The Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)

My Review

“The Shadow of the Thin Man” storyline has Nick and Nora Charles drawn into a murder investigation of a jockey while at the racetrack. Nick is reluctant to get involved due to a recent race-fixing scandal and the involvement of criminal elements in that particular industry. Director W. S. Van Dyke and screenwriters Irving Brecher and Harry Kurnitz keep the film to the utmost high quality which everyone is accustomed to in the “Thin Man” series. They are essentially screwball comedies. This fourth movie is no different, with witty and clever dialogue throughout the 97 minute running time.

The cast includes William Powell as Nick Charles, Myrna Loy as Nora Charles, Dickie Hall as Nick Charles Jr., Skippy as Asta, along with Barry Nelson, Donna Reed, Stella Adler, Louise Beavers, Sam Levene, Alan Baxter, Henry O’Neill, Loring Smith, and Will Wright. The watchable “The Shadow of the Thin Man” was a big hit at the box office for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was filmed at the MGM Studios in Culver City with exterior shots throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.