Created by Dashell Hammett, the Thin Man is a series of mystery-comedy movies featuring private detective Nick Charles and his wife Nora. Screen legends William Powell and Myrna Loy played the roles Nick and Nora Charles to perfection and starred in all six Thin Man movies. Of the thirteen films they did together, six of them were the Thin Man films! The characters they played in the series was popular, so they made more Thin Man movies over the years. The chemistry between the two actors was so incredibly unparalleled, which was one of many reasons why they made many films together.

The main narrative of the Thin Man movies was retired detective Nick Charles somehow gets caught up in various murder schemes, with his wife Nora continuously requests that he take cases. Nick would rather not take them and prefers to handle his wife’s money. He of course, reluctantly takes them and solves the cases, usually with the help of their dog Asta! Nora often wants to help Nick, but for her safety he comes up with ways to keep her away from the scene of the crime.

Fans thought Nick Charles was the Thin Man, including myself, but he wasn’t, as the name was referred to as a victim of a murder, but they kept using the Thin Man name during the series. The movies all had great casts with both veteran and up and coming stars appearing the films. To name a few of the actors that appeared in the films were James Stewart, Sam Levene, Joseph Calleia, Otto Kruger, Sheldon Leonard, Virginia Grey, Marjorie Main, Dean Stockwell, Donna Reed, Tor Johnson, Sid Melton, Leon Ames, Donald Meek, Keenan Wynn, Ralph Morgan, Maureen O’Sullivan, Gloria Grahame and Marie Windsor.

In the first film of the series simply called The Thin Man, Nick must solve a case where an old client of his, Clyde Wynant (Edward Ellis, I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Fury) is murdered. Clyde’s daughter Dorothy (Maureen O’Sullivan, Tarzan, the Ape Man, The Devil-Doll) requests his help and reluctantly agrees, but not after a few cocktails! Nick is heavy drinker in the series of films! The deceased Clyde is referred to as the Thin Man, and those words stuck for the rest of the film series. Screen icon Cesar Romero (TV’s Joker from the 60s Batman series, Lost Continent, Show Them No Mercy), and screen legend Nat Pendleton (who appeared in Another Thin Man in the same role) are among the cast members in this classic!

After The Thin Man, the first sequel, has Nick sleuthing to solve the murder of Robert Marshal (Alan Landis, Night Must Fall, House on Haunted Hill), who is the husband of Nora’s cousin Selma Landis (Elissa Landi, Body and Soul, The Sign of the Cross). Robert is a shady and terrible husband who gets what he deserves! This movie has a lot of red herrings including relatives, gangsters and club owners and singers. This movie features the iconic James Stewart (It’s a Wonderful Life, Broken Arrow) in one of his first films. Sam Levine (The Killers, Dial 1119) is Lieutenant Abrams who appeared as the same character later in the series, and the great Joseph Calleia (Touch of Evil, The Glass Key, The Noose Hangs High) is a club owner and gangster.

The third film in the series, Another Thin Man introduces Nick and Nora’s child Nick Charles, Jr. In this picture, the couple are invited to spend the weekend at the home of Colonel Burr MacFay(screen legend C. Aubrey Smith, The Gilded Lily, The Scarlett Empress, Rebecca) who says he is receiving death threats from Phil Church (Sheldon Leonard, Hit the Ice, Lucky Jordan). MacFay is murdered and Church is the number one suspect, but did he do it? There are several possible murderers that could have also easily done the deed as MacFay had his share of enemies! The cast also includes other great actors such as Patric Knowles (The Wolf Man, Who Done It?, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, Arnold), Virginia Grey (Unknown Island, Target Earth), Otto Kruger (Dracula’s Daughter, Saboteur) and Ruth Hussey(Madame X, Susan and God)

Shadow of The Thin Man was next in the series, and it’s a day at the racetrack! In this movie, a jockey is killed and it’s up to Nick to find out who did it! Nick discovers that the murder is tied to a gambling syndicate! Sam Levine is back Police Lieutenant Abrams along with Donna Reed (From Here to Eternity, Backlash) Henry O’Neill (Midnight, Fog Over Frisco), plus Sid Melton (Radar Secret Service) and Tor Johson (The Beast of Yucca Flats). The latter two were uncredited.

