Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

poetcomic1 Hands down, the best mystery and BIGGEST surprise ending in the series. The jokes and repartee are first class, lots of excellent supporting roles and by keeping a tight rein on the 'Thin Man Formula' it keeps everything fresh. You've got just enough drinking jokes (Nick's on the wagon because they're visiting his folks) but the scenes when his dad thinks he's drunk make up for it. Mercifully, they left Nick, Jr. at home - family stuff hurts the chemistry of Nick and Nora more than anything. Also,there is exactly the right amount of Asta. And of course, as everyone suspects, Asta is their 'real' child.Not as many rough characters interacting with Nick in this one, but Nora herself inadvertently lapsing into criminal lingo as she tells the story about 'Stinky Davis' to her staid in-laws is even better! Also, you got the wonderful Edward Brophy, who specialized in comic gangster roles, posing as as the most improbable of 'greeting card salesmen' - his 'made up shop talk' is hilarious. And the great Anne Revere (later black-listed) acts to the hilt in a small but juicy dramatic role - you'd swear that 'Red Annie' was doing Brecht! I dare you to find one minute of Anne Revere on screen in ANY film in which she was not TOTALLY mesmerizing.Director Thorpe was not quite 'One-Shot Van Dine' the best Thin Man director but he seldom puts his foot wrong. Boring camera placements and indifferent staging if you care about that, but when your listening to Nick and Nora sparring you don't really notice.

edwagreen Nick and Nora Charles go home to see his parents. Myrna Loy and William Powell were usually wonderful as the detective and his lovable wife. The script does them in in this film.Supported by the usually elderly looking Harry Davenport and his wife, veteran actress Lucile Watson add really nothing to the plot.Naturally, they have no vacation as they're soon thrown into investigating a murder that occurred at their parents' doorstep. We soon find an array of suspects to deal with. We have Crazy Mary who loves to knock people over the head with any object in her reach. The wonderful Anne Revere plays the part and says so little. She is dressed up as if she is Apple Annie from "Pocketful of Miracles" fame.Donald Meek, Edward Brophy, Leon Ames and a very young Gloria De Haven round out the fine cast.By the way, what was behind those paintings being sold? This is never fully explained and that might just be what's wrong with this picture.You'll laugh at the beginning when Nick and Nora are trying to move about in a very crowded corridor of the train. You will be reminded of the Marx Brothers in "Room Service." When a very fat man comes the opposite way, you will laugh heartily. Other than this, there is very little to smile to.

MadBomber The Thin Man goes home, is probably the most panned of the Nick and Nora series, but for some reason I find it the most enjoyable. I kind of think of this as a Sherlock Holmes meets Leave it to Beaver. A lot more gritty undercurrent in this one, but also more of a real life feel to it as well. Most of the other films make me feel like I'm watching a high society gala, whereas this film gives me a chance to see the down to earthness of Nick and Nora. They may be rich beyond compare, but they don't come across as snotty or bitchy. They're wholesome and kind. Fun and vibrant. These are the uptight aristocrats so common in British film and novel, nor are they the arrogant and completely oblivious nouveau rich of Hollywood. See Paris Hilton, and a bevy of other born into wealth starlets who have an air of entitlement about them, never having had to earn for themselves. They come across as completely shallow and callous, whereas the Nick and Nora characters are just schleps with money. They are cultured, but not afraid to be amongst the people. With all the wealth they have, they can spend their vacation in a ritzy hotel, but would rather stay in Nick's childhood home, and visit with his old school chums. The mystery itself isn't bad either. Although improbable, it does maintain an air of believability. Some great character actors round out the cast to really make this the most complete of the thin man films.

Terrell-4 Sycamore Springs is Nick Charles' home town, where his parents still live. It's small town Americana, MGM style. We half-way expect that the murderer, when Nick catches him, will turn out to be Andy Hardy. In this, the fifth of the Thin Man series, Nick and Nora (William Powell and Myrna Loy) journey from New York to celebrate his birthday with his parents. Dr. Charles is a medical man who disapproves of Nick's line of work as a "policeman." He had hoped his son would become a doctor and that they could work together. Nick's mother understands and loves them both and bustles around. And Nora, determined to show her father-in-law what such a smart and successful detective Nick really is, begins to leak the story that Nick is really in Sycamore Springs to solve an important case. "Nicky always says there's a skeleton in nearly every closet," Nora points out to her mother-in-law, "and if you rattle it hard enough something always happens." It's not long before a number of things happen, including a young man shot by a sniper at the elder Charles' front door, an intense attempt by a shady character and his wife to buy or steal a second-rate painting of a windmill and the death by shotgun blast of a disturbed recluse. Nick has to deal with war plants and war plans, twenty-year-old secrets involving illicit love and an unexpected baby, innocent or not-so innocent theatrics and the impact of some of his street-wise friends on the respectability of his parents. All the way, the need to show his father that he is worthy of respect even if he is just a "policeman" keeps things humming. The conclusion, with everyone gathered around, the true motivation for the murders uncovered and the killer unmasked, ends satisfactorily with his father grinning in approval and a button on Nick's vest popping with pride, just as Nora predicted. This being wartime, Nick's exertions have had to be fueled by apple cider, not martinis. The pleasure of this movie rests squarely on the personalities of Powell and Loy. They fit into being Nick and Nora with the grace and affection of old friends. That's how we see them, as actors and as Nick and Nora. They're good company and fun to be with. While the mystery itself may not be great shakes (the rationale for the murders seemed to come a little out of left field), the actors are a crowd of familiar faces and predictable and welcome personalities. We get Harry Davenport, everyone's favorite father or grandfather; Leon Ames; Donald Meek, small and always flustered; Edward Brophy, Donald MacBride, one of the master's of the double-take; Lloyd Corrigan; Helen Vinson; Lucille Watson and Anne Revere, such a fine actress whose career was ruined by the Hollywood witch-hunts of the late Forties and early Fifties. In a part that lasts probably no more than 20 seconds we even have Moose Malloy, I mean Mike Mazurki, in a barbershop. So what could make a fan of Nick and Nora Charles queasy? Here's a hint. Says Nora outside a pool hall to Sycamore Springs' police chief, "There's a man here. I want you to arrest him." "What for?" says the chief. "Does it have to be for something," Nora asks with genuine innocence. Is this the smart, sophisticated Nora from the first two Thin Man movies? Not even close. With The Thin Man Comes Home, MGM has nearly finished the job of turning Nora Charles into an adoring wife and cutely innocent early version of Lucy Ricardo. The affectionate banter between Nick and Nora remains, but little is left of Nora as at least a semi-equal partner in her husband's adventures in murder and crime. Nora's role is to provide comic relief so that we can smile indulgently at the situations she gets herself involved in. I watched the movie with a smile because Powell and Loy are so good together. But in a sad way I also felt I was watching Nora Charles' death by the safe, middle class conventions of Hollywood.