i must have seen a different film!!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

best movie i've ever seen.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

All of us are a bit too hard on sequels. All of us. Critics, fans, general moviegoers, we all tend to judge the sequel by the standard of the original movie. Thus the thumbs down to Son of Kong, Belle Starr's Daughter and The Return of a Man Called Horse. Yes, it's certainly true that studios often skimp on production values when they have a ready market for a sequel. It's equally true that the script is often hastily written and the film directed by a man whose emphasis is on celerity rather than meticulous craftsmanship. But many of these scruples do not apply to "After the Thin Man". Here we have the same leads, the same director, same writers, same producer, even the same film editor. Mr Powell is the same sharp, inebriated, self-indulgent Charles, and Miss Loy continues to be gorgeously gowned by Dolly Tree. Only the supporting cast has changed. Instead of Nat Pendleton's reasonably intelligent, co- operative police lieutenant, we now have Sam Levene's more aggressive yet equally co-operative police lieutenant. Instead of Maureen O'Sullivan's pleadingly lovely damsel-in-distress, substitute Elissa Landi's slightly more hysterical yet equally attractive damsel-in-distress. Instead of a missing father, make it a missing husband. Instead of a more mature low-life friend for dad, introduce a more hoydenish bit of low-life for hubby. Instead of a bookish brother for the heroine, conjure up a more sensitive, more helpful ex-lover. Don't forget the matriarch and the blackmailer, they're virtually the same. Mix them all together and round them all up for a final confrontation and there you have "After the Thin Man". Never was there a truer title! Yes, same plot, same characters — but less action and more songs — why are we complaining that the sequel isn't as bright, as witty, as agreeable as the original? I like it as much anyway. Maybe it's a bit too talky — and loudmouthed Sam Levene does get on our nerves a bit — but it does have at least three incomparable advantages: — James Stewart, Penny Singleton and Jessie Ralph.To catch Jimmy Stewart in an unsympathetic role — I believe this is the only time he ever played a heel in his entire screen career — is reason enough to see "After the Thin Man". But he does the part really well. In fact, it's a performance that actually improves the more you watch it, full of subtleties that you miss on a first viewing: little bits of business, fleeting facial expressions, body movements and gestures that give more than a clue to the character's real persona behind the oh-so-friendly and politely diffident mask.In another turn-up for the books, Penny Singleton here essays a characterization as far removed from Blondie as Peter Ibbetson from Count Dracula. She's not only totally convincing, bogus accent and all, she doesn't even look like Mrs. Bumstead. And she has a couple of songs as well. What a wonderful bonus! And for matriarchal roles, you simply can't go past Jessie Ralph. She's the queen. Minna Gombell, by comparison, can rise no higher than upstairs maid. To these three reasons for catching "After the Thin Man", add Bill Powell, Myrna Loy and a marvelous support cast. If Van Dyke's direction isn't quite as stylish, and if you tend to agree with some reviewers that too much time is wasted on the dogs, surely this rich assembly of favorite players more than compensates?

Once again, Nick and Nora get caught up in a case that the former doesn't want any part of and the latter does in 'After the Thin Man' (a title that probably works better than some of the others, like 'The Thin Man Comes Home', which doesn't make sense given what happens in Thin Man 1, on but I digress). Of course in this case the Nora element isn't simply being curious or inquisitive or feeling anxious to get back into the swing of things - it's her family, specifically the murder of her cousin Selma's husband, Robert.And, naturally, other murders come up as well, some more expected than others. Of course, this all comes right around the time of New Years Eve, and wouldn't-ya know it, Nick has a few (lot of) drinks in him. Not that you'd notice by hearing him, his skills are sharp as a tack, if not his skills at detecting who he's kissing at the 'Happy New Year!' ring of the bell in the dark - oops, not Nora. Oh well.But yes, this movie has some hijinks like that, and a good lot of he comedy comes from William Powell's impeccable skill at mocking things so dryly and lightly, yet there's a good sharp sting to it when he wants to get it there. It's a wonder Nick can function at all with the number of drinks he has - like the previous film, at least the subject of hangovers does come up, which is funny in and of itself, for the moment it is - but Powell is relentlessly charming in the role, giving a look like he may be aloof, and secretly he's the farthest thing from it, hearing every word of a policeman's inquiry into shady characters at a nightclub, or what's said during an interview. Oh, he may look all out of it here and there, but it's all part of the fun - not to mention Loy, and it would be unthinkable without her, especially as she has to contend with being by this wild-man's side and give the sometimes look of 'Oh, you'.The case has a lot of good twists and turns, and this time the movie is longer than the predecessor. If you have an idea of the 'least likely one IS the one', then you may guess who-dun-it before I did. There's the revelations by just silently-moving detective work which WS van Dyke does without much (if any) comedy, just straightforward and solid detective movie-making of finding clues and searching for things, and then there's the more 'colorful' moments with the characters like the singer and the owner of the nightclub, who have the sorts of voices you'd expect them to have and sometimes misspell words like 'Married' (with a 'y'). It's all of a piece and it mostly works splendidly as a mix of serious character development and mystery, and the air of a delightful romp and hoot that might be best watched with a drink and a love-of-your-life by your side.It's not perfect though, and there are a couple of scenes where, seriously, the dog becomes the star of the picture. It's cute, to be sure, to see all the other dogs and puppies and such, but it's diverting from seeing more of Loy and Powell and the other excellent character actors (a young James Stewart, right before breaking out as a leading man and already showing his chops, especially in the climax, as a 'blue-blood' is one of them). Not to say the dog doesn't have some fun with the characters from time to time, in large part as basically creating one of those convenient red herrings (but hey, it's a dog, what can you do). It's just two scenes that, for whatever reason the studio had in its thinking, take the film off track.But this is mostly nitpicking; After the Thin Man is marvelous entertainment in the 1930's Hollywood tradition, where it takes itself seriously enough to not be camp or something too light, but remembers it's all fairly tasteful. Musical numbers help too, such as a version of "Sing Sing Sing", with lyrics (!) at the party Nick and Nora have, uh, happen to them when they come home.

What saves AFTER from being a routine sequel is the acting of Powell and Loy, along with the marvelous Sam Levene as a pushy detective and veteran actress Jessie Ralph as Nora's dowager aunt Catherine, who looks down on Nick. Having other great character players like George Zucco and Joseph Calleia in small but key roles also helps. Nick and Nora are back in California after the events in NYC. Nora's cousin (played by a pretty but truly awful actress named Elissa Landi) asks them to help her find her wandering, womanizing husband. A young Jimmy Stewart plays a pivotal role as a devoted friend of Landi's. The Asta antics in this one are funny but a bit overdone, much like Cheetah's antics in the Weismuller Tarzan movies.

After The Thin Man Second in a series of Comedy/Film Noir. Due to the success of the first the writers/producer decided that we needed to see Nick and Nora in their natural habitat. This adds at least 45 minutes of completely unnecessary and very irritating footage.Apparently everyone also loved the dog, Asta, so he has to have his own part. Very enjoyable, adds nothing to the story.There is a murder mystery contained in here, but the real story is Nick and Nora solve the mystery, so there's quite a bit of drinking, witty repartee and dopey friends to play off of.This film cries out for an editor to tighten it up by about 45 minutes.If you are looking for a tight, suspenseful, murder mystery, watch The Maltese Falcon. If you want a slow comedy mystery with witty repartee, get this one, you'll like it.