CinemaLit - The Thin Man (1934) – 93 minutes | Mechanics' Institute

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CinemaLit - The Thin Man (1934) – 93 minutes
October 2021 CinemaLit: Classics With Wit

CinemaLit is Live Again!

After more than a year of Friday night CinemaLit discussions on Zoom, we're going live again at the Mechanics' Institute screening room. Join us at 6pm for a film followed by a lively discussion. Free Refreshments! Sweet and salty snacks, juice and sparkling water.

All attendees must wear masks and bring proof of vaccination.

CinemaLit October 2021: Classics With Wit

Our first back-to-the-screening-room theme highlights sophisticated comedies of the 1930s. Each one sparkles with fantastic dialogue, peerless acting, and a few of the great screen teams of all time.

Friday, October 15 – The Thin Man (1934) – 93 minutes

Directed by W.S. Van Dyke starring William Powell and Myrna Loy

Sure, a murder mystery is always interesting, but the real entertainment in this film is the banter between Nick and Nora Charles, the fictional married couple who made intelligence sexy. Retired detective Nick Charles and his socialite wife are visiting New York when they are drawn into investigating the disappearance of an old client. There are clues. There are grisly discoveries. There are revelations of financial skullduggery. There is a lot of drinking – prohibition was still a clear and unpleasant memory at the time -- and the wonderful chemistry between William Powell as the rakish Nick and Myrna Loy as the level-headed and witty Nora Charles. Based on Dashiell Hammett’s last novel, The Thin Man films inspired a series of sequels, and Nora Charles became a role model for countless women who learned to ask themselves, when at a loss, “What would Myrna Loy do?”

Matthew Kennedy, CinemaLit’s curator, has written biographies of Marie Dressler, Joan Blondell, and Edmund Goulding. His book Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s, was the basis of a film series on Turner Classic Movies. 

 

I don't have a favorite film,” Matthew says. "I find that my relationships to films, actors, genres, and directors change as I change over the years. Some don't hold up. Some look more profound, as though I've caught up with their artistry. I feel that way about Garbo, Cary Grant, director John Cassavetes, and others."

Classic films have historical context, something only time can provide,” Matt observes. “They become these great cultural artifacts, so revealing of tastes, attitudes, and assumptions.”

 

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CinemaLit Films

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Future CinemaLit Films

Mar 29 - 6:00 pm

CinemaLit: Women Talking (2022)
March CinemaLit: Women Screenwriter-Directors on Women’s Lives

Apr 5 - 6:00 pm

CinemaLit: Ida (2013)
April CinemaLit: International Coming of Age Films

Apr 12 - 6:00 pm

CinemaLit: Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
April CinemaLit: International Coming of Age Films

Apr 19 - 6:00 pm

CinemaLit: Girlhood (2014)
April CinemaLit: International Coming of Age Films

Apr 26 - 6:00 pm

CinemaLit: The Way He Looks (2013)
April CinemaLit: International Coming of Age Films