Shadow of the Thin Man by W.S. Van Dyke (1941)
25 July 2008Nick and Nora are back again in another enjoyable adventure, once again made great by William Powell and Myrna Loy and their wonderful on screen relationship. These are such a great series of films. So enjoyable!
Back in San Fransisco, Nick (William Powell) and Nora (Myrna Loy) head off to go to the race track, but get pulled over for speeding by a motorcycle cop, who gives Nick a ticket, but then escorts them to the track, just as a whole fleet of police cars arrive. Nick ends up going in with Lieutenant Abrams (Sam Levene) to see about the murder of a jockey at the track. That evening Nick gets a visit from the deputy director of racing Major Jason I. Sculley (Henry O’Neill) and a reporter named Paul Clarke who want him to help in the investigation, but he refuses. So that night Paul goes and sees his fiancee Molly (Donna Reed) and gets her key to the offices of Link Stephens (Loring Smith) and his deputy Fred Macy (Joseph Anthony) some known racketeers. While there Paul finds Link’s black book with gambling links in it, but he gets stopped by a crooked journalist named Whitey Barrow (Alan Baxter), who knows Paul out, but then gets killed. And the night watchman sees someone rushing out shortly after, this is Rainbow Benny (Lou Lubin). Being friends with Paul and Molly, and with Paul now accused of murder Nick decides he must step in and star investigating the case to save his friend.
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…
Nick goes to the track to work on the jockey murder, and with Asta’s help he solves it, realizing the Jockey accidently shot himself while trying to hide his gun. Nick gets Lieutenant Abrams to release a report saying the Jockey was killed by the same person as Barrow to make the murderer slip up, and get’s Paul released.
Nick goes to Barrow’s apartment and finds Claire Porter (Stella Adler) who is Stephens girlfriend and was arguing with Rainbow Benny the night of the race, and her diamond bracelet which Asta locates. She admits that Barrow was blackmailing her over her past, and that is why she gave him the bracelet.
Nick and Nora take Paul and Molly to dinner, and run into Rainbow Benny, but he escapes in a huge fight.
Nick gets Major Sculley to find where Rainbow Benny lives, but they find him dead of a staged suicide.
Nick then gets all the suspects at the police station, and waiting for a mistake. ANd it turned out that Rainbow Benny had changed apartments the night he was killed, and so Major Sculley had been there that night, and obviously then killed him.
The Major takes Nick’s gun and Nora jumps in the way, giving the police a chance to grab him, though gun wasn’t loaded. It turns out Nick hasn’t carried bullets because of Nick Jr, but he still loves his wife even more.
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Another fun Thin Man adventure. More of the same, but still good fun. This was actually the first one I ever saw years ago, and it was just as good a second time as well.
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