Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

SimonJack "After the Thin Man" is the second film in the "Thin Man" series that stars William Powell and Myrna Loy. Oh, yes, and Asta their talented pet, Scottie. James Stewart has the next lead and is at the head of a large cast of good actors. After the success of his first book and the movie based on it, Dashiell Hammett was commissioned to write more stories about Nick and Nora Charles. So, he wrote screenplay stories for this film and the next one, "Another Thin Man." MGM hired another man and wife team, Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, to write the screenplays. It was decades after Hammett's death that manuscripts for these two novellas were found. They had publication notes from Hammett urging that the screenplay revisions by Goodrich and Hackett be made in the stories themselves before their publication. That happened in 2012, in a book entitled, "Return of the Thin Man."This story has a huge cast with an intriguing plot of betrayal, infidelity, blackmail, forgery, fraud and murder. About the only crimes not part of this one are bank robbery and kidnapping. It's another very good comedy-mystery for nick and Nora Charles to tackle. It occurred to me, watching this film again recently, that there is one specific distinction about the crimes in Dashiell Hammett stories compared to the great detective mysteries of Agatha Christie. Hammett's crime stories generally have many possible suspects, whereas Christie's Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple crimes have just a few suspects. Both Hammett and Christie were master storytellers who could do what it took to keep the solutions close to secret until near the end. And, that has most always been to the delight of we mystery story and film aficionados. Here are some favorite lines from this film. For more humorous dialog, see the Quotes section under this IMDb Web page of the movie. Nora exchanges greetings with a couple in another open car that is passing in the opposite direction. Nick says, "Who's that?" Nora, "Oh, you wouldn't know them. They're respectable."Nick, "Come on. Let's get something to eat. I'm thirsty."Nora, "Well, how you gonna do it?" Nick, "I haven't the faintest idea. I'm just gonna look and listen and pray that somebody makes a slip. Just one slip."Polly, "What do ya mean, illiterate? My father and mother were married right here in the city hall."

JohnHowardReid 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?

DKosty123 This Thin Man Sequel keeps together Nick & Nora Charles, and punishes their dog Asta with a Mrs. Asta who is fooling with the neighbors dog in a show of puppy love cheating. That is the price the dog pays for running around with the Charles.This one picks up where the first movie left off with the couple coming back home to the west coast after solving an east coast murder before. This time there are several murders and Nick Charles starts off as a suspect. What is interesting is how Powell and Loy get into the mix with James Stewart here in his 11th film. Stewart is not yet a star here, but he is a defined character who is not in his usual role. Considering it would be another 3 years before Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Jimmy success took some molding yet. Here with Powell and Loy, he is defined as a supporting player. While his character is a little bit crazy compared to other film roles later, he brings it off very well. He is even given a love interest in this film which does not happen for minor roles that often. The love is poison to his character, and that is a part of the fabric that makes this movie a cut above many sequels.

MisterWhiplash 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.