The Thin Man

Friday, November 1 - Sunday, November 3, 2019

“The important thing is the rhythm,” the man at the bar is explaining, cocktail shaker in hand. “You always have rhythm in your shaking. Now, a Manhattan you shake to fox-trot time. A Bronx, to two-step time. But a dry martini you always shake to waltz time.” He’s joined a few moments later by his wife and his wire-haired terrier. The former inquires how much he’s had to drink and is told he’s on his sixth martini. As she downs her first, she flags a waiter: “Will you bring me five more martinis and line them up right here?”

Thus was the wide world introduced to Nick and Nora Charles in 1934’s THE THIN MAN, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. Witty, sophisticated, and pleasantly pickled, the pair would sleuth their way through a total of six films, the last five of which have just been released on DVD for the first time [in 2005]. (A short-lived 1950s TV spinoff starring Peter Lawford is better left forgotten.) As Nick and Nora, Powell and Loy subverted the classic detective film with comic aplomb and presented an impressively modern vision of marriage as an association of equals. They were also cinema’s most glamorous dipsomaniacs, a reminder of a bygone era when Hollywood could still imagine that charm, taste, and good humor might go hand-in-hand with the copious consumption of distilled spirits.” – The Atlantic

Screening as part of our Autumn 2019 series, Weekend Classics: May All Your Christmases Be Noir.


  • Country USA
  • Year 1934
  • Running Time 91 minutes
  • Distributor Warner Brothers
  • Director W.S. Van Dyke
  • Writer Dashiell Hammett (novel), Albert Hackett (screenplay), Frances Goodrich (screenplay)
  • Editor Robert J. Kern
  • Cinematographer James Wong Howe
  • Cast William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton, Minna Gombell
  • Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.