The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

The Thin Man Movie Series

The Complete Thin Man Collection (The Thin Man / After the Thin Man / Another Thin Man / Shadow of the Thin Man / The Thin Man Goes Home / Song of the Thin Man / Alias Nick and Nora) Even though The Thin Man movies were made way before I was born, I have seen every one of them at least twice. I believe these films are the reason I am such a William Powell fan. (He is a permanent fixture on my Sage queue – as well as my DVR.)

These films follow Nick and Nora Charles as they solve mysteries, and charm the world. Nick (William Powell) is a retired private investigator who is accompanied by his gorgeous, beautifully dressed, pent-house-rich wife, Nora (Myrna Loy). Even Asta, their darling little Fox Terrier, helps solve some crimes in his own special way. (Nothing too cute – more like wandering off, into an important clue-gathering setting.)

The Thin Man movies are based on Dashiell Hammett‘s The Thin Man mystery book. The dialogue runs at a clipped pace. There is a lot of smart banter, the most obvious between Nick and Nora.

Nora, having grown weary of her silver-spoon existence, is fascinated by the world of private investigation. It seems to thrill her, even though Nick is not quite so enthralled by it. I have not read Dashiell Hammett’s mystery, so I cannot comment on how close The Thin Man movies are to it. I can say that these movies are comedies — even though their “business” is murder and death.

The Thin Man Movies:

  1. The Thin Man  (1934)
  2. After the Thin Man  (1936)
  3. Another Thin Man  (1939)
  4. Shadow of the Thin Man  (1941)
  5. The Thin Man Goes Home  (1945)
  6. Song of the Thin Man  (1947)

As an extra bonus, you will be able to see the other “stars” of Hollywood’s heyday: Jimmy Stewart, Cesar Romero, Maureen O’Sullivan, Donna Reed, the list goes on and on.

This movie series is definitely better if watched in its chronological order. You will meet characters who become “regulars” in Nick’s and Nora’s lives. Also, you learn how they, as a couple, become involved in the world of mystery-solving.>>> a world you wouldn’t expect to be as funny as it appears to be!

PS>>> I do have a warning of sorts: As with most movies from the 1930s and 1940s, there are several… “martini scenes” scattered throughout the movies… They don’t bother me – I just consider the times the movies were made – but I thought I should at least mention this to you.

If you would like to see more TV and Movies suggestions, click here.

Doris Day and Rock Hudson Comedy Movies…

The Doris Day and Rock Hudson Comedy Collection (Pillow Talk / Lover Come Back / Send Me No Flowers) As this is a Cozy Mystery site, I know that I really should limit the entries on the Television and Movie page to… Cozy Mystery shows, or at least mysteries. But there are some shows and/or actors/actresses that I enjoy so much, I just cannot imagine not “spreading the word.” Judy Holliday is one such actress, and now, I am adding Doris Day, once known as “America’s Sweetheart”. Actually as much as I enjoy this “feel good” actress, I am devoting this entry to the three comedies she made with Rock Hudson: Pillow Talk, Send Me No Flowers, and Lover, Come Back.

The last time I watched these three comedies was with my daughter who was (and still is) in her early twenties. There are some television shows and movies that, although they were produced way before her time (and some were even way before my time!), I think she “should” see. Some of these movies are: The Little Foxes with Bette Davis, Dodsworth with Walter Huston and Ruth Chatterton, and Lady Eve with Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda.

Getting back to the Doris Day and Rock Hudson comedies:

Pillow Talk (1959) Ah yes, party lines! I don’t personally remember them, but have seen enough “old movies” to know that they were a hassle. Imagine sharing access to your telephone with strangers. Next, imagine having a job that requires your clients to call you at home. Now take it one step further… you share your party line with a womanizing jerk who talks incessantly with bimbettes. Oh, and every time you pick up your phone to use it, you hear this womanizing jerk snow-job this bevy of women. Doris Day is the long-suffering interior decorator and Rock Hudson is the selfish “player.” Tony Randall adds even more fun to this very funny comedy. (If you’re only going to watch one of these three highlighted Doris Day/Rock Hudson movies, I recommend this be your choice.)

