1936 - AFTER THE THIN MAN, the 2nd in the series

This is the second in the The Thin Man series or make that the first sequel.  The Thin Man had much to the surprise of MGM studios been a big hit.  The series combined comedy with a mystery and had the advantage of two MGM stars who were extremely proficient at the sophisticated comedy business, William Powell and Myrna Loy playing Nick and Nora Charles.  That film made a lot of money for MGM so the original writers, director and stars were back with Another Thin Man two years later.

The original film's formula was carefully followed for the most part but this time there was even more  emphasis on the comedy elements of the plot.  Nick and Nora Charles had a dog called Asta and you have to sit through a lot of his shenanigans which sometimes stops the film cold.  The supporting cast is a list of 1930's actors, James Stewart (finally starting to get good roles). Elissa Landi, Sam Levene, Joseph Calleia and George Zucco (as usual planning a mad doctor).  All these actors are at the service of Powell and Loy.

 

The mystery plot for the most part is kind of a "who cares who killed who" story. The entertainment value in the film really belongs to William Powell and Myrna Loy, friends in real life. They play off of each other to perfection.  They are quite amusing together as a married couple who like to have fun while solving this murder mystery.

The film has the usual MGM big studio polish, none of that socially conscious stuff for this studio.  It was always about glamorous stars and glamorous settings.

The film was written by two of MGM's top writers, Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich.  The director was the infamous W. S. Van Dyke.

1936 - SAN FRANCISCO, a big MGM film

 Ok here we go:

Clark Gable is Blackie Norton, irrepressible owner of the Paradise Club in the Barbary Coast section of San Francisco.  He is also friends with the local Catholic priest played by Spenser Tracy.  One day stumbling into the Paradise Club is Mary Blake played by Jeanette MacDonald.  Mary needs a job as she is a starving opera singer from Denver, Colorado where she learned to sing opera in the church choir back home.  Blackie gives her a job as a saloon singer where she belts out the title number, the crowd goes wild.

Mary loves Blackie, but Blackie is not the settle down and have a family kind of guy so Mary splits and takes up with Blackie's rival Nob Hill rich guy Jack Burley.  Jack Burley gets Mary a job singing opera in some San Francisco opera house.  Blackie, starting to realize that he loves Mary after all tries to get her to come back to the Paradise Club. But after hearing Mary sing opera he realizes he can't stand in the way of her opera career.

Since Blackie won't tell Mary how he feels about her she decides to marry Jack Burley instead. Lots of plot later, this whole soap opera like relationship mess is finally sorted out when the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 hits. The earthquake conveniently kills off Jack Burley so Mary and Blackie can finally get together. The film ends with Blackie, Mary and the survivors of the earthquake locking arms and marching around singing "The Battle Hymn Of The Republic" for some reason.

 

Robert Hopkins and Anita Loos wrote this film, the running time is 115 minutes.