Customer Reviews

Shadow of the Thin Man [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The high-living Nick and Nora Charles stumble into murder at a San Francisco racetrack and are quickly led into an investigation of various gambling rackets in this fast paced and very witty forth installment of the famous "Thin Man" series. The powerful charm of William Powell and Myrna Loy as a screen team is undimmed by passing time, and the script gives them plenty of opportunity to shine.

Like all the "Thin Man" films, THE SHADOW OF THE THIN MAN offers a superior supporting cast including a very young Donna Reed--but the real standout here is Stella Adler, seldom seen on screen but a noted stage actress and famous acting coach. Adler's performance here is quite remarkable, at once sultry and disconcerting, and should not be overlooked.

Although two more films were to come in the series, THE SHADOW OF THE THIN MAN is really the last significant film in the series. Both fans and newcomers will enjoy it!

This time Nick and Nora (and Asta, of course) get themselves embroiled in the murder of a jockey--at the racetrack, no less! This along with helping out a reporter friend whose girlfriend's boss is involved in shady dealings.

But none of this really matters, because the main reason to watch these films has always been the wisecracking chemistry between William Powell and Myrna Loy. And with characters named Link, Whitey, and Rainbow Benny, how can you go wrong?

Plus, there's a bonus! At Nick, Jr.'s insistence, Nick actually drinks a glass of milk!

Was ever a detective's life -- to say nothing of his wife -- so sweet and stylish? Once again Mr. & Mrs. Detective, Nick and Nora Charles, find themselves in the middle of murder in this nicely paced, self-deprecating (Nora's hats), amuslingly performed film. William Powell and Myrna Loy deliver delightful performances with excellent supporting work coming from, among others, Lou Lubin (Rainbow Benny)and Stella Adler (Claire Porter). The latter stews and seethes and oozes so that you wish she had lots more to do in this film. Pretty Donna Reed sits and pouts. Dickie Hall as, Nick Jr., does a nice job with his cue cards. Of course there was never a pair like Nick and Nora Charles, at least not in the detective business. On the other hand, we are infinitely fortunate in the pairing of superb light comedian, William Powell, and a charming and intelligent Myrna Loy. Oh, to be able to go back to a time that never was.

SHADOW OF THE THIN MAN offers nothing really new but it does offer exactly what fans of the franchise expect. Nick and Nora get dragged into another murder mystery. They continue to bicker in their loving way. Nick and all his old street contacts help Nick do what the police cannot. Lt. Abrams (Sam Levene) last seen in AFTER THE THIN MAN returns. He is to Nick what Inspector Lestrad is to Sherlock Holmes. It's a treat to see a young Donna Reed in a film 5 years prior to her breakthrough performance in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and 2 decades prior to her self named sitcom.

As usual, Nick with Nora's help rounds up all the suspects and walks the viewer through his deductive reasoning and then announces who the killer is. As this was the third sequel it is plain to see the basic formula that is present in all the THIN MAN films. It, by this film, had become about as complex as a color by numbers coloring book. Little imagination but still fun to do. I would rank this my fourth favorite of the six THIN MAN FILMS. I'm still waiting on the DVD release for this film and the other 4 sequels to the original THIN MAN. Hurry up!!!

Nick and Nora (William Powell and Myrna Loy) investigate after their friend, Paul Clark (Barry Nelson), is framed for murder. The familiar things that make the Thin Man series easy to like are present in this movie. Nick and Nora continue their witty and sophisticated repartee, having fun with their marriage. A running joke in the series is Nora's amused reaction to Nick's blue-collar background. Wherever they go, Nick meets old friends and associates among the cops, bookies, gamblers, and ex-cons. Nora's chutzpah keeps pace with Nick's rapier wit. Their night out at the wrestling matches is a high-point of our little story. Note her introduction to "Spider" Webb. Asta occasionally steals the spotlight, especially in the restaurant segment as the mischievious pooch causes a knockdown brawl. The cutesy Nickie, Jr. detracts from the edginess of the adult story line. This is unfortunate but not important enough to emphasize. We usually fast-forward through Nick and Nick, Jr. on the merry-go-round. In the middle of all this classic comedy, a genuine murder mystery is in progress. Sam Levene repeats his role from "After the Thin Man" of Lt. Abrams. When Nick isn't sparring with Nora, he and Abrams square off. A very young Donna Reed plays Paul's girl, Molly. Mix it in a cocktail shaker, and we have good fun. ;-)

