The Thin Man
Directed by	W.S. Van Dyke
Produced by	Hunt Stromberg
Written by	Dashiell Hammett (novel) Harry Kurnitz
Starring	William Powell Myrna Loy
Music by	Edward Ward
Distributed by	MGM
Release date(s)	November 21, 1941
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Preceded by	Another Thin Man
Followed by	The Thin Man Goes Home

Shadow of the Thin Man is the fourth of the six Thin Man films. Released in 1941, it was directed by W. S. Van Dyke, and stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles. Also, in this film their son Nick Jr. (Dickie Hall) is old enough to figure in the comic subplot. Other cast members include Donna Reed and Barry Nelson.

The movie includes a historic sequence on the then-new San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge when the Charles' car is stopped by a highway patrolman. Just after this scene, there's also a shot of the MacArthur Maze, an interchange on the east end of the bridge. The local racetrack central to the plot is Golden Gate Fields.

[edit] Plot

Nick and Nora Charles are looking forward to a relaxing day, but when they visit a racetrack, they find a jockey accused of throwing a race has been murdered, and Nick has difficulty from getting involved.

[edit] Background

Shadow of the Thin Man was eagerly welcomed, coming two years after the previous outing and hitting theaters just two weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor. It would be three years before Loy would make another film (The Thin Man Goes Home in 1945) as she left Hollywood for New York, where she volunteered with the Red Cross. As a world-famous movie star at the top of her game, her passionate condemnation of fascism reportedly earned her a spot near the top of Hitler's "hate list" after she spoke out against Germany's invasion of Czechoslovakia. She also went through a messy public divorce and remarriage, after which there was speculation that her wholesome image had been irreparably tarnished and she might not work again.^[1]

[edit] Cast

• William Powell as Nick Charles
• Myrna Loy as Nora Charles
• Barry Nelson as Paul Clarke
• Donna Reed as Molly
• Sam Levene as Lieutenant Abrams
• Alan Baxter as "Whitey" Barrow
• Henry O'Neill as Major Jason I. Sculley
• Richard Hall as Nick, Jr.
• Stella Adler as Claire Porter aka Clara Peters
• Loring Smith as "Link" Stephens
• Joseph Anthony as Fred Macy
• Lou Lubin as "Rainbow" Benny
• Louise Beavers as Stella

[edit] References

1. ^ The DVD Journal | Quick Reviews: Shadow of the Thin Man

[edit] External links

• Shadow of the Thin Man at the Internet Movie Database
• The Thin Man at Allmovie