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Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Don't listen to the negative reviews

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

"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.

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.

"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.

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.