History Film / ShadowOfTheThinMan

[[caption-width-right:350:It's a NiceHat.]]

* NiceHat: Nora wears a very large one. A RunningGag has everyone she meets describe it as "screwy". She gets fed up and hands it to the last person to do so.

In this one Nick and Nora Charles (Creator/WilliamPowell and Creator/MyrnaLoy) are off to a race track for a leisurely afternoon when the races are interrupted by the mysterious death of a jockey. The jockey is believed to have been murdered because he was about to reveal that the mob had pressured him into throwing a race. Nick is pressed into service again as a detective, and he is asked by a do-gooder state assemblyman, Major Sculley (Henry O'Neill), to help investigate the mobsters who are fixing horse races. Things get even better when Whitey Barrow (Alan Baxter), a reporter who is in deep with the mob, is murdered. Nick's friend Paul Clarke (Barry Nelson), a much more honest reporter, is accused of the crime, but Nick hunts for the real murderer.

''Shadow of the Thin Man'' is a 1941 film directed by W. S. Van Dyke, starring Creator/WilliamPowell and Creator/MyrnaLoy. It is the fourth of six films in the Thin Man series that started with ''Film/TheThinMan'' in 1934.

In this one Nick and Nora Charles (Powell and Loy) are off to a race track for a leisurely afternoon when the races are interrupted by the mysterious death of a jockey. The jockey is believed to have been murdered because he was about to reveal that the mob had pressured him into throwing a race. Nick is pressed into service again as a detective, and he is asked by a do-gooder state assemblyman, Major Sculley (Henry O'Neill), to help investigate the mobsters who are fixing horse races. Things get even better when Whitey Barrow (Alan Baxter), a reporter who is in deep with the mob, is murdered. Nick's friend Paul Clarke (Barry Nelson), a much more honest reporter, is accused of the crime, but Nick hunts for the real murderer.

Van Dyke had directed each of the first four ''Thin Man'' films but this would be last, as he killed himself in 1943 after falling ill with cancer. Creator/DonnaReed appears as Paul's supportive girlfriend Molly, in one of her first big roles. Stella Adler appears as Claire, the mob boss's girl, in one of the only three film roles of her career; she would go on to found tremendously influential acting schools in New York and Los Angeles.

''Shadow of the Thin Man'' is a 1941 film directed by W.S. Van Dyke, starring Creator/WilliamPowell and Creator/MyrnaLoy. It is the fourth of six films in the Thin Man series that started with ''Film/TheThinMan'' in 1934.

Woody Van Dyke had directed each of the first four ''Thin Man'' films but this would be last, as he killed himself in 1943 after falling ill with cancer. Creator/DonnaReed appears as Paul's supportive girlfriend Molly, in one of her first big roles. Stella Adler appears as Claire, the mob boss's girl, in one of the only three film roles of her career; she would go on to found tremendously influential acting schools in New York and Los Angeles.

[[caption-width-right:350:It's a NiceHat]]

In this one Nick and Nora Charles (Powell and Loy) are off to a race track for a leisurely afternoon when the races are interrupted by the mysterious death of a jockey. The jockey is believed to have been murdered because he was about to reveal that the mob had pressured him into throwing a race. Nick is pressed into service again as a detective, and he is asked by a do-gooder state assemblyman, Major Sculley, to help investigate the mobsters who are fixing horse races. Things get even better when Whitey Barrow, a reporter who is in deep with the mob, is murdered. Nick's friend Paul Clarke, a much more honest reporter, is accused of the crime, but Nick hunts for the real murderer.

Woody Van Dyke had directed each of the first four Thin Man films but this would be last, as he killed himself in 1943 after falling ill with cancer. Donna Reed appears as Paul's supportive girlfriend, in one of her first big roles. Stella Adler appears as Claire the mob boss's girl in one of the only three film roles of her career; she would go on to found tremendously influential acting schools in New York and Los Angeles.

* TheCameo: Tor Johnson, who would later be made famous by Creator/EdWood, is one of the wrestlers.

''Shadow of the Thin Man'' is a 1941 film directed by W.S. Van Dyke, starring Creator/WilliamPowell and Creator/MyrnaLoy. It is the fourth of six films in the Thin Man series that started with ''Film/TheThinMan'' in 1941.

* ExactWords: In ''Shadow'', Nick bets Abrams five dollars that "there was only one murderer" in the case of two seemingly unrelated shootings. Abrams can see no connection between the two and takes the bet. They're both right; the two deaths are unrelated, but Nick has already deduced that the first was an accident, so there ''was'' only one murderer.
* {{Flanderization}}: The recurring [[TheLestrade police detective]] Lt. Abrams. In his first film, ''After'', he came across as a competent cop who may be wrong in who he suspects for murder, but had good reasons for thinking he was right. In ''Shadow'', his second and final film, he's more of a clumsy bumbler.

* CallingParentsByTheirName: Nick Jr. calls his father "Nick". This is meant to signal that Nick is a CoolDad.

''Shadow of the Thin Man'' is a 1941 film directed by W.S. Van Dyke, starring Creator/WilliamPowell and Myrna Loy. It is the fourth of six films in the Thin Man series that started with ''Film/TheThinMan'' in 1941.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: The murderer is revealed to be Major Sculley, the deputy from the state assembly charged with busting the mob rackets. Sculley turns out to be neck-deep in the rackets himself.

* OohMeAccentsSleeping: High-class prostitute Claire Peters usually spoke with a pronounced "posh" British accent (or at least what sounded like one to Americans). But when frightened or angry, she would slip into a lower-class New Yorker accent. Nick catches her at this in one scene. ("Don't look now, but your accent's showing.")