So, how does Ginger Rogers stand up against Myrna Loy? Rogers has the comedy chops. She's shown that in movies like The Major and the Minor. She trades quips with Powell much like Loy. She snoops like Loy. She drinks like Loy. But, she isn't Myrna Loy...
If the Thin Man series had never been, I would've enjoyed Rogers' performance more. It was a fun movie: An incomprehensible mystery where the murderer seems like a name drawn out of a hat at the last minute. The judge from Miracle on 34th Street plays Swain the Butler. The man who played Inspector Henderson in Night at the Opera plays a cop in this movie as well.
There is a nice chemistry between Rogers and Powell, but it just doesn't rise to the chemistry between Powell and Loy. Powell's detective character needs the stern eye of a sophisticated woman like Mrs. Charles to keep him humble. Makes for better comedy...
All in all, though...a good movie...
If the Thin Man series had never been, I would've enjoyed Rogers' performance more. It was a fun movie: An incomprehensible mystery where the murderer seems like a name drawn out of a hat at the last minute. The judge from Miracle on 34th Street plays Swain the Butler. The man who played Inspector Henderson in Night at the Opera plays a cop in this movie as well.
There is a nice chemistry between Rogers and Powell, but it just doesn't rise to the chemistry between Powell and Loy. Powell's detective character needs the stern eye of a sophisticated woman like Mrs. Charles to keep him humble. Makes for better comedy...
All in all, though...a good movie...