|
Post by Nalkarj on Feb 16, 2018 2:45:01 GMT
I know we talked about this show somewhere, so I can move this post here if someone can find it (I couldn’t…). I’ve never watched it before, but I’m watching the one on Internet Archive with Robby the Robot right now. It’s decent, and Phyllis Kirk is better than I’d expected, but Lawford is just plain awful. (His accent keeps slipping, too, but that’s the least of his problems.) No chemistry between Lawford and Kirk, too, though she’s trying her best. The biggest problem is that it doesn’t look or feel like The Thin Man; in fact, it more seems like proto-Scooby Doo.
Has anyone seen more episodes of this show? Opinions?
|
|
|
Post by mikef6 on Feb 16, 2018 3:28:41 GMT
Saw one episode within the past few years. It was something about an assassin with a long-range rifle planning to shoot someone at a garden party that Nora was attending. I don't remember if she was the target or not. Anyway, Nick shows up in the, well, nick of time.
As you say, it doesn't seem like The Thin Man, which is to say that it was not more any witty or clever or unique than any other standard 30 minute crime series of the time.
EDIT: love your new avatar. There's the man, himself.
|
|
|
Post by Nalkarj on Feb 16, 2018 3:31:42 GMT
Thanks, Mike. I finished it—ehh, I don’t think I’m particularly tempted to see any more; as you said, “… it was not more any witty or clever or unique than any other standard 30 minute crime series of the time,” but I had to watch at least one episode because of the title. Hey, and at least Phyllis Kirk is decent! Oh, and “Asta” too! mikef6 Thanks! I wonder how a Bogart-Powell conversation would go…
|
|
|
Post by mikef6 on Feb 16, 2018 3:46:26 GMT
Nalkarj “I wonder how a Bogart-Powell conversation would go…” I don’t know but would give anything to be there. “Oh, and “Asta” too!” Back in, oh, about 2010, My Lovely Wife and I watched the complete Thin Man series. Shortly thereafter, we adopted an all black cat from the local shelter. We just had to name her Asta. I don’t think she knows that she is named for a movie dog, but then, nobody knows what cats know.
|
|
|
Post by telegonus on Feb 16, 2018 8:05:20 GMT
I know we talked about this show somewhere, so I can move this post here if someone can find it (I couldn’t…). I’ve never watched it before, but I’m watching the one on Internet Archive with Robby the Robot right now. It’s decent, and Phyllis Kirk is better than I’d expected, but Lawford is just plain awful. (His accent keeps slipping, too, but that’s the least of his problems.) No chemistry between Lawford and Kirk, too, though she’s trying her best. The biggest problem is that it doesn’t look or feel like The Thin Man; in fact, it more seems like proto- Scooby Doo. Has anyone seen more episodes of this show? Opinions? Yes. I saw a few episodes years ago. The opening credits didn't charm me; nor did the prospects of Kennedy gofer Peter Lawford playing Nick Charles, but I gave it a whirl. A female companion liked it, and that helped. A few things stand out: how gorgeous Phyllis Kirk looked in it (I'd seen her in many things, never "got" her beauty). Also, a brief cameo by an unbilled Robert Taylor, who was still an MGM contractee when the TV series was being filmed. And another thing: Emile Meyer as guest star in one episode. He was a fine character actor who deserved better and bigger breaks than he got in the movies. Interesting about the original "Nick Charles" of the movies, William Powell: he watched the show and actually, while long gone from his old studio, he gave some free advice, coaching, actually, to Peter Lawford, offering tips on how to better interpret thee role. I don't think it was intended as a criticism, just some help from an old master. Powell seemed to sense that Lawford had a shaky grip on his character, wanted to help him out. Lawford apparently greatly appreciated the input. The show was pleasant enough but never grabbed me. It was from more or less the Sunset Strip-Peter Gunn-Richard Diamond era of stylish Noirish TV detective and mystery shows and it didn't measure up
|
|
|
Post by Nalkarj on Feb 16, 2018 20:07:32 GMT
That’s an excellent story, telegonus , and many thanks for sharing it. I’m happy that Lawford appreciated Powell’s input, but he didn’t particularly seem to imbibe it! (I wish he had; he could have used some of Powell’s wit, grace, and charm.) I too had never “got” her beauty before, but she does look quite attractive here—and I’m not sure if you’d agree, but it really seemed like she was trying to play Nora, unlike Lawford, who looked (1) uncomfortable and (2) bored as Nick.
