SHADOW OF THE THIN MAN (1941)

After a boring opening scene showing off Nick Jr. (hint: I don't give a fuck!) things finally get down to business when Nick and Nora leave the little bastard behind and go to the racetrack. A murder happens as soon as they show up and Nick wants no part of it.  Later that night, at the office of the dude who runs a lot of the local sporting events, there's another murder. The killings appear to be connected and a friend of Nick’s is the main suspect, so now he must take the case.

Everything that follows is your now standard THIN MAN investigation, but it's still entertaining. There's snooping around in the dark, a large fight in a restaurant, a false story fed to the newspaper and other shenanigans. If you've made it this far into the series then you should watch this one also. It's nothing spectacular, but the mystery is good, there's some funny stuff and Donna Reed is beautiful.

Part 1 - The Thin Man (1934)
Part 2 - After the Thin Man (1936)
Part 3- Another Thin Man (1939)
Part 5 - The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
Part 6 - Song of the Thin Man (1947)

ANOTHER THIN MAN (1939)

Adapted from Dashiell Hammett's "The Farewell Murder", this third THIN MAN is my second favorite of the series. Nick and Nora are back in New York and upon their arrival they are urgently summoned to the Long Island estate of Colonel MacFay (who is the caretaker of Nora's family fortune). They find MacFay in a frantic state. It seems that an engineer that used to work for him was sent to prison for 10 years for some bullshit and he blames MacFay. There have been various threats and acts of violence and now MacFay is in fear of his life. Long story short, MacFay ends up getting murdered later that night in his own bed (good job protecting him, Nick!!!) and the obvious suspect is the disgruntled ex-employee, but is he the real killer?

This film is a lot of fun. The mystery is intriguing and this is probably the funniest of all of the THIN MAN films. I especially liked that Nora forced herself more into the investigation, but Nick was always one step ahead of her. Their playful banter back and forth was really cute, especially when they went to the boarding house and Nick used Nora as an unwilling cover. Very funny. Another positive is the return of Nat Pendleton and, of course, Asta!  Also, this is where the Charles' welcome little baby Nickie, but I couldn't give a fuck about that little bastard. Luckily he doesn't distract from the story and isn't onscreen much. Sexy Virginia Grey on the other hand should have been onscreen more!

Part 1 - The Thin Man (1934)
Part 2 - After the Thin Man (1936)
Part 4 - Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
Part 5 - The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
Part 6 - Song of the Thin Man (1947)