The Thin Man Collection : The Thin Man / Shadow Of The Thin Man / The Thin Man Goes Home / After The Thin Man / Another Thin Man / The Song Of The Thin Man (6 Disc Box Set) [1934]

Customer Reviews:

Comedic Detectives never fail to entertain.......2007-12-16

My wife and I thoroughly enjoy this series. I introduced her to The Thin Man film, based on the novel by Dashiel Hammett (of Maltese Falcon fame), and she was immediately taken. Nick and Nora Charles present an interesting item, a married couple that have a mature and hilarious relationship with themselves, booze and detective work.

The surrounding characters provide a great backdrop for their antics, and with the constant supply of cocktails, this has to be a class act of the silver screen era.

The detective slant of it is rather good too, with a couple of nice twists in the mix for the more serious. Otherwise, its a great way to while away a rainy afternoon, watching what life was like (or could be like if you're a bit wet :)

Great films, definitely worth watching.

A Highly Entertaining Collection.......2007-10-09

What a great collection! These detective films have decent story-lines and are highly entertaining. This boxed set has lots of extras too, including cartoons and comedy shorts. There are loads of laughs, including with Asta the dog, and there is a good deal of drinking and wise-cracking in every film. Each film has been lovingly restored. This is a good value boxed set.

Drink Up!.......2006-05-01

I bought this box set only having seen the first 'Thin Man' and being in love with it. I wasn't sure to expect but I was glad I bought it, one of the best DVD collections of all time. Keep your Star Wars and your Indiana Jones, this is the only box set worth having!

Nick and Nora are one of my favourite pairings, and the portray the happiest screen couple ever, and with Asta the dog (and Nick Jr later on), they are the perfect family.

My favourite always has been and always will be the original 'Thin Man' because it is where the humour is freshest and funniest. I also adore 'After the Thin Man'. Some say it's an improvement on the first, but I stand firm! The series, like most, gets weaker as it goes on, but they are still better than many average films.

A very nostalgic and must see series.

The Complete Thin Man Collection.......2005-10-29

This is it, the only way to purchase a great set of Thin Man movies. The set has the five Thin Man movies and a bonus disk:
The Thin Man (1934)
After the Thin Man (1936)
Another Thin Man (1939)
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
Song of the Thin Man (1947)
Alias Nick & Nora (Bonus disk)

There is some space left on each DVD so they added some extras on each DVD in addition to the Bonus DVD. However the fillers sometimes relate and at other times are just fillers.

The documentary of Nick, on the Bonus DVD, at first looks like a lot of sound bites of people parsing William Powel. Later it settles down to be a good Biography of William Powel and shows some movies that need to be added to the collection.

The documentary of Nora on the Bonus DVD is narrated by Kathleen Turner and is not nearly as well put together.

There is also an episode of the TV series of "The Thin Man" (1957-1959) Nick (Peter Lawford), Nora (Phyllis Kirk), which explains why it is off the air.

The movies themselves are quite crisp; which leads me to thing they did a little cleaning up. A couple of places the sound seems to drop off, however it is not drastic.

Only you, darling, lanky brunettes with wicked jaws..........2005-09-27

Rarely has so little spawned so many good sequels. In this case, "little" is Dashiell Hammett's classic detective novel "The Thin Man," a gritty detective story about a pair of married society sleuths, the legendary Nick and Nora Charles. It's prettier, brighter and wittier than Hammett's novel, but even the least of these mysteries is fun.

"The Thin Man" was the sparkling film that started it all. While shaking a martini to the waltz, Nick Charles investigates the disappearance of an old client, and the murder of his secretary-lover, who was stealing from him. It seems like an easy case, but Nick isn't convinced. Ex-wives, anguished daughters, long-suffering cops and creepy stool pigeons all show up for a dinnertime revelation...

"After the Thin Man" returns Nick and Nora to San Francisco. They find that Nora's cousin Selma (Elissa Landi) has been abandoned by her husband (Jimmy Stewart) for a sexy nightclub entertainer, and that he's also blackmailing her ex-boyfriend. Soon he turns up dead, and it's up to Nick and Nora to clear Selma's name....

"Another Thin Man" is an adaptation of another Hammett short story, and introduces us to Baby Charles. The new parents arrive in Long Island to visit an old friend of the family, who claims that a former business partner is trying to kill him. Of course, he dies. Disappearing bodies, international suspects, and lots of martinis are par for the course...

"Shadow of the Thin Man" takes the Charles family to the racetrack, where a jockey is unexpectedly killed. Nick doesn't want to be torn away from his vices, but he reluctantly gets involved when the bodies start to pile up. Gambling syndicates, lethal sports and milk-drinking are all tied up in this.

Family expectations strike in "The Thin Man Goes Home" -- the Charleses goes to visit Nick's family, and especially his father. His father wanted Nick to be a doctor, and was snotty about it when Nick became a detective. So to redeem her husband's career choice, Nora spreads the rumour that Nick is there to solve a case -- and lo and behold, somebody gets killed.

"Song of the Thin Man" is the final entry, and strains at times to be cool and fresh. But it's still fairly amusing in the most part. A nasty jazz bandleader is murdered, and there's no shortage of suspects -- jilted girlfriend, gamblers, bruised egos and more. So the Charleses delve into the world of jazz musicians, determined to find the killer.

It's more or less a given that none of the sequels would be as good as the witty, taut "Thin Man." But then again, a bad "Thin Man" movie is still better than most movies, today or of yesteryear. They had witty, literate dialogue, lots of booze, and a hilarious mixture of the romantic comedy and the hard-boiled detective story.

And of course, Myrna Loy and William Powell. These two actors had glorious, playful chemistry together, and charmingly talk to thugs, cops, freaks, and high society doyennes in the same breath. The charm was somewhat diminished by Nick Jr., like when Nora orders Nick to spank the kid. But on the flipside, there's acrobatic terrier Asta, who never fails to charm.

Watching the "Thin Man" series is like taking a trip back in time, to the high society of the 1930s, and staying with the wittiest pair of sophisticates imaginable. Outstanding.

DVD:

DVD List

DVD