On Video: The Thin Man (1934)

Acclaimed author Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man hit bookstores in January 1934. Four months later, the film was adapted for the screen by MGM, beginning a series of feature films with William Powell & Myrna Loy as the husband & wife team of Nick & Nora Charles. Nick is a retired detective who still has the skills when needed.

However, much like Blake Edwards' "Pink Panther" movies that launched three decades later, "The Thin Man" does not refer to Nick Charles. The movie explains how it got its title in the course of the story.

Here's a trailer:



While Maureen O'Sullivan earned third billing, keep an eye open for a young Cesar Romero, who would begin to land leading roles of his own.

In the 50's, MGM decided to develop a TV version of Thin Man with Peter Lawford as Nick Charles. Lasted one season. Lawford, you see, didn't have the kind of good fortune on television that his Rat Pack brothers had......

Rating: B.