Song of the Thin Man is the sixth and final film in the Thin Man series. William Powell is back as Nick Charles and Myrna Loy returns for one more go-around as Nora.
The film also has several up-and-coming actors including Dean Stockwell, who plays Nick Charles, Jr., and Keenan Wynn in one of his early roles as a hip musician Clarence “Clinker” Krause. Screen legends Marie Windsor (in her second role that she was credited for) and Gloria Grahame (in her sixth film) have bit roles as well. Screen veterans Leon Ames and Ralph Morgan are also part of the great cast.
The Charles’ are aboard the S.S. Fortune, Phil Brant’s gambling ship with entertainment provided by a jazz band led by Tommy Drake (Phillip Reed, Unknown Island) and featuring clarinetist Buddy Hollis who has a reputation for being mentally unstable. After a few musical numbers, Drake informs Phil Brant (Bruce Cowling, The Stratton Story) that he is quitting, having gotten a much better offer through Mitchell Talbin (Leon Ames, The Lady in the Lake, Peggy Sue Got Married). Drake who owes a gangster Al Amboy (William Bishop) $12,000 asks Talbin for the money to pay off his debt, but Talbin refuses. Drake sneaks into Brant’s office and opens his safe to steal the money, gets shot and killed for his troubles. ‘Who killed Drake’ becomes a case for Nick and Nora who along with Clarence “Clinker” Krause (Keenan Wynn, Piranha) and are struggling to find clues to find the murderer and Buddy Hollis who disappeared after the murder occurred.
This is another fun entry in the Thin Man series with the usual comedic antics and silly situations that Nick and Nora wind up in, including a scene where they are listing to music that is not in their taste. Directed by Edward Buzzell, he uses the same formula and techniques that had been used in the earlier Thin Man series that were directed by W.S. Van Dyke.
Warner Archive has released Song of the Thin Man on Blu-ray and once again they have spoiled Thin Man fans when comes to the audio and video quality for this film. The black and white image is simply spotless, looking as polished as ever with a lot of depth and rich textures to the characters and scenery. The image has a balanced grey scale with rich black levels and sharp whites.
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 soundtrack is perfectly crisp and clear without any age-old issues like drop-offs, hissing or crackling. David Snell’s musical scores and dialogue are perfect all the way through! English subtitles are available for this release
Special features include “Passing Parade Short A Really Important Person “, a Tex Avery cartoon entitled Slap Happy Lion and a theatrical trailer. These are from the DVD release.
The entire Thin Man series is now on Blu-ray with near pristine audio and video quality. Fans like me are thankful for the effort that Warner Archive has gone through to give these films the best presentation possible. Highly recommended!
Song of the Thin Man
Director- Edward Buzzell
Cast- William Powell, Myrna Loy, Keenan Wynn, Dean Stockwell
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Warner Archive/Warner Home Video
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date –2/8/2022