Synopsis
A laugh tops every thrilling moment!
A husband and wife detective team takes on the search for a missing inventor and almost get killed for their efforts.
1934 Directed by W.S. Van Dyke
A husband and wife detective team takes on the search for a missing inventor and almost get killed for their efforts.
William Powell Myrna Loy Maureen O'Sullivan Nat Pendleton Minna Gombell Porter Hall Henry Wadsworth William Henry Harold Huber Cesar Romero Natalie Moorhead Edward Brophy Edward Ellis Cyril Thornton William Augustin Polly Bailey Arthur Belasco Brooks Benedict Tui Bow Raymond Brown Ruth Channing Jack Cheatham Clay Clement Nick Copeland Pat Flaherty Douglas Fowley Christian J. Frank Kenneth Gibson Dick Gordon Show All…
Nick ja pettävä varjo, Кльощавият, A cingár férfi, Granni maðurinn, La cena de los acusados, Den tynde mand, Kaga naki otoko, O anthropos skia, Detektiv Nick v New Yorku, L'introuvable, Mordsache Dünner Mann, Der lange Schatten, Tetemrehívás, Poscig za cieniem, Mordsache dünner Mann, Den gäckande skuggan, Pettävä varjo, De schaduwen van den misdaad
Murder, romance, high society, disturbing levels of alcoholism, an abundance of dog reaction shots: this is cinema.
this movie has everything i love:
- detectives
- banter
- dogs
- christmas
- sarcasm
- murder
if you took a shot every time nick has a drink of various alcoholic beverages throughout this movie you would die painfully and nick and nora would reluctantly solve your murder.
One of my favourite comedies of all time. Crime solving has never been done more frivolously. I think it's just wonderful how well Powell and Loy play off each other. The dialogue is so unbelievably snappy that it still feels fresh almost 90 years later! A testament to great writing.
Nora: All right! Go ahead! Go on! See if I care! But I think it's a dirty trick to bring me all the way to New York just to make a widow of me.
Nick: You wouldn't be a widow long.
Nora: You bet I wouldn't!
Nick: Not with all your money.
So much alcohol is consumed in this movie, it's a miracle the case was solved. They sure were…
It might be impossible to hate this. It oozes charm. Actually, it must be possible to hate this, but you have to really, really hate this sort of charm. It's a bit boojy, so I get it, but man, they're such a charming pair. The plot, well, the plot is a bit... thin (I can't help myself), with its central mystery not being so much obvious as it is unimportant. The process of investigation isn't the focus so much as the fun had in investigating. There are crack jokes and dialogue, some fun visual moments, and a lot of great interplay between the Charleses. The humor is the focus. It's light, but it's not utterly insubstantial.
It's nice to see…
The couple that drinks together, stays together. Nick and Nora are my favorite alcoholics and married couple. Also, Asta is a good boy. Truly goals for any relationship to have as much fun and be as witty and playful with each other and their dog as Nick and Nora.
The Delightfully drunken Nick and Nora Charles (and Asta!) are my favorite on screen couple. Getting hammered at parties and solving mysteries like it’s nobodies business... never forgetting to pour another glass of spirits. Myrna Loy and William Powell are to die for, and have some of the best chemistry, acted or non acted, that I’ve ever seen. <3
One of my favorite films of the 1930’s also happens to be a fun New Years Romp as well, and if you played a drinking game every time Nick or Nora drank, well, you’d be dead! Also, this gets an extra half star because my Great Uncle Cesar is in it, and looks dashing as hell.
66/100
Second viewing, first since 1992 (during my initial blitz through the canon after moving to New York and discovering its rep houses). Kinda flabbergasted by how little Nick + Nora there actually is here—movie's on fire whenever Powell and Loy banter it up, but I'd forgotten that "chivalry" keeps requiring Nora to be sidelined and that Hammett's typically convoluted mystery plot regularly grinds the repartee to a halt. Basically two magnificent, iconic characters trapped in a forgettable programmer. Turns out that's more than enough.