Summer Classics 2010 Schedule

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Another Thin Man & The Thin Man Goes Home

Now for the scoop on tonight's classics at the Paramount, Another Thin Man and The Thin Man Goes Home.  I haven't seen any of the Thin Man films, so I turned up a little background information on these, the 3rd and 5th installments in the 6-part series.

So here's the first revelation: William Powell's character Nick Charles is not the Thin Man.  That epithet refers to a character from the first movie, Clyde Wynant.  I guess since the first movie was so hugely popular they wanted to keep the Thin Man moniker going, and it has since became conflated with Nick Charles himself.

The first film, The Thin Man, was based on a novel of the same name by hardboiled writer Dashiell Hammitt, who never wrote a sequel. In fact, The Thin Man was his final novel, despite the fact that he lived another three decades, lending the novel an extra air of intrigue.  I always feel like last works have a special message encoded in them, some clue as to why this is the last one.

Another Thin Man brings Nick and Nora into a different realm of the Hammitt universe- the plot is based on "The Farewell Murder," a short story originally starring another Hammitt hero, The Continental Op.

Nick and Nora themselves are supposed by many to be based on Hammitt and his long-time lover Lillian Hellman, the playwright and activist.  They were both pretty outspoken communists and were black-listed by the House Un-American Activities Committee.   We've got our own little political divide here at the Paramount this summer, as "Fun with Nick & Nora" collides with the "Elia Kazan Tribute." Kazan notoriously named names for Senator McCarthy, and Lillian Hellman blasted him in her memoirs and interviews as a collaborator.

I'm looking forward to analyzing Another Thin Man tonight to see if I can find any secret commie propaganda.

Another Thin Man    7 Tues; 9:10 Wed.
The Thin Man Goes Home   9:15 Tues; 7 Wed.
Warner Bros. Cartoon before each feature!!!!!!

Summer Classics Constellation

For film nerds, obsessive compulsives, conspiracy theorists, fans of the Mel Gibson movie Conspiracy Theory, or flow-chart enthusiasts- check out the Summer Classics Constellation I’m constructing.

I'll keep adding to this insane web of coincidence and tenuous connections all summer long, until every film on the list has found its place somewhere in the maelstrom.