Another Thin Man (1939)

Director:

W.S. Van Dyke

Writers:

Frances Goodrich (screen play) and
Albert Hackett (screen play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

17 November 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Mystery | Drama | Crime | Romance

Tagline:

It's a blessed event

Plot:

An explosives manufacturer suspects a young man is out to kill him. He calls in Nick and Nora (with new baby) to sort things out.

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Murder | Dog | Baby | Nightclub

Cast

William Powell	...	Nick
Myrna Loy	...	Nora
Virginia Grey	...	Lois
Otto Kruger	...	Van Slack
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Colonel MacFay
Ruth Hussey	...	Dorothy Waters
Nat Pendleton	...	Lieutenant Guild
Patric Knowles	...	Dudley Horn
Tom Neal	...	Freddie
Phyllis Gordon	...	Mrs. Bellam
Sheldon Leonard	...	Phil Church
Don Costello	...	'Diamond Back' Vogel
Harry Bellaver	...	'Creeps'
William A. Poulsen	...	Nickie Jr.
Muriel Hutchison	...	Smitty
Abner Biberman	...	'Dum-Dum'
Marjorie Main	...	Mrs. Dolley
Asta	...	Himself - Dog
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alexander D'Arcy	...	Gigolo Who Danced with Nora Charles at West Indies Club (scenes deleted)
Murray Alper	...	Larry - a Father (uncredited)
Sandra Andreva	...	Woman Sitting with Nick in Cafe (uncredited)
William Bailey	...	Freight Elevator Operator (uncredited)
Roy Barcroft	...	Slim - a Guard (uncredited)
Brooks Benedict	...	West Indies Club Patron (uncredited)
James Blaine	...	Policeman in Charles' Suite (uncredited)
Charles Brokaw	...	State Trooper (uncredited)
Paul E. Burns	...	Ticket Agent (uncredited)
Eddie Buzard	...	Newsboy (uncredited)
Richard Calderon	...	Raphael - Wacky's Baby (uncredited)
Anita Camargo	...	Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
Jack Clifford	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Frank Coletti	...	State Trooper (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	West Indies Club Patron (uncredited)
Nell Craig	...	Charles' First Nursemaid (uncredited)
Carmen D'Antonio	...	Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
Joe Devlin	...	Barney - MacFay's Bodyguard (uncredited)
Joe Downing	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Ralph Dunn	...	Baggage Man (uncredited)
Dick Elliott	...	Detective (uncredited)
Matty Fain	...	Hoodlum Telephoning Nick (uncredited)
Walter Fenner	...	Detective (uncredited)
Miguel Fernández Mila	...	Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
Jack Gardner	...	Driver (uncredited)
Edward Gargan	...	Detective Quinn (uncredited)
Martin Garralaga	...	Pedro - the Informant (uncredited)
Eddie Gribbon	...	Baggage Man (uncredited)
Rosemary Grimes	...	Woman Sitting with Nick in Cafe (uncredited)
George Guhl	...	Second Gate Guard (uncredited)
James Guilfoyle	...	Jake (uncredited)
Eddie Hall	...	Second Baggage Man at Train Station (uncredited)
Edward Hearn	...	Detective (uncredited)
Shemp Howard	...	Wacky (uncredited)
Thomas E. Jackson	...	Detective (uncredited)
Gladden James	...	Fingerprint Man (uncredited)
Milton Kibbee	...	Detective (uncredited)
Toni LaRue	...	Woman Sitting with Nick in Cafe (uncredited)
George Lloyd	...	West Indies Club Patron (uncredited)
Alphonse Martell	...	West Indies Club Waiter (uncredited)
Thomas Martin	...	Spectator in Alley - Murder Scene (uncredited)
Pat McKee	...	A Father (uncredited)
Horace McMahon	...	MacFay's Chauffeur (uncredited)
Rudolph Medina	...	Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
Tina Menard	...	Woman Sitting with Nick in Cafe (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	West Indies Club Patron (uncredited)
Howard M. Mitchell	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Frank Moran	...	Butch - a Father (uncredited)
Alberto Morin	...	West Indies Club Waiter (uncredited)
Philip Morris	...	Baggage Man (uncredited)
Paul Newlan	...	Tom--Bodyguard (uncredited)
Nellie V. Nichols	...	Raphael's Mother (uncredited)
William Pagan	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Nestor Paiva	...	West Indies Club Headwaiter (uncredited)
Eddie Parker	...	State Trooper (uncredited)
Milton Parsons	...	Coroner (uncredited)
Guy Repp	...	First Waiter (uncredited)
Bert Roach	...	Cookie - the Drinker (uncredited)
Claire Rochelle	...	Telephone Operator (uncredited)
Constantine Romanoff	...	Tall Father in Derby (uncredited)
Ronald R. Rondell	...	West Indies Club Patron (uncredited)
Ramon Ros	...	Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
Charles Sherlock	...	Police Photographer (uncredited)
Lee Shumway	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Rafael Storm	...	Gigolo Who Danced with Nora Charles at West Indies Club (uncredited)
Frank Sully	...	Pete - a Father (uncredited)
William Tannen	...	State Trooper (uncredited)
Stanley Taylor	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Fred Velasco	...	Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
Blanca Vischer	...	Woman Sitting with Nick in Cafe (uncredited)
Doodles Weaver	...	Gatekeeper - MacFay Estate (uncredited)

