Movie Review: Song of the Thin Man (Thin Man Movies #6)

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Plenty of laughs

Cons: Decent but weak mystery

The Bottom Line:

Series past its prime

But final one is still fun

Goes out on high note

"If This Rampage of Respectability Continues, We're Going to Have to Get You a Bulletproof Girdle."

All good things must come to an end.  And so it is that we find ourselves at Song of the Thin Man, the sixth and final of the Thin Man films made during the 30's and 40's.  The series is still headlined by William Powell and Myrna Loy as retired detective Nick Charles and his high society wife Nora.  The mystery this time takes us into the world of 1940's jazz.  It's not the strongest in the series, but it's still plenty of fun.

Nick and Nora Charles are attending a gambling charity event aboard the S.S. Fortune.  The entertainment is being provided by a jazz band.  The band's leader, Tommy Drake (Phillip Reed) has huge gambling debts and too many female admirers.  So it is hardly surprising when he is shot before the cruise is over.

As always, Nick absolutely refuses to get involved.  That is until he is shot at.  With the case suddenly very personal, he and Nora infiltrate the hip world of 40's Jazz, guided by Clinker (Keenan Wynn).  Can Nick find the killer one last time?

The mysteries in this series aren't always the strongest, and that holds true here.  But I'm talking as a mystery snob.  The casual viewer certainly won't have a problem with it.  The set up is fairly quick and the movie moves from one plot point to the next in quick succession.  It's really only the ending that truly takes away from the overall story.

But the reason to watch these films has always been the comedy, and that's true here as well.  The banter between Nick and Nora is as great as always.  I was chuckling at many of the lines and grinning most of the time.

The banter isn't the only cause of laughs.  Nick and Nora are nice fishes out of water as they try to make sense of the strange world of Jazz.  I have a feeling that the slang is highly exaggerated, but it provided quite a few nice laughs as well.

I got a kick out of two of the cast in particular.  I knew Keenan Wynn as Disney villain Alazo Hawk from three films in the late 60's and early 70's.  Seeing a much younger version was interesting.  Also starring in this film is Dean Stockwell of Quantum Leap fame.  Here, a much younger Stockwell plays Nick Jr.  He's quite cute, but his scenes are few enough that he doesn't get annoying.

The rest of the cast weren't at all familiar to me, but they did a fine job in their various parts.  And the chemistry between William Powell and Myrna Loy is as strong as ever.

The strongest films in the franchise were earlier in the series, but fans of Nick and Nora will definitely enjoy visiting with them one last time in Song of the Thin Man.