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9 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Entertaining and funny, 28 December 2004
9/10
Author: homer-90 from PA, USA

Caught this again in a TCM triple feature of Thin Man movies. Even I'm not old enough to have seen these in the theater, but I saw them before as a youth when all of these movies were dumped by Hollywood onto the small screen in the Fifties and Sixties. They have aged very well. Myrna Loy is beautiful and wonderful as perhaps the prototypical smart Aleck and generally competent wife and partner. Her money obviously allows her husband William Powell to be the wise cracking, hard drinking playboy detective in the series start. She's a good influence and he turns into a more acceptable father type by the series end. The movies are all well written, directed and filled with plenty of great 'character actors'. Plot and character driven with nothing a modern audience would perceive as a 'special effect', they're also good detective stories. There's always the gathering of the suspects and the review of the clues at the end where in the less litigious '30s and '40s the killer always confesses. Highly recommended as light comedy and drama.

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8 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
The Formula Still Works Pretty Well, 17 August 2005
Author: Snow Leopard from Ohio

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.

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11 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Perhaps My Favorite Thin Man Story, 24 October 2006
9/10
Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

I thought this was the best in the Thin Man series but, it should be pointed out, I was disappointed in the series as a whole. Of the six pictures, I only found two as "keepers."

This "episode" has less of the normal alcohol-worshiping, some great characters and some very funny lines. Some of those lines are very clever. Of course, there are a couple of really stupid people with dumb dialog, too, such as the cop in charge of the case. However, I really enjoyed the wild assortment of characters in this film and I always appreciate a film in which horse racing is involved.

The story can be confusing, but that's nothing new in these classic films in which the suspects are all rounded up Charlie Chan-style in one room and our hero divulges the crook despite hearing a bunch of excuses and accusations from all the suspects. Confusing or not, this is a fun story and interesting. It also was one of the few times I correctly guessed the killer!

Corny, but a very likable Thin Man story. William Powell, Myrna Loy, Barry Nelson, Donna Reed, Sam Levene, and Asta the dog all provide good entertainment.

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7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
In the shadow of the film of The Thin Man, 11 June 2006
7/10
Author: Gary170459 from Derby, UK

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.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
nothing particularly new here, but still pretty good, 4 May 2006
7/10
Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

This is the fourth of the THIN MAN movies. As you would expect, the earliest of these movies are the best, as the originality of the series began to wane by the 4th movie. Regardless, it's still high quality series entertainment and is well worth watching. Unfortunately, in addition to being less "fresh", the witty dialog also seems a little less witty--I just didn't laugh as much with this outing as the others--even the later episodes. So the final verdict is that this is a decent but not great entry in the series. If you haven't seen the first ones, see them first. If you see this one first, the movies might seem just a bit mediocre--bear with it they are wonderfully fun movies.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Nick and Nora at it again, 27 March 2006
7/10
Author: blanche-2 from United States

"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.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
If it ain't broke don't fix it!, 28 April 2004
Author: AbeStreet (AbeStreet@aol.com) from Mayfield Heights, OH, U.S.A.

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.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
POSSIBLE SPOILER...One of the funniest, cleverest of the Nick and Nora movies..., 3 April 2005
7/10
Author: Neil Doyle from U.S.A.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Who says there's not enough humor here? Not only is the script a clever combination of sight gags and witty lines, but WILLIAM POWELL and MYRNA LOY get an "equal opportunity" chance to solve the crime. Some of the double takes by Sam Levene as a not too bright police lieutenant are a little too obvious, but the outcome of the mystery is, in true crime fashion, not obvious at all. In other words, the murderer is the least likely suspect.

Among the fine supporting cast, Barry Nelson stands out as an ambitious reporter but Donna Reed can do little with her thankless role as his girlfriend. Asta, on the other hand, is given a lot to do and largely responsible for some of the best gags in the plot.

This is definitely one of the better Thin Man movies, even though the plot gets a little complicated if you don't follow the dots by keeping track of all the character's names. The restaurant scene where all hell breaks loose is a classic. So is the end of the merry-go-round ride where Asta has a dizzy spell.

Loy and Powell are perfect in their roles. The breakfast scene early in the film where he is forced to drink milk as an example to Nicky, Jr., is hilarious. Fans of the Thin Man films should certainly find SHADOW OF THE THIN MAN one of the most entertaining in the whole series.

Trivia note: Blonde Stella Adler does one of her rare screen roles as Claire Porter and does a nice job. She later became the famous acting coach of stars like Marlon Brando and many others.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Intrigue At The Race Track - -, 4 September 2004
10/10
Author: Winslow Bunny from International Falls, MN

and beyond, as Nick & Nora Charles (William Powell, Myrna Loy) are caught up in the death of a jockey quite by accident. The bodies begin to fall after that, as murder to cover up tracks, the crime syndicate, crossed lovers and crooked officials enter the picture before the showdown in the Charles' apartment sorts out the guilty from the innocent. I found this movie to be one of the more entertaining of the "Thin Man" series, with a pair of memorably funny scenes: when Nora discovers the joys of wrestling (and gets caught up in that excitement) and the restaurant fight scene. All in all, it is an entertaining movie, but then I could expect no less from the fine professional acting of both Powell and Loy.

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
A Dead Jockey, 6 November 2006
7/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

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.

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