A celluloid couple that was pure gold. That's what the pairing of William Powell and Myrna Loy were in the first half of the 20th century. The two had chemistry and not just with each other, they easily connected with both male and female audiences making for a very marketable duo.
Approaching eighty years on I came to the pair in The Thin Man series which was a hit franchise from the mid-thirties to the close of the forties. If I had to say why the Thin Man series appealed then I'd simply say that it's the same reason I find it appealing...the pairing of Powell and Loy.
Here we have our two favorites assuming quite different characters from their Thin Man stalwarts. I'd even say Loy gets a bit of a lead over Powell at least for the first half of the movie. Powell plays Charles Lodge a devil may care bohemian against the very upright and equally uptight business Margit Agnew. Agnew has eschewed any love life and petty emotional leanings for the business world and a fully mapped out personal path. The one thing in that path with a shred of emotion is her love for her sister Irene. Of course it is quite misplaced as she seeks to control every minute of Irene's life. This is where Powell's Lodge character comes in and wonderfully upsets the status quo.
It's silly of course and it's often overplayed, but there is some wonderful nuggets in the dialog and Powell and Loy are a force to be reckoned with. Yeah, it's out of time and touch, but this is a wonderful comedic romp with a central theme that is often used with less effect. I like this movie.
Approaching eighty years on I came to the pair in The Thin Man series which was a hit franchise from the mid-thirties to the close of the forties. If I had to say why the Thin Man series appealed then I'd simply say that it's the same reason I find it appealing...the pairing of Powell and Loy.
Here we have our two favorites assuming quite different characters from their Thin Man stalwarts. I'd even say Loy gets a bit of a lead over Powell at least for the first half of the movie. Powell plays Charles Lodge a devil may care bohemian against the very upright and equally uptight business Margit Agnew. Agnew has eschewed any love life and petty emotional leanings for the business world and a fully mapped out personal path. The one thing in that path with a shred of emotion is her love for her sister Irene. Of course it is quite misplaced as she seeks to control every minute of Irene's life. This is where Powell's Lodge character comes in and wonderfully upsets the status quo.
It's silly of course and it's often overplayed, but there is some wonderful nuggets in the dialog and Powell and Loy are a force to be reckoned with. Yeah, it's out of time and touch, but this is a wonderful comedic romp with a central theme that is often used with less effect. I like this movie.