, but at this point, any Thin Man installment is like comfort food or hot cocoa, brimming with warmth and nostalgia. This fifth offering is actually my second favorite of the series, after The Thin Man, and mostly because of the family dynamics brought in. The underlying theme of the film is Nick trying to make his father proud of him, and I'm on board with that.
I'm not one for suggesting that people spend their money frivolously, but the Thin Man series is that rare case where every film is worth its weight in gold. So my recommendation for folks thinking of purchasing a Thin Man movie: just go ahead and buy the entire box set collection. Trust me, if you own one Thin Man, you'll want to own the rest.
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