Lover Come Back (1961) Doris Day and Rock Hudson are back at it – this time as competing advertising executives. Doris Day is again the “live-by-the-rules” good girl, with Rock Hudson playing a no-good-hound dog sort of guy, with no scruples. He makes his own rules as he goes, and hits a dead-end when Doris makes him come clean, so to speak. Tony Randall, again adds a lot of cute moments. (While I recommend all three of these comedies, I definitely rank this one as my least favorite of the three — although I believe it is way better than a lot of today’s box office hit comedies.)

Send Me No Flowers (1964) This third Doris Day/Rock Hudson pairing has them married. Rock plays a hypochondriac who is convinced he is going to die. He enlists his best friend (played by Tony Randall) to find a good husband replacement for himself so that his home-maker wife won’t be alone… without a “good provider.” Enter Clint Walker>>> a tall, suave, rich, handsome, gentleman from cattle country… a little “too good” of a replacement…

If what you are looking for is a fun movie, that doesn’t require a lot of “yadda-yadda” thinking, that is simply funny and clever, then any one of these Doris Day/Rock Hudson/Tony Randall comedies should fit the bill. However, if you’re looking for a “funny movie” with a lot of twists and turns, profanity, “hidden” messages”, bathroom humor, and/or nudity>>> pass on these three.

If you would like to see more TV and Movies suggestions, click here.

November 2011 Mystery Book New Releases

The following Mystery Books will be released in November 2011:

Riley Adams (aka Elizabeth Spann Craig): Hickory Smoked Homicide (This will be the 3rd in the Memphis Barbeque Mystery Series…)

Maureen Ash: A Deadly Penance (This will be the 6th in the Templar Knight Mystery Series…)

David Baldacci: Zero Day (This will be a Stand Alone…) (Actually, October 31…)

Mignon F. Ballard: Miss Dimple Rallies to the Cause (This will be the 2nd in the Miss Dimple Mystery Series…)

Maggie Barbieri: Physical Education (This will be the 6th in the Murder 101 Mystery Series…)

Alan Bradley: I Am Half-Sick of Shadows (This will be the 4th in the Flavia de Luce Mystery Series…) (This is a Christmas theme mystery…)

Simon Brett: Bones Under the Beach Hut (This is the 12th in the Fethering Mystery Series…)

Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries and the Mistletoe Mix-Up (This will be the 29th in the Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series…) (This is a Christmas theme mystery…)

Edna Buchanan: A Dark and Lonely Place (This will be a Stand Alone…)

Elizabeth Lynn Casey (aka Laura Bradford ): Dangerous Alterations (This will be the 5th in the Southern Sewing Mystery Series…)

Kate Collins: To Catch a Leaf (This will be the 12th in the Flower Shop Mystery Series…)

Michael Connelly: The Drop (This will be the 17th in the Harry Bosch Mystery Series…)

Gary Corby: The Ionia Sanction (This will be the 2nd in the Ancient Greece Mystery Series…)

Mary Daheim: The Alpine Winter (This will be the 23rd in the Emma Lord Alpine Mystery Seires…) (This is a Christmas theme mystery…)

Phillip DePoy: A Corpse’s Nightmare  (This will be the 6th in the Fever Devilin Mystery Series…)

James D. Doss: Coffin Man (This will be the 16th in the Charlie Moon Mystery Series…)

Janet Evanovich: Explosive Eighteen (This will be the 18th in the Stephanie Plum Mystery Series…)

Charles Finch: A Burial at Sea (This will be the 5th in the Charles Lenox Mystery Series…)

Sue Grafton: V Is for Vengeance (This will be the 22nd in the Kinsey Millhone Mystery Series…)

