Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

JohnHowardReid "Another Thin Man" was so joyously received by audiences that another entry in the series became inevitable. This time, M-G-M abandoned all attempts to sheet the title home to the character played by Edward Ellis in the original movie. In the notoriously forgetful minds of picture-goers, Powell himself had enacted "The Thin Man" from the word go! The trailer for "Shadow of the Thin Man" (1941) therefore makes it quite clear that Nick is "Mr Thin Man" and that Nora is "Mrs Thin". For this outing, the couple are re-united with Sam Levene from "After the Thin Man". The director once again is Van Dyke; the producer, Hunt Stromberg; but the writing has been switched to Harry Kurnitz and Irving Brecher. Once it starts to get under way (after a couple of extremely tedious and wholly superfluous introductory scenes featuring Nick Junior), the plot sounds promising. Indeed, the middle section of the movie is actually quite entertaining, thanks to a couple of stand-out crowd scenes (the wrestling match in which the combatants take time out to say goodbye to Nora and the restaurant all-in, which gathers impetus once the waiter tricks Nick into ordering sea bass) and a spooky hunt through the deserted corridors of the jockey club. The support cast comes into its own too, with young Donna Reed making a most attractive heroine, the more mature Stella Adler excelling as a racketeer's sexy bit of low-life ("Your accent's slipping," Nick pungently reminds her as she berates him for spurning her advances) and some nice studies in villainy from blackmailing Alan Baxter, dapper Loring Smith and partner Joseph Anthony. Unfortunately, the script nosedives into one of those boring round- up-all-the-suspects finales in which the real killer is tiresomely discovered to be the one person we thought to be totally above suspicion!It's most pleasing and surprising to discover that the unsung director/editor of the trailer agrees with my conclusion that the picture is far too long and way out-stays its welcome. He concludes the merry-go-round sequence with a snappy out-take of Powell looking queasy instead of all the endlessly boring double exposures the film itself uses. Even more importantly, instead of the hard-yards tedium of the final round-up, he uses a delightful comeback from Stella Adler. When Nick waves his hand of suspicion in her direction, she retorts, "I haven't killed any jockeys for at least three weeks!" This out-take also doesn't figure in the finished movie.

mark.waltz How do you get private detective Nick Charles to bring his son home from the park? Mix a martini, shaken not stirred, of course, and the sound alone will get him running. Of course, you also want to get him to stop reading the racing pages to Nick Jr., the cute 5 year old son of New York's most sophisticated husband and wife detective team. That sends Nick and Nora off to another murder case, this one at the racing track, and one that will bring out all the usual suspects, including some red herrings and pink elephants if Nick doesn't stop boozin' it up! All the archetypes are there for Nick and Nora, those from the opposite side of the social spectrum mixing it up with the jet set, and filled with social climbers, gamblers, boozers and floozies. The great acting coach Stella Adler has one of her two movie roles as a true hard-boiled dame here, and is unforgettable, even though it is obvious she belonged to the stage. Dickie Hall is adorable as Nick Jr., a little firecracker with both a bit of mom and dad in him, which you know means a sense of fun. Asta is adorable as ever, especially when one of his hijinks results in a bar brawl. Powell keeps the comic aspects of Nick alive, taking a rousing ride on a children's merry-go-round (is it the carousel or some previous cocktail which has him spinning?) and Loy remains the most perfect wife of all times, still beautiful in the morning, not nagging, not scolding, and filled with that love for life that here even includes a brief conversation with a professional wrestler while he's still in the ring.

Spondonman Another good series entry [4/6], more sedate than its predecessors but still a quality funny whodunnit, again set in Red Herring City.Nick finds himself embroiled in a murder case after a racetrack killing leads to another implicating an "obviously" decent guy, trying to unravel the murderer from a long list of "guilty" suspects. Nick's deductions again spring a surprise, culminating with a detail only discovered near the end of the picture. The funniest scene is the outbreak of fisticuffs in the restaurant - I'm glad I never got a dog, cute as Asta was! Again Nick Jr. was sidelined for the second half, probably so as not to complicate the plot further. Donna Reed's second film.With a beautiful print and the chorus of "Why, It's Nick Charles!" ringing in my ears I found this one to be almost up to par with the first three and one I certainly hope to watch again.

Snow Leopard 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.