Shadow of the Thin Man

"Shadow of the Thin Man" is another addition to the "Thin Man" series starring that wonderful couple, Nick and Nora Charles, played to perfection by William Powell and Myrna Loy. In this film, they have a son, Nicky, who's adorable and keeps Daddy on his toes. In one scene, Nick has to drink milk (instead of his cocktail) so that Nicky will drink his; in another, so as not embarrass his son, Nick rides the carousel and gets quite dizzy. So does Asta - we see him hugging a fire hydrant for dear life once the ride ends.

The movie starts out innocently enough with Nick reading the racing forms to his son as if it's a story. When Nick and Nora get to the track, a murder has been committed and the two become immediately involved. Donna Reed has a small role as a secretary for a thug, and she's giving information to her boyfriend, a reporter, played by Barry Nelson. This was the stage actor's first film, and he's right out of college.

There are some very funny scenes in this film - the best being the one in the restaurant. But Nora and Nick attending a wrestling match is another goodie. That brilliant actor, Asta, really has a good supporting role. It's one of his better performances.

The murder mystery is interesting, but like all the "Thin Man" movies, the style, the repartee, and the humor are what make Nick and Nora fun and even today, keep them popular. And their little dog too.

In this fourth movie in the Thin Man series, the familiar formula still works pretty well, making "Shadow of the Thin Man" an enjoyable feature with plenty of wit, an interesting mystery, and most of all Nick and Nora. It's hard to think of any other screen couple that worked together better than William Powell and Myrna Loy. All it takes is a few seconds of seeing them interact before you feel as if you are in the company of old friends.

The story and setting make use of Nick's fondness for the horse races, and this also allows for an entertaining assortment of characters. The mystery has several twists and turns, and the story developments alternate with lighter stretches of Nick and Nora being themselves. Besides the race track, there are some other imaginative settings that help in creating an atmosphere that is both believable and interesting.

Most of the other characters are pretty straightforward, but Sam Levene gets quite a few good moments as the police lieutenant. Barry Nelson also has a decent role as a reporter. A very young Donna Reed gets a fair amount of screen time, but her character is not as interesting as the others. It's also interesting to see Stella Adler in one of her rare screen roles.

This one is a cut below the earlier movies in the series, but it's still good fun. As well as the familiar combination works, there weren't a lot of reasons to make significant changes.

Anything with William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles starts out at a six out of ten absent anything else positive in the film. I didn't think that this was one of the best of the series, with nothing outpacing the original Thin Man. There was too much baby in the last one and too much little kid in this one. Look, I wouldn't appreciate Sherlock Holmes, Perry Mason, OR Nick Charles showing up in a family drama like "I Remember Mama" and I didn't appreciate the intrusion of all of the little kid schtick in this, what is supposed to be a detective film/comedy. Maybe it is just the conformist view of the pre-war production code era, or maybe it is just that Irving Thalberg had been dead since 1936 and five years later Louis B. Mayer's sickly sweet sentimentalism was starting to really take hold at MGM.

At least Woody Van Dyke is still in the director's chair, and Sam Levene makes a great side kick for Nick as police lieutenant Abrams who couldn't detect his way out of a paper bag without the help of Mr. Charles. Nick takes pity on the fellow and tries to give him credit where he can.

This mystery is about two murders - one at a race track and another in the office of the head of a gambling syndicate, seemingly unrelated. Another problem I have in this film - the guy in the "young couple" who Nick and Nora are trying to help is played by Barry Nelson, who easily has the most punchable face in the history of film. Even when he is out cold he looks like he is obnoxiously smirking.

Some of the weirder sights in this one? Nick walking his son on a leash, and his son - all of four - in a soldier's uniform! Also a San Francisco seafood restaurant which is not upscale but not greasy spoon level either has a dirt floor!

I'd recommend it for fans of the Thin Man films. There is enough Nick and Nora to overcome its several flaws.

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.

"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.