|
|
|
Post by BATouttaheck on Feb 18, 2018 21:10:13 GMT
TV's Nick and Nora and Asta 1934 Originals TV again
|
|
|
Post by telegonus on Feb 19, 2018 7:14:59 GMT
That’s an excellent story, telegonus , and many thanks for sharing it. I’m happy that Lawford appreciated Powell’s input, but he didn’t particularly seem to imbibe it! (I wish he had; he could have used some of Powell’s wit, grace, and charm.) I too had never “got” her beauty before, but she does look quite attractive here—and I’m not sure if you’d agree, but it really seemed like she was trying to play Nora, unlike Lawford, who looked (1) uncomfortable and (2) bored as Nick. Thanks, Salzmank. I think that Lawford's casting as Nick Charles for the TV Thin Man was a lazy choice on the part of MGM. Yes, he was a British guy, had a classy image, was polished, could act a little, but all that aside he lacked William Powell's charm, had little in the way of screen presence aside from his dashing good looks. His early career was rather like Fairbanks, Jr.'s: a dazzlingly handsome young man in search of a screen image, an identity, a style he could model his career on. Fairbanks, Jr. managed to develop in his own way, enjoyed a decent roughly twenty year career in films. Lawford's time as a genuine star was brief.
|
|
jrdmln
New Member
@jrdmln
Posts: 47
Likes: 29
|
Post by jrdmln on Jul 28, 2018 20:12:20 GMT
I have never seen the Thin Man Tv show before. I have seen all 6 of the Thin Man movies and enjoyed them. William Powell and Myrna Loy were good actors. Too bad William Powell and Myrna Loy weren't in the Thin Man Tv show. I have all 6 Thin Man movies on DVD in a box set. On one of the discs it has a documentary about William Powell and a documentary about Myrna Loy. It also has an Episode of the 1950s Thin Man Tv show. I will make a point to watch it sometime. I am sure the show is no where near as good as the Thin Man movies with William Powell and Myrna Loy. I am willing to give the show a chance to see what I think about it.
|
|
|
Post by divtal on Aug 2, 2018 19:36:55 GMT
I watched the TV series, in first-run, when I was a little tyke. That was long before I saw any of the Powell/Loy films, or even knew that the TV series was based on films. As a child, with no developed critical skills, I thought it was great.
A few years ago, I watched an episode on YouTube, or someplace. Nothing about it came close to the films.
I started thinking about other early TV series that I watched, which were based on films of the 30s/40s. Granted, there is a big difference between a feature film, and 30-minute episodes, adapted for TV. However:
- I think that the TV version of Topper fared pretty well. The casting was very close to the film (Leo G. Carroll in the Roland Young role, Lee Patrick/Billie Burke and Robert Sterling/Anne Jeffries, in the Kirby roles played by Cary Grant and Constance Bennett). I've seen several episodes, in recent years.
- I vaguely recall an early TV version of Life with Father, another Powell film, which I liked. Leon Ames played the Powell role of Clarence Day, with Lurene Tuttle in the Irene Dunn part, as Vinnie Day. I can't recall the roles of the Days' sons ... I looked at the IMDb page, and I don't recognize those (performers') names. On this, I can only go by early memory, as I've never seen an episode, since first-run. I'd love to see one.
In all cases, I was introduced to the TV shows, long before seeing the films.
|
|