William Powell and Myrna Loy conclude an entertaining series with a so-so film that just happens to be packed with some great 1940's jazz. Much of the quick wit we've come to expect from Nick and Nora just isn't here with the exception of Nora's "Mr. Charles is a bit of a schmoe" remark. In many of the earlier Thin Mans, Nick and Nora both seemed to thrive when they encountered a murder mystery and when they drank quite a bit, which became less and less as the series continued. Unfortunately, the humor which had centered around their (especially Nick's) vices, drinking, gambling, flirting, etc., was replaced with parental humor. The scene where Nora becomes a disciplinarian and insists that a reluctant Nick give a spanking to Nick, Jr. just wasn't the humor we'd become accustomed to and was difficult to observe. It was obvious that Nick and Nora had entered a more mature phase of life, but in the movies that doesn't usually make for better comedy. POSSIBLE SPOILER: It is also hard to believe that someone who had been committed because he had been made to believe that he was the killer, and rehabilitated by being made to believe that the murder never happened was brought back to give a concert and then announce who the killer was after the concert.
Despite all of this, I did enjoy the film. I think it was mainly because of the jazz (in the words of Klinker "Love it! Love it!)and the nightclub and jam scenes. I wish I had been around when that music was popular. I also liked the fact that there weren't any stereotypical pathetically helpless female characters in the supporting cast, unlike the first four Thin Mans. While this is one of the weaker Thin Mans(this and Another Thin Man, while After the Thin Man and the original Thin Man are the best), I cannot imagine that this series would have been like without William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Asta (I think there was a new Asta for this last film). No one today could even come close. In honor of Nick and Nora, 6 martinis out 10 for Song of the Thin Man.
Despite all of this, I did enjoy the film. I think it was mainly because of the jazz (in the words of Klinker "Love it! Love it!)and the nightclub and jam scenes. I wish I had been around when that music was popular. I also liked the fact that there weren't any stereotypical pathetically helpless female characters in the supporting cast, unlike the first four Thin Mans. While this is one of the weaker Thin Mans(this and Another Thin Man, while After the Thin Man and the original Thin Man are the best), I cannot imagine that this series would have been like without William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Asta (I think there was a new Asta for this last film). No one today could even come close. In honor of Nick and Nora, 6 martinis out 10 for Song of the Thin Man.