More than a year ago, it was announced that Rob Marshall, a director in the Pirates of the Caribbean series and Johnny Depp, star of that movie series, will do a movie remake of the Dashiell Hammett story, The Thin Man.
I’ll be honest. I have many mixed emotions about any remake of the William Powell and Myrna Loy classic movie. It is not that I don’t believe the Johnny Depp can do it, it’s just that I don’t believe that Johnny Depp should do it.
Here’s my problem. Johnny Depp is a wonderful, versatile actor who is probably the best of the current generation of male actors. But Depp overwhelms the screen when he is on and the Thin Man novel, movies and television series were not just about Nick Charles, the detective.
In Hammett’s 1934 novel, former private detective Nick Charles ends up reluctantly investigating a murder. He is accompanied by his wife, Nora, who is a wealthy socialite and has never seen her husband work. Their relationship with each other and with alcohol makes the book and the first 1934 movie starring William Powell and Myrna Loy a complete joy. Hammett’s two characters established a male/ female dynamic that has been copied endlessly in multiple mediums without much success. If you think I’m kidding, name a TV married couple who banter, drink as much and clearly enjoy each other’s company as Nick and Nora Charles did in “The Thin Man.” I’ll wait while you think…but I don’t think you’ll find anyone.
Loy and Powell made six Thin Man movies that set a standard so high that every couple on TV is compared to them. The characters of Laura Holt and Remington Steele, Lois and Clark, Emma Peel and John Steed, Jonathon and Jennifer Hart, David Addison and “Maddie” Hayes have all attempted to hit the bar, but the dynamic is just not sustainable. Which brings me to my main objection to Depp’s casting as Nick Charles. It will be difficult to find an actress who will bring to the role of Nora what Myrna Loy did AND command the screen when Depp is on like Loy. I’m not saying it’s impossible, just improbable.
Below is a two-minute clip from the 1934 movie, The Thin Man. Loy is on-screen for 30 seconds before she speaks a single word, yet she is equally as commanding in the scene as Powell (even with her back turned). I can’t any see current actress being able to do that and I don’t see Depp giving any actress enough screen space to try.
The remake of the Thin Man has the potential to create a new movie franchise similar to Sherlock Holmes or the Avengers. But you only get one chance to get it right. If Johnny Depp wants to play a Dashiell Hammett detective, he should play Sam Spade (of The Maltese Falcon). He’ll do well in that role. But Nick Charles is part of a duet and I don’t see how Depp or the movie remake can succeed without an actress whose Nora can match Depp’s over the top Nick.
Watch the 78-year-old original Thin Man on Amazon or via Netflix or on TCM on Sunday July 8 2012 at 2:15 PM (ET). But do watch it (and marvel at the fact that this movie was shot in just two weeks) and you’ll agree – Johnny Depp is wrong for this movie.