History Film / TheThinMan

[[folder: "The Thin Man Goes Home" (1945) and "Song of the Thin Man" (1947)]]
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: The motivation for the killer in ''Goes Home'' is that Nick had been this to him for their whole lives. He's taken away screaming about how he won't let Nick beat him again.
* BarBrawl: Nora starts one intentionally in the fifth movie, so she has an excuse to have two suspects arrested.
* TheChanteuse: The ridiculously sexy Creator/GloriaGrahame plays a nightclub singer in ''Shadow of the Thin Man''. She looks great, but the dubbing isn't very good.
* ContinuityNod: Early on in each sequel except ''Song'', someone rattles off the cases Nick solved in each previous film.
* CousinOliver: Making Nora pregnant at the end of ''After the Thin Man'' was a good gag but backfired to some extent in later installments, forcing Nick and Nora into a domesticity that didn't fit well with their urbane, martini-swilling style. In ''The Thin Man Goes Home'' Nick Jr. isn't included on a visit to his grandparents (supposedly he's at school).
* GenreSavvy: By ''The Thin Man Goes Home'', Nora has been through enough of these movies that she {{Lampshades}} the whole climax ahead of time; the SummationGathering, TheReveal, ThePerryMasonMethod, even the guilty party's eventual attempt to shoot their way out ("I usually hide under the table for that part"). She's actually disappointed when Nick has the suspects searched for guns, because that means the last part won't happen (though it does). She still guesses the wrong suspect, though.
** Also in ''Song of the Thin Man'', when Nick and Nora jump into a cab to follow someone, and before either of them can say it, the driver asks, "FollowThatCar?". [[DeadpanSnarker Nora]] remarks [[LampshadeHanging "Movie fan"]].
* IncrediblyObviousTail: In ''The Thin Man Goes Home'', Nora sets off to tail one of Nick's hoodlum friends, whom she incorrectly believes is the bad guy. Her idea of tailing a suspect is to walk directly behind him at a distance of about 15 feet. Hilariously, a bad guy decides to tail Nora in the exact same way, resulting in a little three-person parade through town.
* ItWorksBetterWithBullets: In ''Goes Home'', the doctor who murdered two people whips out the Japanese rifle that was displayed prominently on the table, pointing it at Nick. Oops, "I forgot to tell you, they removed the firing pin from that gun."
* KinkySpanking: In ''The Thin Man Goes Home'' Nick, after making comments about woodsheds and razor strops, puts Nora over his knee and spanks her with a rolled up newspaper. It's a bit of {{Fanservice}}.
* NotImportantToThisEpisodeCamp: Nicky Jr. not being taken along to see his grandparents in ''Goes Home''.
* RedHerring: The Charles family housekeeper in ''Goes Home'' acts rather furtive, but it turns out she's a shy fan of Nick's who just wants to get his autograph.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Nick in ''The Thin Man Goes Home''. Nora claims that if he ever got a pat on the back from his father, he'd burst a vest-button. [[BrickJoke It literally happens in the final scene.]]

''The Thin Man'' was nominated for four Oscars, including nominations for picture, director, and lead actor, but didn't win any. Powell and Loy's chemistry and charisma were obvious, and several sequels followed, [[{{Sequelitis}} to diminishing returns in later installments]]:

!!Tropes found throughout ''The Thin Man'' movies include:

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!!Tropes specific to ''The Thin Man'' (1934) include:

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!!Tropes found in films #5 and #6 include:

* WellDoneSonGuy: Nick in ''The Thin Man Goes Home''. Nora claims that if he ever got a pat on the back from his father, he'd burst a vest-button. [[BrickJoke It literally happens in the final scene.]]

* InterClassRomance: In the backstory, Nick was a working-class detective while Nora was a wealthy socialite. Most prominently featured in ''After,'' where Nick's discomfort with Nora's family is a minor plot point.

A Broadway musical adaptation, ''Nick & Nora'', bombed in 1991, running only nine performances. Also spawned a short-lived TV series, and was one of the franchises parodied in ''Film/MurderByDeath''. In 2011 a remake was reported to be in the works, with JohnnyDepp attached to the project as Nick.

* WouldHitAGirl: A pretty weird instance of this trope. A gun-wielding {{Mook}} has burst into Nick and Nora's bedroom. Nick gets Nora out of the line of fire by punching her in the face.

* SleepingSingle: Except for that one time on the train, in the first film.

''The Thin Man'' is a 1934 (and thus, pre-[[UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode Hays Code]]) movie based on a Creator/DashiellHammett [[Literature/TheThinMan novel of the same name]], and features Creator/WilliamPowell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a pair of hard-drinking, wisecracking, socializing types -- except that Nick is also famous for being a tough detective, and no matter how hard he tries, he can't quite stop people (most especially including Nora) expecting him to solve crimes. Almost every single modern [[TheyFightCrime crime-solving-duo]] owes something to this film -- everything from ''Series/{{Castle}}'' to ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'', from ''Series/HartToHart'' and ''Series/RemingtonSteele'' to ''Series/{{Moonlighting}}'' is, in part, a riff on a theme established in ''The Thin Man''.

* TheChanteuse: The ridiculously sexy Gloria Grahame plays a nightclub singer in ''Shadow of the Thin Man''. She looks great, but the dubbing isn't very good.

A Broadway musical adaptation, ''Nick & Nora'', bombed in 1991, running only nine performances. Also spawned a short-lived TV series, and was one of the franchises parodied in ''MurderByDeath''. In 2011 a remake was reported to be in the works, with JohnnyDepp attached to the project as Nick.

