The Thin Man Goes Home

Nick and Nora Charles go to the small town where Nick grew up, to his parents' house. Nick's father is a doctor who never took his son's work seriously and treats detection as a hobby. Nick appears to be on holiday, but a man is shot on the porch and every lie in the town comes out. This is the fifth film in the series, and its most obvious difference is that Nick does not drink; he drinks cider. Wartime Hollywood's measured tone pulls back the drunken banter that was the Charleses' whole signature and puts a father and son problem in its place. The film's real concern is not the murder but a man wanting to hear one sentence from his father. Richard Thorpe directed, W. S. Van Dyke, who made the first four, having died. William Powell plays Nick and Myrna Loy plays Nora. The arrival by train and Nora's struggle with the luggage is the comic sequence people remember. Who it is for: anyone who likes classic Hollywood detective comedy and the Powell and Loy pairing. Who it is not for: anyone who knows the series from the first film. This entry is tamer, the murder plot is crowded and weak, and the pace is lower than before.