Asta the Dog Movies
Asta was a popular canine star in the original "Thin Man" series of feature films co-starring Myrna Loy and William Powell. The vivacious wire-haired fox terrier also appeared in other films during the '30s and early '40s. In reality, Asta was played by different generations of dogs. In the 1950s, one of the original's relatives reprised the role in the "Thin Man" television series. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1939
Three years after the second Thin Man entry, MGM brought back the property by popular demand with Another Thin Man. As ever, William Powell and Myrna Loy star as sophisticated sleuths Nick and Nora Charles, with the added filip of 8-month-old Nick Charles Jr. At the invitation of munitions manufacturer Colonel MacFay (C. Aubrey Smith), the Charleses spend a weekend at MacFay's Long Island estate. The Colonel is certain that his shady ex-business associate Phil Church (Sheldon Leonard) plans to do him harm, a prognostication that apparently comes true when murder rears its ugly head. Though he's promised to cut down on his drinking (after all, he's a daddy now), Nick spends an inordinate amount of time sorting out the clues and identifying the actual murderer-who, of course, is the least likely suspect (and in fact is played by an actor who seldom if ever harmed a fly in any other film). Adding to the merry mayhem is the Charleses' efforts to find a good baby-sitter, resulting in an onslaught of "help"-and additional babies!--courtesy of Nick's old Underworld cronies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Powell, Myrna Loy, (more)
Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant star in this inspired comedy about a madcap heiress with a pet leopard who meets an absent-minded paleontologist and unwittingly makes a fiasco of both their lives. David Huxley (Grant) is the stuffy paleontologist who needs to finish an exhibit on dinosaurs and thus land a $1 million grant for his museum. At a golf outing with his potential benefactors, Huxley is spotted by Susan Vance (Hepburn) who decides that she must have the reserved scientist at all costs. She uses her pet leopard, Baby, to trick him into driving to her Connecticut home, where a dog wanders into Huxley's room and steals the vital last bone that he needs to complete his project. The real trouble begins when another leopard escapes from the local zoo and Baby is mistaken for it, leading Huxley and Susan into a series of harebrained and increasingly more insane schemes to save the cat from the authorities. Inevitably, the two end up in the local jail, where things get even more out of hand: Susan pretends to be the gun moll to David's diabolical, supposedly wanted criminal. Naturally, the mismatched pair falls in love through all the lunacy. Director Howard Hawks delivers a funny, fast-paced, and offbeat story, enlivened by animated performances from the two leads, in what has become a definitive screwball comedy. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, (more)
- 1935
In this drama, an amateur pilot is driven to living life in the fast lane after he pilots that plane that crashed and killed his parents and his sister. He goes on to marry. He and his new wife live in terrible conditions until he suddenly inherits $8,000 which he uses to buy a plane and start up a commuter service. Unfortunately, he finds himself again in debt. His disgusted wife leaves, but when he is hurt in a car crash, she eventually returns. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kay Francis, George Brent, (more)