Susanna Gregory: Murder in the Minster (This will be the 17th in the Matthew Bartholomew Mystery Series…)

Betty Hechtman: Behind the Seams  (This will be the 6th in the Crochet Mystery Series…)

Iris Johnasen: The Bronzed Hawk (This will be a Stand Alone…)

Kate Kingsbury (aka Allison Kingsley & Rebecca Kent): Herald of Death (This will be the in the Special Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery Series…) (This is a Christmas theme mystery…)

Margaret Maron: Three-Day Town (This will be the 18th in the Deborah Knott Mystery Series…)

Amy Patricia Meade: Well- Offed in Vermont (This will be the 1st in the NEW Pret’ Near Perfect Mystery Series…)

Shirley Rousseau Murphy: Cat Telling Tales (This will be the 17th in the Joe Grey Cat Mystery Series…)

Joyce Carol Oates: The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares (This will be a Short Stories Stand Alone…)

Joyce Carol Oates, editor: New Jersey Noir (This will be an anthology…)

James Patterson: Kill Alex Cross (This will be the 18th in the Alex Cross Mystery Series…)

Cynthia Robinson: The Barbary Dogs (This will be the 2nd in the Max Bravo Mystery Series…)

Katherine Spencer (aka Anne Canadeo) & Thomas Kinkade: Christmas Treasures (This will be a Christmas theme novel, it is not a mystery…)

Mary Stanton (aka Claudia Bishop): Angel Condemned (This will be the 5th in the Beaufort & Company Mystery Series…)

Elaine Viets: Death on a Platter (This will be the 7th in the Mystery Shopper Mystery Series…)

Livia J. Washburn: The Gingerbread Bump-Off (This will be the 6th in the Fresh-Baked Mystery Series…) (This is a Christmas theme mystery…)

♦To go back to the Cozy Mystery New Book Release page, click here.♦

Ella Barrick, Melissa Bourbon, Allison Kingsley, Liz Lipperman, Mary Moody, & Kari Lee Townsend : Six New Authors on the Cozy Mystery Site

I have added six new authors to the Cozy Mystery site, and this time, they are really NEW! Actually, one of them is a very popular Cozy Mystery author who a lot of you might already follow, but she is now writing a new Cozy Mystery series under a new pseudonym.

Ella Barrick   Barrick, an ex-college English teacher, writes the NEW Ballroom Dance Mystery Series… Stacy Graysin is a co-owner of a ballroom dance studio in Alexandria, Virginia.

Melissa Bourbon (aka Misa Ramirez)    Bourbon, an ex-teacher, writes the NEW Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series. This series, has as its sleuth, Harlow Cassidy, owner of a boutique dressmaking shop in Texas. Harlow gets help from beyond the grave when solving her mysteries. (As Ramirez, she writes the Lola Cruz Mystery Series.)

Allison Kingsley    Kingsley is also known as Kate Kingsbury and Rebecca Kent. As Kingsley, she is now writing the NEW Raven’s Nest Bookstore Mystery Series. Two cousins (Clara and Stephanie Quinn) own the bookstore in Maine. Clara has psychic abilities which help when solving mysteries.

Liz Lipperman (aka Liz Roth)  Lipperman, a registered nurse, writes the NEW Clueless Cook Mystery Series which is set in Texas. Jordan McAllister does not know how to cook, but that doesn’t stop her from becoming a newspaper food critic.

Mary Moody   Moody has her MBA, which might come in handy when writing the NEW Lucy St. Elmo Antiques Mystery Series. Lucy is an antiques shop owner (as well as a sleuth) in Massachusetts.

Kari Lee Townsend   Townsend has her Masters in English Education, and writes the NEW Fortune Teller Mystery Series. Sunshine Meadows is a fortune teller in New York. Townsend also writes the Samantha Granger Experiment Series for middle school-age children.

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