Another Thin Man (1939)

Director:

W.S. Van Dyke

Writers:

Dashiell Hammett (story)
Frances Goodrich (writer) ...
(more)

Release Date:

17 November 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Mystery | Drama | Crime | Romance

Tagline:

It's a blessed event

Plot:

An explosives manufacturer suspects a young man is out to kill him. He calls in Nick and Nora (with new baby) to sort things out.

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Murder | Dog | Baby | Adoption

Cast

William Powell	...	Nick Charles
Myrna Loy	...	Nora Charles
Virginia Grey	...	Lois MacFay / Linda Mills
Otto Kruger	...	Assistant District Attorney Van Slack
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Colonel Burr MacFay
Ruth Hussey	...	Dorothy Waters, Charles' Nanny
Nat Pendleton	...	Lieutenant Guild
Patric Knowles	...	Dudley Horn, Lois' Fiance
Tom Neal	...	Freddie Coleman, MacFay's Secretary
Phyllis Gordon	...	Mrs. Isabella Bellam, MacFay's Housekeeper
Sheldon Leonard	...	Phil Church
Don Costello	...	'Diamond Back' Vogel
Harry Bellaver	...	'Creeps' Binder
William A. Poulsen	...	Nicky Charles Jr.
Muriel Hutchison	...	H. Culverton 'Smitty' Smith
Abner Biberman	...	Dum-Dum, Church's Henchman
Marjorie Main	...	Mrs. Dolley, Landlord Chesterfield Apartments
Asta	...	Himself (dog)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alexander D'Arcy	...	Gigolo Who Danced with Nora Charles at West Indies Club (scenes deleted)
Murray Alper	...	Larry, a Father (uncredited)
Sandra Andreva	...	Woman Sitting with Nick in Cafe (uncredited)
Roy Barcroft	...	Slim, a Guard (uncredited)
James Blaine	...	Policeman in Charles' Suite (uncredited)
Charles Brokaw	...	State Trooper (uncredited)
Paul E. Burns	...	Ticket Agent (uncredited)
Eddie Buzard	...	Newsboy (uncredited)
Richard Calderon	...	Raphael, Wacky's Baby (uncredited)
Anita Camargo	...	Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
Jack Clifford	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Frank Coletti	...	State Trooper (uncredited)
Nell Craig	...	Charles' First Nursemaid (uncredited)
Carmen D'Antonio	...	Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
Joe Devlin	...	Barney, MacFay's Bodyguard (uncredited)
Joe Downing	...	Hoodlum (uncredited)
Ralph Dunn	...	Baggage Man (uncredited)
Dick Elliott	...	Detective (uncredited)
Matty Fain	...	Hoodlum Telephoning Nick (uncredited)
Walter Fenner	...	Detective (uncredited)
Miguel Fernández Mila	...	Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
Jack Gardner	...	Driver (uncredited)
Edward Gargan	...	Detective Quinn (uncredited)
Martin Garralaga	...	Pedro, the Informant (uncredited)
Eddie Gribbon	...	Baggage Man (uncredited)
Rosemary Grimes	...	Woman Sitting with Nick in Cafe (uncredited)
George Guhl	...	Second Gate Guard (uncredited)
James Guilfoyle	...	Jake (uncredited)
Eddie Hall	...	Second Baggage Man at Train Station (uncredited)
Edward Hearn	...	Detective (uncredited)
Shemp Howard	...	Wacky (uncredited)
Thomas E. Jackson	...	Detective (uncredited)
Gladden James	...	Fingerprint Man (uncredited)
John Kelly	...	A Father (uncredited)
Milton Kibbee	...	Detective (uncredited)
Toni LaRue	...	Woman Sitting with Nick in Cafe (uncredited)
Alphonse Martell	...	West Indies Club Waiter (uncredited)
Pat McKee	...	A Father (uncredited)
Horace McMahon	...	MacFay's Chauffeur (uncredited)
Rudolph Medina	...	Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
Tina Menard	...	Woman Sitting with Nick in Cafe (uncredited)
Howard M. Mitchell	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Frank Moran	...	Butch, a Father (uncredited)
Alberto Morin	...	West Indies Club Waiter (uncredited)
Paul Newlan	...	Tom--Bodyguard (uncredited)
Nellie V. Nichols	...	Raphael's Mother (uncredited)
William Pagan	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Nestor Paiva	...	West Indies Club Headwaiter (uncredited)
Eddie Parker	...	State Trooper (uncredited)
Milton Parsons	...	Coroner (uncredited)
Guy Rett	...	First Waiter (uncredited)
Bert Roach	...	Cookie, the Drinker (uncredited)
Claire Rochelle	...	Telephone Operator (uncredited)
Constantine Romanoff	...	Tall - ugly father in derby (uncredited)
Ramon Ros	...	Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
Charles Sherlock	...	Police Photographer (uncredited)
Lee Shumway	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Rafael Storm	...	Gigolo Who Danced with Nora Charles at West Indies Club (uncredited)
Frank Sully	...	Pete, a Father (uncredited)
William Tannen	...	State Trooper (uncredited)
Stanley Taylor	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Fred Velasco	...	Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
Blanca Vischer	...	Woman Sitting with Nick in Cafe (uncredited)
Doodles Weaver	...	Gatekeeper, MacFay Estate (uncredited)