Directed by
W.S. Van Dyke		(as W.S. Van Dyke II)

Writing credits
Frances Goodrich		(screen play) and
Albert Hackett		(screen play)
Dashiell Hammett		(based on an original story by)
Anita Loos		contributing writer (uncredited)

Produced by
Hunt Stromberg	....	producer

Original Music by
Edward Ward

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(director of photography) (as William Daniels)
Oliver T. Marsh		(director of photography)
John F. Seitz		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Fredrick Y. Smith		(film editor)

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis		(set decorations)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hugh Boswell	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Hugh Boswell	....	director of retakes (uncredited)

Art Department
John S. Detlie	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
Bill Edmondson	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dolly Tree	....	wardrobe

Other crew
Eddie Larkin	....	dance director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presents) (produced by: Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1939) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Renee and Stella  group cast performers: Rhumba Specialty (uncredited)

Also Known As:

"Return of the Thin Man" - USA (promotional title)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #5826) | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (DVD rating) | Australia:G | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Rafael Storm replaced Alexander D'Arcy as the gigolo during the retakes.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Creeps first meets Nick and Nora, his suspenders disappear when he moves into the baby's room.

Quotes:

Nora Charles:[Reading phone messages] Here's another one of those "Call Long Island Operator #15." Don't you think you ought to call her?
Nick Charles:Certainly not; she knows better than that! I *told* her I was bringing the wife along this time.
Nora Charles:I don't know why I always take if for granted that you're kidding.

Movie Connections:

Featured in From the Ends of the Earth (1939)

Soundtrack:

Happy Birthday to You

Whether it's solving a murder or sipping a Bacardi, Nick and Nora Charles are excellent company

When a movie begins with C. Aubrey Smith, that craggy paragon of old-fashioned values, beaten, shot and stabbed to death and then finishes with Shemp Howard, one of the Stooges, dandling a baby, you might believe you're in some odd alternate universe. In a way, you are, but the universe is the world of Nick and Nora Charles and the movie is Another Thin Man. It's the third film William Powell and Myrna Loy made about the debonaire amateur sleuth and his wealthy wife. If it doesn't quite reach the heights of witty sophistication of the first two, it'll do.

Nick and Nora, together with their new baby and Asta, are at the Long Island estate of the aging and imperious Burr MacFay (Smith), the partner of Nora's father before her father died. He's a financial wizard who still manages much of Nora's wealth...and he believes he's a man under a death threat. Within hours of their arrival, late at night, a fire starts in the ornate bath house, a fuse apparently blows taking out all the lights, the huge dog of the house is found killed...and MacFay is discovered shot, beaten and stabbed. Yet everyone seems to have an alibi. And what a bunch there is: MacFay's adopted daughter, Lois MacFay; Dudley Horn, the man she plans to marry who seems to love her money as much as he says he loves her; Freddie Coleman, MacFay's young, baby-faced secretary who is smitten with Lois; Mrs. Bellam, the curiously uncurious housekeeper; and Dorothy Waters, the nanny Nora engaged to help look after Nickie, Jr., who suddenly disappears. Those are the ones in the mansion. Lurking outside is a former employee of MacFay, Phil Church, who went to prison and now has schemes to cash in; his girl friend, his loyal goon and a slow-speaking piece of muscle who wears thick glasses. Nick and Nora head back to New York as soon as they can, but the mystery and the threats follow them. It takes a visit to the apartment of a woman no one seems to have met and some clever thinking before Nick brings everyone together in the Charles' hotel apartment where the ruthless murderer is exposed. Even that is complicated by Nickie, Jr.'s boithday party thrown by some of Nick's disreputable acquaintances and their kids.

In the meantime, we get to enjoy the imperturbable, affectionate and wittily ironic relationship between Nick and Nora, and delight in the expert playing of William Powell and Myrna Loy. Nick and Nora, especially Nick, enjoys his martinis and scotch, but this time around it's a little less obvious and a little more fun. "A Bacardi," says Nick to the waiter in a Latin nightclub. He glances over at Nora and adds, "Two Bacardis." Says Nora with a straight face to the waiter, "I'll have the same." The waiter brings four Bacardis. The mystery is complicated and, in my view, a little too much time is spend on it at the expense of time with the two of them. Still, the movie's extended nightclub scene shows just how witty, light and affectionate Powell and Loy could be when they had enough time to work their characters together. They made 14 movies together over 20 years, including the six in the Thin Man series. Individually or together, Powell and Loy were class acts.

And yes, Shemp Howard really is there. So's a chest-thumping Marjorie Main.