Another Thin Man

Another Thin Man is a 1939 American detective film directed by W. S. Van Dyke, the third of six in the Thin Man series. It again stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles and is based on Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op story "The Farewell Murder".^[2] The Charles' son Nicky Jr. is introduced for the first time. The cast includes their terrier Asta, Virginia Grey, Otto Kruger, C. Aubrey Smith, Ruth Hussey, Nat Pendleton, Patric Knowles, Sheldon Leonard, Tom Neal, Phyllis Gordon and Marjorie Main. Shemp Howard, later of The Three Stooges, appears in an uncredited role as Wacky.^[3][4]

Another Thin Man
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	W. S. Van Dyke
Written by	Anita Loos
Screenplay by	Frances Goodrich Albert Hackett
Story by	Dashiell Hammett
Based on	The Farewell Murder by Dashiell Hammett
Produced by	Hunt Stromberg
Starring	William Powell Myrna Loy Virginia Grey Otto Kruger C. Aubrey Smith Ruth Hussey
Cinematography	William H. Daniels Oliver T. Marsh
Edited by	Fredrick Y. Smith
Music by	Edward Ward
Production company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	Loew's Inc.
Release date	November 17, 1939 (1939-11-17) (US)
Running time	103 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,107,000[1]
Box office	$2,223,000[1]

The film was unable to be called Return of the Thin Man because the actual "Thin Man" (often confused with the detective Nick Charles) was "completely dead", being in fact the victim from the first movie.^[5] It was followed by Shadow of the Thin Man (1941).

Plot

Nick and Nora Charles are back in New York with Asta and their son Nicky Jr. They are invited by Colonel Burr MacFay to spend the weekend at his house on Long Island. MacFay, the former business partner of Nora's father and the administrator of her fortune, desperately wants Nick to put his well-known detective skills to work, as he has been receiving death threats from a shady character named Phil Church. When MacFay is killed, Church seems to be the obvious suspect, but Nick is skeptical, suspecting more than a simple murder. MacFay's housekeeper, his adopted daughter, and various hangers-on all may have had an interest in killing him.

Cast

• William Powell as Nick Charles
• Myrna Loy as Nora Charles
• Virginia Grey as Lois MacFay
• Otto Kruger as Assistant District Attorney Van Slack
• C. Aubrey Smith as Colonel Burr MacFay
• Ruth Hussey as Dorothy Walters, Charles' nanny
• Nat Pendleton as Lieutenant Guild
• Patric Knowles as Dudley Horn, Lois's fiancé
• Tom Neal as Freddie Coleman, MacFay's secretary
• Phyllis Gordon as Mrs. Isabella Bellam, MacFay's housekeeper
• Sheldon Leonard as Phil Church
• Don Costello as Diamond Back Vogel
• Harry Bellaver as Creeps
• Muriel Hutchison as Smitty
• Abner Biberman as Dum-Dum
• Marjorie Main as Mrs. Dolley
• Shemp Howard as Wacky (uncredited)
• The Afro-Cuban dance team of René and Estela, headliners at the Havana-Madrid Club in New York City, is featured in the floor show at the West Indies Club.^[6][7]

Reception

The film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes show's the film score to be 86% based on reviews from 22 professional critics.^[8]

According to Frank S. Nugent, "this third of the trademarked Thin Men takes its murders as jauntily as ever, confirms our impression that matrimony need not be too serious a business, and provides as light an entertainment as any holiday-amusement seeker is likely to find".^[9]

Another Thin Man on the marquee of a Toronto cinema as a double feature with the Richard Arlen film Missing Daughters.

Another Thin Man is the third of six feature films based on the characters of Nick and Nora Charles:

• The Thin Man (1934)
• After the Thin Man (1936)
• Another Thin Man (1939)
• Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
• The Thin Man Goes Home (1944)
• Song of the Thin Man (1947)

Box office

Another Thin Man grossed a domestic and foreign total of $2,223,000: $1,523,000 from the U.S. and Canada and $700,000 elsewhere. It returned a profit of $394,000.^[1]