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Shadow of the Thin Man is the fourth of the six Thin Man films. Released in 1941, it was directed by W. S. Van Dyke, and stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles. Also, in this film their son Nick Jr. (Dickie Hall) is old enough to figure in the comic subplot. Other cast members include Donna Reed and Barry Nelson.
The movie includes a historic sequence on the then-new San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge when the Charles' car is stopped by a highway patrolman. Just after this scene, there's also a shot of the MacArthur Maze, an interchange on the east end of the bridge. The local racetrack central to the plot is Golden Gate Fields.
Plot
Nick and Nora Charles are looking forward to a relaxing day, but when they visit a racetrack, they find a jockey accused of throwing a race has been murdered, and Nick has difficulty from getting involved.
Background
Shadow of the Thin Man was eagerly welcomed, coming two years after the previous outing and hitting theaters just two weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor. It would be three years before Loy would make another film (The Thin Man Goes Home in 1945) as she left Hollywood for New York, where she volunteered with the Red Cross. As a world-famous movie star at the top of her game, her passionate condemnation of fascism reportedly earned her a spot near the top of Hitler's "hate list" after she spoke out against Germany's invasion of Czechoslovakia. She also went through a messy public divorce and remarriage, after which there was speculation that her wholesome image had been irreparably tarnished and she might not work again.[1]
Cast
References
- ^ The DVD Journal | Quick Reviews: Shadow of the Thin Man
External links
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