Another Thin Man

1939 sequel to a sequel

Rating: 14/20 (Jen: fell asleep)

Plot: Another thin man.

And so my venture through the movies of 1939--the greatest movie year ever, according to my father--comes to an end with this sequel to a sequel. My wife and I enjoyed the first two movies in this screwballish franchise. I like the rapport of this couple, and I really really love William Powell in these movies. He has a Groucho Marx gait, and I love watching his eyes.

This movie gives the dog a chance to show off, even showcasing a superfluous backflip at one point, and it introduces a baby who might be the greatest baby actor I've ever seen. I'm not sure if the baby does his own stunt work or not, but I'm guessing he does. He's the Tom Cruise of 1930's infant actors.

The plot of this one was completely incomprehensible, at least to me. Of course, I wasn't in the best of moods because my back hurts and my wife is mad at me because my back hurts. She fell asleep during this one, by the way, and I'm glad she didn't ask me to explain what happened afterwards because I'm not sure I would have been able to do it. And that's surprising since I solved the crime fairly early on.

I just imagined William Powell and Groucho Marx having a walking race and laughed out loud.