HTF REVIEW: "The Thin Man" (with screenshots) (1 Viewer)

[SteveGon]

I finally got my copy of The Thin Man yesterday and have watched it twice! I'll echo Robert's comments regarding the transfer - this is the best I've ever seen TTM look. Yes, there are a few flaws, but overall I'm very happy with it. And for the first time, I was able to really appreciate James Wong Howe's photography. Considering how rapidly the film was made, he did an outstanding job.

Can't wait for the sequels...

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I told you you'd like it.
They dont write them like this anymore.

Why, Mike Knapp...
So nice to see you here. You have been missed.
By the way -- they are talkin' about you
in the Feedback area!

 

[Mark-W]

Falling under the catagory "Needs to get a life," here is
my story regarding The Thin Man today...
So... I am out buying a few things today, like a rear center
channel speaker for my Denon-AVR1803, and remember to stop by
Bed, Bath, & Beyond on the way home...But, there is a
Borders right next store.
So, I think to myself, "Heck, while I am here, I'll check
and see if they have The Thin Man, because if they
do, I'll buy it, even though I have one on-order."
So, I go in and ask the customer service gal if they
have The Thin Man on DVD. She says records indicate
that they have 2 in stock. So we go look in the comedy,
suspense, and, out of desperation, in the horror section.
The Thin Man is apparently the invisible man.
So, she says she'll go check the back room, and comes back
later having had no luck. I thank her for her efforts,
and head to the main cashiers' area to purchse my Italian
audio CDs. As I am being rung up, I notice a cart with a
bunch of CDs and DVDs on it.
I ask the clerk if he wouldn't mind checking the cart for
a DVD of The Thin Man and recount to him what I had
just put the sales clerk in the CD/DVD section of the store
through.
He looks, and PRESTO: there is The Thin Man.
BUT, before he can ring it up for me, another associate
tells him that everything on that cart is on hold until
Tuesday and that I cannot buy anything off of it.
I say, "Look, that DVD came out last Tuesday, and not
this coming Tuesday: I understand the whole 'street date'
thing."
So, he decides to call the manager to see if he can sell
me the DVD. Now keep in mind, I have spent entirely too
many hours this week calling retailers to see if they had
this title, and as the cashier talks on the phone,
I CAN SEE THE DVD IN HIS HAND.
So, he comes back, rubbing his nose and holding his head
low, and I know what the answer is: "We cannot sell this
to you today. I can put it on hold for you, and you can
come back and get it on Tuesday."
By this point I am looking like someone who has had
WAAY TOO MUCH CAFFIENE, and I say, "I would like to
speak to the manager."
"Okay," is the cashier's reply, "But, he'll just tell
you the same thing he told me..in fact, that is him
right over there." (He points to a man talking
to a customer near a wall filled with those decorated journal/diary books.)
So, I walk over to him, and say, "Hi, are you the manager
that just told that clerk that you cannot sell me
The Thin Man DVD?
He nods, but I keep on chattering.
"Look, I understand about street dates and stuff, but
that rack has a bunch of movies on DVD that have been
out on DVD for at least a year:
Best of Show is sitting on that cart, and I know
that DVD has been out for quite a while.
It is not a new release, and I know that there is
no reason why you cannot sell me a copy of
The Thin Man right now on DVD,
as it streeted last Tuesday and not this coming one!!!"
By this point, the manager is walking to the register area,
and he responds, "Okay, maybe it's just the CDs that cannot
be put out..." and he grabs the copy of The Thin Man
from the cashier and rings it up for me.
The original cashier looks at me as I am grinning from
ear-to-ear, and (my guess) is that he is thinking
I am the world's saddest person.
I thank the manager, grab my bags and exit, feeling
highly victorious. Like the kid in A Chirstmas Story
who gets the bb-gun.
So, the folks at Borders have a story to tell
about a guy who went psycho in order to get
a "stupid little DVD," and I get to come in
here and tell "my fellow DVD addicts" my tale
of triumph.
(The screen play is the works...It'll be somewhat like
that car rental scene from
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles with all
the profanity, crossed with Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.)
Most importantly, I get to enjoy The Thin Man
tonight in a way I never have before.
Okay, feel free to tell me I need to get a life!
Mark

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Mark,

I did a little too much partying last night.

My head is still suffering Corona post shocks
as I read this morning's latest messages.

This story made my morning.

 

[John Knowles]

I went to a Borders, CC, and BB yesterday and had no luck. The Minneapolis area BBs have none in stock and none on order!

 

[Randy_M]

BB Minneapolis will never carry anything like this. I always look, and always go away mad after the blue shirt looks at me like I'm crazy. (They had lots of copies of Scorpion King, though....)

What boneheads. The only thing I buy from them is their loss leaders; and hopefully, they're losing a little on every sale to me.

 

[John Knowles]

BB: I've picked up some of the lesser known Criterion titles, but it seems like a stroke of luck if they have a copy of anything interesting. It appears that they may get one or two copies of things like this, but never more. I think their idea is to let people like me who want these titles order from their website. Well, if I have to order my non-blockbuster release over the web, it sure as hell won't be from BB's.

 

[Art_AD]

The trailer for Another Thin Man makes a big deal of welcoming William Powell back to the screen after a two-year absence. I knew he took Jean Harlow's death hard, but I didn't know he had stopped making movies for two years as a result. Interesting."

While it is true that William Powell took Jean Harlow's death very hard, he was off the screen for that peiod because he had cancer. He was originaly told he was not going to make it but he beat it a lived a very long life. (with he third wife Diana Lewis).

I hope we see all the Thin Man movies and "I Love You Again", "Love Crazy" & the restored "The Great Ziegfeld"

 

[Mark-W]

Ron-
I am glad my little tale of triumph "made your morning,"
as so many things you do in here make my days..weeks,
and so on.
Oh, and I concur that this DVD looks better than any
previous incarnation of this film I have seen.
I am glad my second copy is still ordered. I will
probably use it as a loaner for friends who have yet
to discover the glory that is Nick, Nora, and Asta.
BTW, Ron, did you notice that the David Niven and Maggie
Smith characters in Murder By Death, which
you reviewed here eons ago, are based on Nick and Nora?
Mark