"You know that jockey, Gomez," says Lieutenant Abrams (Sam Levene) to Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy) as the two arrive at the racetrack for a little betting, "the one who was caught throwing the fourth race yesterday? He was shot." "My," says Nora, "they're strict at this track." And we're off on the fourth of the Nick and Nora Charles Thin Man series. The mystery isn't bad. The Powell-Loy chemistry is just as fine as always, and the characters...well, Nick remains the suave, gentleman private detective, fond of martinis and double-breasted suits, clever at putting puzzles together, and a man who seems to know everyone from distinguished officials to Rainbow Benny, a racetrack tout. Nora, his wealthy, socialite wife, remains most of the time a skeptical, affectionate, funny helpmate who can match her husband's martini intake whenever she chooses. However, slowly the series is turning Nora into a more conventional wife and mother. In Shadow of the Thin Man, the writers have Nora sometimes just being a ditzy, adoring wife. Myrna Loy makes it work, but some of Nora's smartness and wit have been dumbed down.

Nick agrees to look into the death of the jockey, but then another shooting takes place, this time of Whitey Barrow, a corrupt reporter who is in cahoots with a ring of racketeers who are making a fortune on racetrack gambling. When the dignified Major Jason Scully, hired by the track commission to clean up the situation, and Paul Clark, a young, crusading reporter, visit Nick and try to enlist his services, he turns them down. He's got too much on his hands already with Nora and their three-year-old son, Nick, Jr. That second murder makes him change his mind. Before long he's up to his waist in suspects. There's Link Stephens, the tough smoothie who runs the syndicate and who is weak around the edges; Fred Main, his wise-guy enforcer; Claire Porter, Stephen's upper-class girl friend; and Baku, her chauffeur. There is even a ticket seller to be suspicious of. Plus, just maybe Paul Clark (Barry Nelson) isn't as honest as he seems, especially since his girlfriend, Molly (Donna Reed), works for Stephens. It all comes together, of course, with a big meeting of all the suspects, with Nick taking apart the case clue by clue until the murderer is unmasked. This time, Nora does a bit of heroics that ends with a loving smooch by our favorite couple, with Asta the dog covering its eyes with a paw.

The movie features three genuinely funny set pieces. First up is Nick and Nora at a crowded wrestling match. It's reassuring to see that professional wrestling hasn't advanced an inch in more than 65 years when it comes to the need for great acting ability. Next is the merry-go-round where Nick has to prove that he's not a scaredy-cat to a group of sneering tykes. And finally is a classic that should be revived, where the waiter at Mario's Grotto is determined Nick and Nora and their two guests will all order the sea bass. He will not take broiled lobster as an answer.

And let's spend a moment with Stella Adler, who plays Claire Porter. She was 40 when she made this movie. She was born into one of the leading Yiddish theater families in New York, and became a star in Yiddish theater in the Twenties. In the Thirties she joined the Group Theater, became a star on Broadway, went to the Soviet Union to study under Stanislavsky himself, and returned to become one of America's great drama teachers, as well as an actor and director. Adler never made much of an impression in Hollywood; she spent most of her life in New York. She taught and mentored Marlon Brando and was the single most important influence on his acting career. She died, honored and full of years, in 1992. Just watch her as Porter, a lush, well-bred blonde with a voice as cultured as clotted cream. Except that Claire had been a professional woman, as in the oldest profession. When Claire loses her temper, she loses her culture, her class and her accent. Nick finds this out. Adler handles the role with aplomb, and her instant transformation from cultured to common is something to see.

The black and white DVD transfer is excellent. There is one noteworthy extra, a 20-minute dramatic short based on Poe's Tell-Tale Heart. It was Jules Dassin's first job as a director. It's creepy and it's first-rate.

"Shadow of the Thin Man" (1941) is the 4th movie in the "Thin Man" series directed by W. S. Van Dyke, and the first to which author Dashiell Hammett and screenwriters Frances Goodrich and Albert Hacket did not contribute. The new screenwriters, Irving Brecher and Harry Kurnitz, give us a typically convoluted mystery with a big cast of suspects, including many colorful underworld characters, and an unpredictable outcome. The Charles family is back in San Francisco with "baby", Nicky, Jr., now a headstrong 3-year-old. Nick (William Powell) and Nora (Myrna Loy) Charles' day at the races is sidetracked by a jockey's apparent murder. Police Lieutenant Abrams (Sam Levene) tries to rope Nick, who would rather be betting the horses, into the case. When reporter Whitey Barrow (Alan Baxter), a professional white-washer for mobster Link Stevens (Loring Smith), is also shot to death, and the murder is blamed on Nick's friend Paul Clark (Barry Nelson), Nick enters the fray to solve the case.

