Halliwell gives the director some credit as well:

‘…it’s done with the no-nonsense expertise typical of its director, ‘One Shot’ Woody Van Dyke.  He polished off the whole thing in sixteen days instead of the twenty-six MGM would have allowed.  His style is splendidly economical… no fancy angles, just everything you need to see.  No scene goes on longer than it has to, and at one point there is a veritable plague of wipes… a firm hand is in control, the sheer dexterity of the story-telling stimulates us.’

In summing up:

‘The Thin Man is a film which all concerned seem to have enjoyed making, and that enjoyment communicates itself to the audience.’

 

 

This sparkling comedy-thriller features William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, the wisecracking newlyweds drawn into a murder investigation:

‘…our hero and heroine were not only mature and married, but actually seemed to like the state in which they found themselves and to have a warm wisecracking regard for each other despite the occasional spat.’

The second most famous dog of the Golden Age appealed to the young Halliwell:.

‘I can’t have been more than five years old when I first saw it at the Capitol, Bolton, so all the innuendo was over my head, but I did adore the wire-haired terrier, Asta…’