Wednesday, December 03, 2003
So, The Thin Man.
I vaguely remember my mother loving The Thin Man movies and trying to get me to watch one with her and me not being interested. It wasn't until last Christmas that I watched the first, and from what I understand, the best of them and fell in love. And when I found out that it was based on a book... well, I knew I had to read it. It turns out that this is one of the best book-to-movie translations that I've seen. There are a few changes (mostly due to the cutsie shots of the dog) but overall they kept the story largely intact. The characterization of Nick in the book is a little more Sam Spade and a little less Columbo than in the movie, where William Powell (or the screenplay) played up his perpetually soused state to make him seem less intelligent and aware than he was in order to be underestimated. I want to say that the movie beefed up Nora's part from the book too, but that could just be a reflection of how much I loved Myrna Loy in the part. Either way, she's a great character, and it's a great book; fast-paced and packed with great dialogue (love the slang) and humor.
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I vaguely remember my mother loving The Thin Man movies and trying to get me to watch one with her and me not being interested. It wasn't until last Christmas that I watched the first, and from what I understand, the best of them and fell in love. And when I found out that it was based on a book... well, I knew I had to read it. It turns out that this is one of the best book-to-movie translations that I've seen. There are a few changes (mostly due to the cutsie shots of the dog) but overall they kept the story largely intact. The characterization of Nick in the book is a little more Sam Spade and a little less Columbo than in the movie, where William Powell (or the screenplay) played up his perpetually soused state to make him seem less intelligent and aware than he was in order to be underestimated. I want to say that the movie beefed up Nora's part from the book too, but that could just be a reflection of how much I loved Myrna Loy in the part. Either way, she's a great character, and it's a great book; fast-paced and packed with great dialogue (love the slang) and humor.
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