Although William Powell and Myrna Loy have a certain warm chemistry between them, no writer since Dashiell Hammett in his original "The Thin Man" novel has succeeded in giving Nick and Nora Charles that loving, irreverent wit that made 1934's "The Thin Man" so memorable. Nora was always a little wide-eyed, but "Shadow of the Thin Man" marginalizes her more than the previous films. She's a pretty, rich hausfrau but lacks good lines. The mystery is very much in the style of the previous "Thin Man" movies, but the banter is a bit dull and self-consciously precious. This film falls down in the dialogue department, and the slow- and fast-motion shots of Asta the dog, intended for comic effect, are ill-advised. But "Shadow of the Thin Man" still works as light entertainment, owing to Powell and Loy's likability and an interesting supporting cast. In fact, the supporting cast is more memorable than the detectives in this one.

The DVD (Warner Brothers 2005): "The Tell-Tale Heart" (20 min) is a short film of Edgar Allan Poe's story about a man who murders his tyrannical employer and is driven mad by the sound of his beating heart, directed by Jules Dessin. "The Goose Goes South" (6 min) is a Hanna-Barbara cartoon about a little goose who goes South for the winter. But he's not flying; he's walking . He encounters various stereotypes on his journey through the American South. There is also a theatrical trailer (3 min). Subtitles are available for the film in English, French, and Spanish.

i really enjoyed this film the most of any of their movies. the way they solve the murder is always fun. enjoyable for all murder mystery fans. the characters, the comedy, the antics, the solving of the murder makes it very enjoyable to watch over and over again. the best part is trying to
solve the mystery with them whether it is this movie or the other ones. a fun movie to watch because it combines suspense and comedy which makes it that much more enjoyable to watch.

Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy) are back in San Francisco with son Nick Jr. (Dickie Hall) in tow. But Nick's planned day at the races turns into anything but when a jockey who threw a race the day before is found shot in the shower. Nick refuses to get involved until another murder takes place. Can Nick and Nora find the clues to catch the killer?

More than the others, this movie seems to be broken down into comedy and mystery scenes. Yes, there are some laughs as the mystery is unfolding, but there are actually scenes here that are set up just for the laughs. Most of those involve Nick Jr. or Asta the dog. And trust me, these scenes are funny, especially if you already know the characters. Once again, William Powell and Myrna Loy pull off the loving couple perfectly, making being around them absolutely fun.

The mystery is pretty good here as well. I had a couple minor niggles with it (including the infamous gather everyone together to explain everything ending), but for the most part I enjoyed it. I certainly didn't figure the solution out until exactly the same moment that Nick did, which made me proud.

If you are looking for a light mystery mixed with comedy, go no further than this fun series. While they are probably better watched in order, you can enjoy them in which ever order you find them.

The most fun and sophisticated series in the history of film continued with Maj. W.S. Van Dyke's 1941 entry, Shadow of the Thin Man. William Powell was back, of course, as Dashiell Hammett's greatest creation, Nick Charles. Myrna Loy was back as his better half, and needless to say a shaker of martinis and a lot of witty banter was sure to follow as Nick and Nora got involved in yet another murder mystery. Nora has a new du in this one and is cuter than she's ever been. Nick is busy in the park reading a fairy tale to Nicky Jr. which sounds suspiciously like a racing form, and it isn't long before Nick and "Mummy" are off to the track.

A jockey has just been murdered by the time they arrive with a police escort and it appears to be tied in with a gambling syndicate. Nick does his best to avoid getting roped into real work but when another murder occurs at a wrestling match and a reporter who's an acquaintance of theirs is fingered for the job, Nick sort of saunters into action. A third murder occurs before Nick can get it all sorted out and when Nora gets one of the clues first, a trap is set for the killer. Nora is adorable and she ends up "saving" Nick's life once the denouement scene rolls around.

An attractive cast of MGM players which includes a funny turn by Louise Beavers as the Charles' maid and a very young and pretty Donna Reed as the girlfriend of the accused, make this one easy to watch. Nick gathers the suspects all together as usual, and it's quite a suprise when he fingers the real killer. A gun hidden in a drain pipe, an expensive bracelet used as payment for blackmail and a ledger worth killing for all play a part in the mystery portion of this one.

But the Thin Man films were always about how much fun the audience could have watching Nick and Nora interact as she pushed Nick into action, drink in hand. There is a very funny scene where Nick is shamed by little Nick into drinking a glass of--gulp--milk! Both Nick and Asta get dizzy on a carousel and Asta starts a brawl in a restaurant as this entry moves along at a nice pace. And I'd be remiss not to mention a turtle race on a bar counter which adds to the fun.

All of the five films which followed the original masterpiece were charming and witty fun and there has never been anything that even came close to equaling them as entertainment. They were wildly popular during their day and even more so today, as Hollywood seems to have forgotten what made going to the movies great. The public hasn't, however, which is why films like this one are such a fun breath of fresh air. A great one to own and watch over and over.