The Thin Man (1934)

Society’s original “Who-Dun-It” Couple.

Nick (William Powell) and Nora Charles (Myrna Loy), and their dog Asta, first appeared in the comedic mystery movie The Thin Man in 1934. This was the first of The Thin Man series. The wit and charm in this classic movie sparkles and flows, much like champagne cocktails and vodka martinis they drink. However, when it comes to murder, private investigator Nick Charles can be tough and determined, as he proves here. In his own fashion Nick hunts the bad guys, follows leads and gets his man or woman. He holds no sympathy for murder suspects or those who hold back information. In this film, Nick questions one man whose wife is walking out of the door because of his philandering, he begs Nick, who has tripped him to keep him from running out of the door, "just let me go after her and explain. To paraphrase Nick, "If you didn't spend so much time chasing other women, you wouldn't have so much trouble with this one." You have to love these old movies. They are loaded with sharp wit and clever barbs.

The action in this movie takes place around Christmas time when the Charles' arrive in New York to take care of personal business and get caught up in murder. An inventor disappears and his daughter Dorothy (Maureen O'Sullivan, actress Mia Farrow’s mother) asks Nick to search for her dad. Also in the movie Cesar Romero who plays the young "gigolo type" husband to the hilt. A classic movie.

Nick and Nora set the bar (no pun intended) for witty husband and wife detective film teams. There were several, but the one that comes to my mind is immediately is the 1979 to 1980s, television series Hart to Hart. The show starred Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as the wealthy and beautiful (both of them) Jonathan and Jennifer Hart. The Harts were amateur detectives who always found themselves mixed up with murder and mayhem. Like Nick and Nora Charles, they also had a dog.