The Thin Man Goes Home followed and was the first of the series not to be directed by W.S. Van Dyke as he passed away. This is also the first film where Nick is no longer drinking alcohol and has started to drink cider instead! In this movie Nick and Nora visit Nick’s parents in Sycamore Springs. While there, Nora starts a rumor that Nick is working on a case, which he isn’t. When a man named Peter Burton(Ralph Brooks) knocks on the door of the Charles’ house, he is shot before he can admit a crime that he was involved with! Nick, who has always wanted to be appreciated by his father, Dr. Betram Charles (Harry Davenport, Meet John Doe, The Ox-Bow Incident, All This and Heaven Too), now has his chance to do so. Part of the cast includes Leon Ames (Meet Me in St. Louis, The Postman Always Rings Twice), Lucile Watson (Waterloo Bridge), Donald Meek(Stagecoach, A Woman’s Face) and Morris Ankrum(Vera Cruz, Earth vs. The Flying Saucers). 

Last, but not least, Song of the Thin Man is a nightclub musician murder with jazz band leader Tommy Drake (Phillip Reed, Merrily We Live, Old Acquaintance) being murdered because he needed an advance on his salary to pay off a debt to Al Amboy, a gangster, which was denied by his boss, Mitch Tabin (Leon Ames, in his second Thin Man film). Drake snuck into Tabin’s office to help himself to the money and was shot in front of a witness, Buddy Hollis(Don Taylor, The Naked City, The Blue Veil) who has disappeared due to some mental illness.  Nick and Nora receive some assistance from Clarence “Clinker” Krause (Keenan Wynn, The Hucksters, The Clock, Laserblast). When they find Buddy, Nick wants to stage the murder again that took place on the same ship where the first murder occurred,  the S.S. Fortune to see if he can catch the culprit. Among the other cast members for this jazzy classic include Gloria Grahame ( Blood and Lace, The Big Heat), Marie Windsor(The Killing, The Narrow Margin, Swamp Women),  Patricia Morrison (The Fallen Sparrow, Tarzan and the Huntress, Kiss of Death), Jayne Meadows ( The Lady in the Lake, Undercurrent), Ralph Morgan (Strange Interlude, The Kennell Murder Case) and Dean Stockwell (The Werewolf of Washington, The Dunwich Horror) as Nick Charles, Jr.

This six-disc collection is basically a re-release of all six Thin Man movies consolidated into one Blu-ray case, slightly larger than the standard size. The discs are the same as the previous separate releases with the same HD masters with 4K scans, audio and extras. For fans who wanted all the films in one set, here you go.

The image quality for all the Thin Man movies to say the least, is outstanding. The black levels are nice and dark with bright whites. The grey scale is balanced throughout the video presentations of all six movies. They were all given 4K scans and it really shows with the image for the series looking the best they ever had. The clarity for all of them is outstanding and remarkable. There are strong details to the scenery and the characters, with textures that are nothing short of stunning. The first Thin Man movie did have quite a bit of digital cleanup that removed dirt, debris and other print damages, with the rest of the film elements for the other movies faring much better.  Film grain is present throughout all the movies and no DNR was applied, meaning they all do look film-like. The Thin Man series will never look any better than they do on these Blu-ray releases.

English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 was used for all six films. The films had very little audio issues such as hissing and pops but nothing really distracting, but overall, the lossless audio is more robust than the DVD releases. Dialogue is easy to follow, the musical scores by composers William Axt, David Snell, Herbert Stothart, Edward Ward all are dynamic and the action sounds such as gun shots also sound strong without any of the audio coming in too aggressive. English subtitles are available for all the films.  

All the extras are on the same exact discs that they appeared on the first release of the Thin Man films.

The list of supplemental materials includes:

The Classic Cartoons which feature Slap Happy Lion, Screwball Squirrel, The Goose Goes South, and The Bookworm

Passing Parade Short: “A Really Important Person”

Robert Benchley Comedy Short: “Why Daddy”

Vintage Short: “The Tell-Tale Heart”

Musical Short: “Love on Tap”

How to Be a Detective

The Early Bird and the Worm cartoon

Lux Radio Theater Broadcast

Leo is On the Air

Lux Radio Theatre Broadcast with William Powell or Myrna Loy and directed by W.S. Van Dyke

Scene of the Crime which is the second season premiere of The Thin Man TV series.

There are also theatrical trailers for all six movies.

Now that all six Thin Man films are together in one cool package and not in some set that takes up space, collectors can make a decision as to keeping the solo releases or biting the bullet and purchase this collection, or maybe ask for this set as a Christmas gift to avoid buying them again! These films are worth your time and if you did not get around to purchasing them before, here is a chance to own them in one highly recommended collection!

The Complete Thin Man Collection

Director – W.S. Van Dyke / Richard Thorpe/Edward Buzzell

Cast- William Powell, Myrna Loy 

Country of Origin-USA

Distributor – Warner Archive Collection

Number of Discs –6

Reviewed by – David Steigman

Date –11/14/2024