The Thin Man

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: May 25, 1934

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

86	METASCORE Universal acclaim based on 16 Critic Reviews

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

100

Roger Ebert

To see The Thin Man is to watch him (Powell) embodying a personal style that could have been honored, but could never be imitated. Read full review

100

Staff (Not Credited)

A murder story with a brilliant cast, a brilliant script, brilliant direction, and photography that tells the story in no mean terms. Read full review

100

TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)

What really makes The Thin Man an enduring classic, though, is the interplay between Powell and Loy, one of the greatest happily married couples ever to flicker on a screen. Read full review

100

EmpireDavid Parkinson

Tense and slick, this early thriller remains a true masterpiece. Read full review

100

Joe Holleman

Usually, the plot of a romantic comedy revolved around two people wanting to marry each other. With Powell and Loy, with their charm, warmth and sex appeal, the story became about two people who were married -- and liked it. [02 Aug 2005, p.E1]

Staff (Not Credited)

What enchants, really, is the relationship between Nick and Nora as they live an eternal cocktail hour, bewailing hangovers that only another little drink will cure, in a marvellous blend of marital familiarity and constant courtship, pixillated fantasy and childlike wonder. Read full review

Marjorie Baumgarten

Nick and Nora Charles are one of the screen's great couples. Read full review

Robert K. Elder

It's a terrific mix of screwball comedy and detective story, full of wit, romance and suspense. [23 Nov 2007, p.C10]

Tasha Robinson

Powell and Loy's light, witty, unflappable characterizations became the unwavering backbone of a terrific series. Read full review

Mordaunt Hall

An excellent combination of comedy and excitement. Read full review

Christopher Orr

Director W.S. Van Dyke and married co-writers Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich leavened the novel's hard-boiled tone and grim wit. The result is less a detective story with occasional flashes of humor than a light comedy set against a backdrop of murder. Read full review

Hal Hinson

What's on display here is '30s-style light comic acting at its wittiest and most effervescent. [14 Apr 1988, p.C7]

Kevin Thomas

Sparkling 1934 comedy-mystery derived from the Dashiell Hammett mystery and directed by W.S. Van Dyke. It dared to suggest that a sophisticated married couple, Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy) could have fun with each other. [14 Jul 1996, p.4]

Pauline Kael

It started a new cycle in screen entertainment by demonstrating that a murder mystery could also be a sophisticated screwball comedy.

Don Druker

As Nick and Nora Charles, William Powell and Myrna Loy function as the most sophisticated, insolent, and healthy married couple on-screen. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

The Thin Man was an entertaining novel, and now it's an entertaining picture. Read full review