Shadow of the Thin Man 1941

     Nick and Nora Charles are expecting an enjoyable afternoon at the nearby racetrack.  Their expectations are dashed when a jockey is found dead in the locker room.  He has been shot and the sound wasn’t heard because of the noise in the stands.  Lt. Abrams is Nick’s friend and he asks Nick to help him investigate.  Nick doesn’t want to spoil the good life he’s been enjoying without taking on cases but he changes his mind.  Major Scully ratchets up Nick’s interest by asking him to look into corruption and organized crime in gambling such as at the racetrack.

     I liked the scenes of San Francisco of this time period plus the cars, clothing, police uniforms, hairstyles and women’s hats.  Nora Charles is teased about her hats but they are not something usually seen except possibly in the UK at the Epsom Downs Racecourse in June?  There are too many sideline stories in this film, they are hard to follow and it’s difficult to keep track of the characters.  I still like Asta as the best character.   He is a male wire fox terrier with very good training.  He hides underneath a woman’s fur coat on the floor during a brawl!!  In the novels, the dog is a female schnauzer.  3* (This movie is OK)

97 min, Comedy directed by W.S. Van Dyke with William Powell, Myrna Loy, Barry Nelson, Donna Reed, Sam Levene, Alan Baxter, Henry O’Neill, Richard Hall, Stella Adler, Loring Smith Joseph Anthony, Lou Lubin, Louise Beavers, Asta.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, 83% critic 78% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 83 reviews, TCM Leonard Maltin 3* out of 4* average user rating 4.17* out of 5*, deepfocusreview.com 3 1/2* of 4*.

Special Note:  Filmed at Golden Gate Fields, Berkeley; San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, San Francisco Bay; Culver City, California.  When Nick and Nora leave the Bay Bridge and travel to the racetrack, the view is authentic and historical.  They drive the then new East Shore Highway now called the East Shore Freeway.  Formerly it was US40 but now it is I-80.  This is the eleventh of fourteen films pairing William Powell and Myrna Loy.  This is the feature debut of Ava Gardner and she can be briefly seen standing by Nick’s car.  Filmed in just two weeks by director Van Dyke and he was nicknamed “One-Take Woody!!”