Monday, October 12, 2009

Shadow of a 75-Watt Bulb

Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
directed by W. S. Van Dyke
rating: 2 out of 5 cravats
seen on the screen at the Old Town Music Hall

Shadow of the Thin Man finds Nick and Nora in San Francisco, and less the San Francisco of The Lineup than the Bay City a pair of New York transplants would be more likely occupy: studio sets, a canopied park, and a short little tour across the bridge. Unlike Myrna Loy, Donna Reed never played the vamp, even in her earliest roles; here, she could be Mary Hatch taking summer work in college, although if that were true, Mrs. Bailey probably wouldn't have been so happy in Bedford Falls. It isn't that the usual alcoholism jokes don't ring true, or that the Charles' cynical take on child-rearing isn't fun, but Nick even admits that getting a suspect to talk is the surest way to solve the crime, and this one has to many suspects to keep track of, let alone listen to.