Directed by
W.S. Van Dyke		(as W.S. Van Dyke II)

Writing credits
Dashiell Hammett		(story)
Frances Goodrich		(writer) and
Albert Hackett		(writer)
Anita Loos		(contributing writer) uncredited

Produced by
Hunt Stromberg	....	producer

Original Music by
Edward Ward

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(as William Daniels)
Oliver T. Marsh
John F. Seitz		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Fredrick Y. Smith

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hugh Boswell	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Hugh Boswell	....	director of retakes (uncredited)

Art Department
John S. Detlie	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
William Edmondson	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dolly Tree	....	wardrobe

Other crew
Eddie Larkin	....	dance director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Loew's
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1939) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Renee & Stella Rhumba Specialty  group cast members

Also Known As:

Return of the Thin Man (USA) (promotional title)
Nick joue et gagne (Belgium: French title) (France) [fr]
Dünner Mann, 3. Fall (West Germany) (TV title) [de]
Gäckande skuggan kommer tillbaka (Sweden) [sv]
I epavlis tou mystiriou (Greece) [el]
Nick e Esposa, Detectives (Portugal) [pt]
Nick speelt en wint (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Noch ein dünner Mann (West Germany) (TV title) [de]
Otra reunión de acusados (Spain) [es]
Pettävän varjon seikkailut (Finland) [fi]
Pettävän varjon uudet seikkailut (Finland) [fi]
Si riparla dell'uomo ombra (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

Spanish | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #5826) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Bidwell Park - Manzanita Avenue, Chico, California, USA

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

The elegant car that Nick and Nora ride out to Col. MacFay's estate in is a 1935 Lincoln. These were an expensive, low-production car, with only about 1,400 made that year. The major movie studios kept a number of expensive cars around for executive purposes, and they often did double duty as props as required in production.

Goofs:

Continuity: When baby Nickie is crawling on Nick as he sleeps, Nick is on his back. When the shot changes angles and Nora picks up baby Nickie, Nick is rolling onto his back from his left side.

Quotes:

Nora Charles: How did you find me here?
Nick Charles: I saw a great group of men standing around a table. I knew there was only one woman in the world who could attract men like that. A woman with a lot of money.

Movie Connections:

Featured in From the Ends of the Earth (1939)

Soundtrack:

Happy Days Are Here Again

The last 'good' outing for the Charles'

After the monumental success of The Thin Man (1934) and After The Thin(1936), William Powell and Myrna Loy reprise their roles as the movies most beloved and celebrated husband and wife super sleuths.

In their third mystery, Another Thin Man, Nick and Nora Charles with the newly arrived Nick Jnr, find themselves drawn into a web of intrigue and murder while visiting an old family friend in Long Island.

The friend is the aged and stuffy Col. MacFay (C. Aubrey Smith) who is being threatened, blackmailed and terrorised by ex-employee Phil Church (Sheldon Leonard).

When MacFay is murdered in the night, Church becomes the prime suspect, but the affable, scotch swigging Nick Charles believes otherwise. He intends to prove this by once again coming out of retirement and investigating the case as only he knows how.

All the great Thin Man ingredients are here, the suspense, the mystery, the romance, and above all the comedy as Powell and Loy, one of cinemas most frequently paired and enjoyable double acts once again spar off each other to perfection. Its plain to see why their films were so popular. Never before or since has Hollywood seen such a perfectly matched comedy partnership.

Suspects in this murder include Otto Kruger, Nat Pendleton, Tom Neal, Virginia Gray, Patric Knowles, Abner Biberman and Don Costello, and in a typical Thin Man ending, Nick gathers them together to pick out his man.

This movie maintains the wit and humour of the first two offerings, and Powell and Loy's screen chemistry is never better. All in all, a great addition to the series and one in keeping with two previous movies, but alas all good things must end.

It was plain to see, that with the obvious war clouds looming, Nick and Nora's sophisticated banter and well-to-do lifestyle would soon be out of touch and out of date with the difficult times that lay ahead. In point of fact I believe that when we watch this film, we are witnessing the last true great Thin Man film to be made.

The series struggled on through three more disappointing efforts, before ultimately being laid to rest, and I think the reason for their failure was purely down to changing times and attitudes. In the next two films Nick and Nora live in a modest flat, and references to their vast fortune, have been sensitively toned down if not obliterated as a nod to a sombre, struggling and rationed war-time audience.

However the public could not accept The Charles family in a mediocre fashion so the films suffered as a result from the gesture.

By the time the final film, Song of the Thin Man was made in 1947, and with the war still fresh in the publics mind it was too late to bring back the humour and attitudes of the prosperous and carefree days of the late 1930's and the Charles' had irreparably lost touch with their audience.

Luckily we still have the first three movies to show us what a true screwball comedy mystery should be, and why William Powell and Myrna Loy will always be remembered as two of the greatest.