Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)

Nick and Nora are at their wise-cracking best as they investigate murder and racketeering at a local race-track.

Director:

W.S. Van Dyke

Writers:

Dashiell Hammett (characters), Harry Kurnitz (story),

Stars:

William Powell, Myrna Loy, Barry Nelson

Cast

Complete credited cast:
William Powell	...	Nick Charles
Myrna Loy	...	Nora Charles
Barry Nelson	...	Paul Clarke
Donna Reed	...	Molly Ford
Sam Levene	...	Lieutenant Abrams
Alan Baxter	...	'Whitey' Barrow
Henry O'Neill	...	Major Jason I. Sculley
Richard Hall	...	Nick Charles, Jr. (as Dickie Hall)
Stella Adler	...	Claire Porter / Clara Peters
Loring Smith	...	'Link' Stephens
Joseph Anthony	...	Fred Macy
Lou Lubin	...	'Rainbow' Benny Loomis
Louise Beavers	...	Stella
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Aldrich Bowker	...	Watchman (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Nick and Nora's hopes for a pleasant afternoon at the local race track are dashed when a jockey is found shot dead in the locker room. Nick's friend Lt. Abrams wants him to help out but Nick is enjoying the good life too much to get involved. However, he is subsequently approached by Major Scully to look into corruption and the role of organized crime in gambling. Others are killed but in the end, Nick gathers all of the suspects into a room and identifies the killer.

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Plot Keywords:

jockey | nick and nora charles | murder | traffic violation | police | 

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Taglines:

Hey everybody, my folks are back on the trail of the dog-gondest mystery you ever saw! They're Wackier Than Ever!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Drama | Mystery | Crime

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

November 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Sombra do Homem Sombra

Filming Locations:

Golden Gate Fields, Berkeley, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Debut of Barry Nelson, also feature debut of Ava Gardner, briefly seen walking by Nick's car.

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Goofs

When Nick returns to the locker room at the race track, and Asta is scared off by the black kitten, Nick passes an office. You can see a man in the reflection of the window. He is wearing a white shirt and appears to be giving hand commands to Asta. His movements mimic Nick's at first, but when Nick turns to head for the shower room, the man in the white shirt stays in the same position.

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Quotes

Estrellita: Ma'am, did he hear that or did he smell it?
Nora Charles: That's Mr. Charles, isn't it?
Estrellita: Yes'm.
Nora Charles: This is a cocktail, isn't it?
Estrellita: Yes'm.
Nora Charles: They'll get together.

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Connections

Follows After the Thin Man (1936)

User Reviews

A Dead Jockey

The fourth Thin Man outing, Shadow of the Thin Man finds Nick and Nora Charles back in San Francisco where they happen to be at a race track when a jockey is killed in the tack room.

The jockey's death uncovers an investigation by the state crime commission involving them trying to indict a syndicate of illegal bookmakers. Two rival newspaper reporters are trying for a scoop on the story and one of them has some other interesting activities going for him.

Powell uncovers a good group of suspects brought together for the inevitable finale. The murderer and he notches two to his credit before he's finally caught is one the audience won't suspect.

Powell does show off a bit here though, the murderer with a slip of the tongue is given away to the audience. I think the writers just wanted Powell to show off before the other suspects, he could have nailed the murderer a reel before he did.

The usual witticisms involving the Charles's parenthood are present. Funniest scene is when Loy tries to get Powell to go off his usual liquid diet so their son will learn to drink milk.