* WellDoneSonGuy: Nick in ''The Thin Man Goes Home''. Nora claims that if he ever got a pat on the back from his father, he'd burst a vest-button. [[BrickJoke It literally happens in the final scene.]]

!!Tropes found in the sequels include:

* BlowingSmokeRings: In one scene in the original, William Powell can be seen [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0pdux05St1qbrdf3o1_500.gif blowing smoke rings]] as the policeman interrogates Nunheim.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: A couple of jokes from the original.

* SpitTake: In the first movie, the cops are searching Nick and Nora's apartment, and start getting into Nora's cabinet.

For tropes found throughout the series, see below. For tropes found in the first film, or in films 4-6, see below. For tropes found in the second and third films, see their work pages.

** Lampshaded even further in ''Another'' where the local police actually treat them as ''prime suspects'' (including seperating them for questioning) since this is the third time they "just happen" to be around when a murder occurs.

** Believe it or not ''Asta'' starts one in ''Shadow''.

* ExactWords: In ''Shadow'', Nick bets Abrams five dollars that "there was only one murderer" in the case of two seemingly unrelated shootings. Abrams can see no connection between the two and takes the bet. They're both right; the two deaths are unrelated, but Nick has already deduced that the first was an accident, so there ''was'' only one murderer.
* {{Flanderization}}: The recurring [[TheLestrade police detective]] Lt. Abrams. In his first film, ''After'', he came across as a competent cop who may be wrong in who he suspects for murder, but had good reasons for thinking he was right. In ''Shadow'', his second and final film, he's more of a clumsy bumbler.
* FollowThatCar: ''Shadow'' does this gag.

* ItWorksBetterWithBullets
** In ''Goes Home'', the doctor who murdered two people whips out the Japanese rifle that was displayed prominently on the table, pointing it at Nick. Oops, "I forgot to tell you, they removed the firing pin from that gun."
** In ''Shadow'', after the climactic 'whodunnit' reveal, the BigBad grabs the gun from Nick's waist holster and threatens to shoot him. Nora jumps on him to keep him from being able to pull the trigger, but when the Lieutenant picks it up he says 'Nick, this gun isn't loaded!' Turns out, Nick had kept it unloaded for the sake of his son to prevent any accidents.
* {{Kayfabe}}: ''Shadow of the Thin Man'' has Nick and Nora attend a wrestling match. When the man running it says that they are in for a great match, Nick quips "How do you know? You at the rehearsal?". Later on they leave while the fight is still going on, with one wrestler in a painful looking hold and groaning with discomfort. As she passes the ring, Nora tells him that she hopes he gets out of it okay. The wrestler stops groaning and thanks her for her concern in a perfectly normal tone of voice.

* KnittingPregnancyAnnouncement: In ''After the Thin Man'', Nick has just solved a very complicated mystery, but has yet to deduce that his wife Nora is expecting. Until he realizes that she is knitting a baby's sock.
-->'''Nora''': And you call yourself a detective.
* MamaBear: Seeing the villain about to shoot Nick in ''Shadow,'' Nora throws herself straight onto the guy and wrestles him into submission with a choke-hold, all the while screaming for Nick to run for it (keep in mind; the man had a gun which he was pointing ''straight at'' Nick and Nora). Granted, she then passed out and had no memory of it, and it turns out the gun was empty, but it's still pretty impressive.
* NeverSuicide: subverted in ''Shadow'', in which the jockey's death actually was suicide (the gun fell into the drain underneath).
* NiceHat: Nora wears one in ''Shadow''. A RunningGag has everyone she meets describe it as "screwy". She gets fed up and hands it to the next person to do so.

* ThrowingTheFight: In ''Shadow'' the victim whose death starts the plot is a jockey who was forced by gangsters to throw a horse race.

* ''Shadow of the Thin Man'' (1941)

* In ''Another Thin Man'', Nora is surrounded by admirers and Nick wants to have a word in private with her.
--> '''Nick:''' Now Mommy, you know you shouldn't be out of bed so soon. What would the doctors say?
--> '''Nora: (catching on)''' I won't go back into quarantine, I don't care who catches it!
--> Everyone around them makes excuses and leaves.

For tropes found throughout the series, see below. For tropes found in the first film, or in films 3-6, see below. For tropes found in the second film, see its work page, ''Film/AfterTheThinMan''.

* TheIngenue: Dorothy in the first film.

* BroughtHomeTheWrongKid: ''Another Thin Man'' has some of Nick's hoodlum friends decide to throw Little Nicky a first birthday party, and bring all their own kids. One of them has to rent one to attend. The villain of the story, after being revealed, attempts to get away by claiming to have kidnapped Nicky. Nora goes to check and sure enough, there is another kid in his place. Turns out the villain was bluffing; Nick's friend had grabbed the wrong kid when he left, and the villain happened to notice before everyone else. The friend soon returns with Nicky, clearing it up.

* GoingByTheMatchbook: Played straight in ''Another'', when Nick finds a matchbook from a nightclub in a suspect's coat, and follows the lead.

* PapaWolf: In ''Another'', Nicky Jr. is threatened by a gangster. Nick immediately stands up and slugs him, in one of the few times we see him with a completely serious look on his face.

* ''Another Thin Man'' (1939)

* WackyCravings: A relatively subtle version appears in ''After'', hinting at Nora's condition before it is officially revealed at the very end of the film.
* WalkThisWay: ''After'' does this gag at one point with Nick and an elderly butler.