Shadow of the Thin Man Reviews

The fourth THIN MAN film isn't nearly as good as the first ones, but it has its own rewards, thanks to the inimitable by-play of Powell and Loy. This time the sleuthing socialites are visiting the track when a jockey is murdered. Despite the pleas of the police and Loy, Powell refuses to investigate the baffling case. Later, though, a reporter is also murdered, and Powell can no longer resist. While he investigates, he is constantly trying to lose Loy, who always finds him again, bringing their baby and dog along. They turn up a number of suspects, including assorted gangsters, molls, and track officials. Powell deduces that the first death was accidental, but he lets on that he believes it was committed by the same person who killed the reporter. All the suspects are called into one room for the denouement, and it turns out to be the kindly O'Neill, chairman of the state athletic commission, who killed the reporter who was getting close to uncovering a scandal. By this time the series was definitely on the downslide, and MGM took advantage of its low cost and sure success to show off some of its new contract players, such as Reed and Nelson. More comedy was injected into the series, watering down the impact of what had once been sparkling wit, as well as leaving less time to intelligently develop the mystery at hand. Still, any pairing of Powell and Loy is worth watching again and again for those moments when it all clicks into place and they become the ideal couple.