The Thin Man Goes Home by Richard Thorpe (1944)
25 July 2008Another enjoyable Thin Man film, with the great interplay between William Powell and Myrna Loy, but this time returning to Nick Charles home town. Fun as can be with Nora once again drawing Nick into another mystery, when all he wants is a vacation!
Nick (William Powell) and Nora are on their way home to Sycamore Springs to visit his parents for a surprise visit, and they are taking a coach train ride, and Nick has even quit drinking to please his father, now carrying a big thing of Apple Cider in a flask. Nora finds that Nick could never please his father Sr. Bertram Charles (Harry Davenport) who wanted Nick to become a doctor just like him, so she tries to entertain them with stories of his famous cases, and wishes there was a mystery in town for her husband to show to make his dad finally proud of him, and as Nick says make his buttons pop! And shortly thereafter a local artist named Peter Burton (Ralph Brooks) shows up to talk to Nick and is killed right in the doorway with a knife in his back. Nick doesn’t want to to get in the way of Police Chief MacGregor (Donald MacBride), but he does go to a local auto part where Burton lived. When he goes in, he changes the numbers on the door so no one will disturb him, but as he is looking around he gets knocked out by a local character named Crazy Mary (Anne Revere).
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…
The next day Nick goes to talk to the daughter of local businessman Sam Ronson (Minor Watson) whose name is Laura (Gloria De Haven) who is rumored to have been involved with Burton as well as someone named Tom Clayworth (Irving Bacon) causing some trouble. He also sees that her father in fact smokes the same cigars he found in Burrton’s room. Sam gets angry and goes to Dr. Charles and tells him to have his son leave town or he will jeopardize getting the hospital he has wanted for so long.
The Charles all back Nick. He finds records at a Boston orphanga that lead him back to Crazy Mary who turns out to be Burton’s mother, and she has been watching over him since he came to town.
Nora had also been doing her own investigating, and is suspicious of a man named Brogan (Edward Brophy) who is actually working for Nick as well as Mr. Edgar Draque (Leon Ames). Draque and his wife Helena (Helen Vinson) are after a painting done by Burton that Nora had bought for Nick’s birthday, but had thrown out when he hated it. Nora ends up getting Draque and Brogan temporarily put in jail.
Looking for the painting they find Helena who had bought it, but had been knocked out. They ran to Crazy Mary’s and found the painting, but Crazy Mary was dead.
So Nick invites all the suspects to Dr. Charles lab, and Nick shows off Burton’s five paintings, and reveals they contain the top-secret propeller, and information from the plant hidden in them. And Burton was in fact Sam’s nephew. Burton was killed with a Japanese long range rifle with a silencer, and the murdered turns out to be Dr. Clayworth (Lloyd Corrigan) who Nick knew, who had the gun as a souvenir from his brother in the war. He also introduces Draque to Bruton.
And Nick finally impressed his dad, and popped his buttons.
••••
Certainly fun, though different not having Nick drink in this one!
Feedback
You must be logged in to post a comment.