The news of Johnny Depp in a new movie doesn’t peak my interest nearly as much as it did pre-Pirates, but him attached to a remake of my beloved The Thin Man? Hmmmm…ok. You got me. After all, I have a framed poster of the 1934 Best Picture on my wall.
The original film in the series of six, The Thin Man, not only won Best Picture but a Best Actor nomination for William Powell. He starred as Nick Charles, a newly retired police detective just married to his socialite wife, Nora (Myrna Loy, who starred in fourteen films with him). They are living the good life when he runs into his an old acquaintance and she begs him to look for her father who’s missing. Although he is reluctant to take the case, Nora is thrilled and, along with a healthy dose of martinis, solves the case.
The key to all these movies is the chemistry between Nick and Nora. They each deliver their lines with such rapid fire and have an unbelievable banter. They each know each other completely. In Shadow of the Thin Man, Nick is late coming back from a walk and when Nora sees him from her window sitting on a bench she “calls” him by making a drink. When the maid asks her what she’s doing she says, “That’s Mr Charles, isn’t it? That’s a cocktail, isn’t it? They’ll get together.” Perfection.
Jerry Stahl is signed on as screenwriter. His last big project was Bad Boys II in 2003, so I’m not exactly confident he’ll get it right, yet again, he could be a huge fan of The Thin Man series and will bring new life to it. Rob Marshall and John DeLuca, the producers behind the Pirates of the Caribbean series, are signed to produce, with Rob Marshall directing. I have a feeling this is going to be a much bigger production that the original twelve shooting days.
Since this is a series with six different story lines, I’m curious to see where they go with the film. The book, The Thin Man, was written by Dashiell Hammett (who also wrote The Maltese Falcon, made into three different movies with the most famous starring Humphrey Bogart) and was published five months before the movie was released. So are they going to go off the book? Will they base it in the 1930s or update it for this era? Only time will tell.
And what of Johnny Depp as martini-drinking slick-mouthed Nick Charles? Honestly, I’m not quite sure. From what I’ve read, Johnny is a huge fan of the series, so he could really deliver. The next news that will make/break this is who is cast as Nora. Until then, I’m holding my breathe.
Trivia: The Thin Man does not actually refer to Powell, but to the name of the case, however, people started to associate The Thin Man with Nick Charles and they kept the name in the next five sequels.
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