My husband and I are huge Thin Man fans and I mean huge...our first couple of dates were spent going to the theater to see the entire Thin Man series of films on the big screen. Hand in hand with being Thin Man fans is being fans of William Powell, which is why I was surprised that we hadn't seen this little gem.
As I understand it, after the success of the first Thin Man film William Powell was loaned out to the Radio Pictures Studio for Star of Midnight which is shockingly similar. This had all of the hallmarks of a Thin Man film, minus some of the more colorful characters and of course Myrna Loy! Powell plays lawyer Clay "Dal" Dalzell and the witty repartee comes between him and Ginger Rogers who plays the lovely but dogged socialite Donna Mantin.
Donna Mantin has been in love with Dal since she was a child and when Dal is approached by his young friend Tim Winthrop to help find his missing sweetheart, she seizes the opportunity to trick Dal in to helping her get letters back from gangster Jimmy Kinland, help him find the missing Alice...all while trying to trap him into marrying her. The mystery begins before Del even starts looking for the missing Alice, when Tim spots her in a New York show during a live performance under an assumed name and shouts her real name out in the theater, only for her to go missing again! Meanwhile, the tenacious reporter Tommy Tennant winds up dead just as he is revealing a breaking story tied to the missing girl to Dal. Tommy is shot dead and Dal is winged in the process, but winds up picking up the murder weapon...making him the prime suspect when New York's finest flat foot inspectors show up to investigate.
I absolutely love this film! Is it the Thin Man? No, but it is the next best thing. William Powell is his usual suave self and a true joy to watch as he downs cocktails like Sidecars, three olive dry Martinis, and Gimlets all while getting ahead of everyone else in solving the murder, retrieving the letters, and finding the missing Alice. He is self proclaimed a "Charlie Chan, Philo Vance and The Sphinx" all rolled into one. His apartment is a modern deco marvel and worth seeing...especially the bathroom. The dialog is fun and snappy...
"If in my communings with the spirits, astral or liquid, I receive any any message or omen I'll let you know."-Dal
"The woman is a shameless hussy and a fact distorter!"-Dal
"You're not in love with a woman but a card trick."-Dal
"Sergeant, you are right. That ain't impossible either."-Dal
"Swain! Orange Juice, coffee! Don't spare the horses!"-Dal
"Oh, that's alright, we nurses are used to our patients' eccentricities. They often get violent."-Donna
"You know me the Florence Nightingale of Park Avenue."-Donna
"You're something of a criminologist." "Well, I have read everything Edgar Wallace ever did."-Dal
I missed Myrna Loy, but Ginger Rogers gave it her all even copying Myrna's Nora's signature nose scrunch, parrying playful kicks to the backside, getting the hallway brush off ala Nick and Nora, and getting saddled with the bar bill. I think Thin Man and William Powell fans will eat this up like a stuffed egg. Grab a cocktail, sit back and enjoy!
As I understand it, after the success of the first Thin Man film William Powell was loaned out to the Radio Pictures Studio for Star of Midnight which is shockingly similar. This had all of the hallmarks of a Thin Man film, minus some of the more colorful characters and of course Myrna Loy! Powell plays lawyer Clay "Dal" Dalzell and the witty repartee comes between him and Ginger Rogers who plays the lovely but dogged socialite Donna Mantin.
Donna Mantin has been in love with Dal since she was a child and when Dal is approached by his young friend Tim Winthrop to help find his missing sweetheart, she seizes the opportunity to trick Dal in to helping her get letters back from gangster Jimmy Kinland, help him find the missing Alice...all while trying to trap him into marrying her. The mystery begins before Del even starts looking for the missing Alice, when Tim spots her in a New York show during a live performance under an assumed name and shouts her real name out in the theater, only for her to go missing again! Meanwhile, the tenacious reporter Tommy Tennant winds up dead just as he is revealing a breaking story tied to the missing girl to Dal. Tommy is shot dead and Dal is winged in the process, but winds up picking up the murder weapon...making him the prime suspect when New York's finest flat foot inspectors show up to investigate.
I absolutely love this film! Is it the Thin Man? No, but it is the next best thing. William Powell is his usual suave self and a true joy to watch as he downs cocktails like Sidecars, three olive dry Martinis, and Gimlets all while getting ahead of everyone else in solving the murder, retrieving the letters, and finding the missing Alice. He is self proclaimed a "Charlie Chan, Philo Vance and The Sphinx" all rolled into one. His apartment is a modern deco marvel and worth seeing...especially the bathroom. The dialog is fun and snappy...
"If in my communings with the spirits, astral or liquid, I receive any any message or omen I'll let you know."-Dal
"The woman is a shameless hussy and a fact distorter!"-Dal
"You're not in love with a woman but a card trick."-Dal
"Sergeant, you are right. That ain't impossible either."-Dal
"Swain! Orange Juice, coffee! Don't spare the horses!"-Dal
"Oh, that's alright, we nurses are used to our patients' eccentricities. They often get violent."-Donna
"You know me the Florence Nightingale of Park Avenue."-Donna
"You're something of a criminologist." "Well, I have read everything Edgar Wallace ever did."-Dal
I missed Myrna Loy, but Ginger Rogers gave it her all even copying Myrna's Nora's signature nose scrunch, parrying playful kicks to the backside, getting the hallway brush off ala Nick and Nora, and getting saddled with the bar bill. I think Thin Man and William Powell fans will eat this up like a stuffed egg. Grab a cocktail, sit back and enjoy!