The thin man's shadow

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title The thin man's shadow
Original title Shadow of the Thin Man
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1941
length 93 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director WS Van Dyke
script Irving Brecher ,
Harry Kurnitz
production Hunt Stromberg
for MGM
music David Snell
camera William H. Daniels
cut Robert Kern
occupation
chronology

←  Predecessor
Thin Man, 3rd Case

Successor  →
The thin man returns home

The Shadow of the Thin Man is a US crime comedy directed by WS Van Dyke from 1941. The film based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett is the fourth installment in the Thin Man film series, which consists of six feature films.

action

A jockey is found murdered at a New York horse race . The press pounced on the case, especially the unpopular, selfish journalist Whitey Barrow. The fact that Nick and Nora Charles happened to be on site at the horse race makes the matter even more interesting for the press, and Lieutenant Abrams is also happy when Nick takes on the case.

The murder of the jockey causes quite a stir at Link Stephens. He is part of a betting syndicate; his accountant, Regenbogen-Benny, manipulates races on a grand scale for him and impresses jockeys and the race management. Whitey Barrow, his man in the press for years, regularly writes him in accordance with his contract. Whitey, in turn, is despised by the young journalist Paul, who belongs to Nick and Nora's circle of friends and is patronized by the special representative of the legislature, Major Jason I. Sully. He wants to uncover Stephens' machinations and with the help of his friend Molly, who works as a secretary at Stephens who organize his ledger, put an ominous list in the accountant Rainbow Benny. While breaking into the office, Paul is surprised by Whitey and a fight ensues in which Whitey is shot by a third party. Shortly before, he tried to extort money from Stephens' friend Claire Porter and took one of her expensive bracelets from her.

Nick's research reveals that the jockey was not murdered, but instead shot himself in an accident. He just lets Abrams in and announces to everyone else that the jockey's killer is also Whitey's killer. Ticket seller Maguire says there was an argument between Whitey and Stephens' friend Claire the night before. Claire, however, reacts aggressively when Nick visits her. While searching Whitey's apartment, Nick finally finds Claire's bracelet. Claire also appears there in search of the bracelet and meets Nick. Cornered, she has to admit that Whitey was her lover and had gambling debts with Stephens' bookmaker Rainbow Benny and that she wanted to raise money for him. Since she couldn't raise the money, he took her bracelet instead. She fails when she tries to steal the bracelet from Nick. Nick will give it to his wife later.

Nick and Nora go to a restaurant where they meet Rainbow Benny, who apparently fears for his life. He even wears a bulletproof vest for his protection. When asked about the murder of Whitey, he fled the bar. The detectives have gained new knowledge: Claire Porter's real name is Clara Pitas and has a criminal record. Apparently, she was blackmailed by Whitey for her past, which Stephens knew nothing about.

Major Sully had the list checked in Stephens' ledger. These are encrypted, manipulated race results, they come mainly from Rainbow Benny. When Nick and the police, led by Sully, arrive at his apartment, they find him hanged. It looks like suicide, but Nick is bothered by details such as the missing bulletproof vest and the ledger that is only partially burned in the fireplace. Eventually all suspects are taken to the police station.

It turns out that Major Sully was Whitey's killer. He was part of the Stephens Syndicate and as a special representative of the legislature an ideal “protector” of the gang. Whitey had become frightened and threatened to expose the Syndicate's machinations. This would not only have lost a source of income for Sully, but also ruined him socially and professionally. Sully murdered Whitey. Since Nick had pretended to be looking for the double killer of Jockey and Whitey, Sully cast suspicion on Rainbow Benny, who would have matched the evidence. When he led the police to Benny's apartment, he stated that he had already been there several times and therefore knew the way. Benny lived in the house, but a few hours before his murder he moved into a new apartment within the house, so that Sully could only know the new apartment if he murdered Benny.

Sully grabs Nick's pistol and threatens those present. But Nora, daring to die, rushes at Sully and saves everyone present - until it turns out that Nick only has an unloaded pistol with him. In the end, Nora receives a new bracelet, as she has to give Claire's one to the police, and a kiss from Nick.

production

The Thin Man's Shadow was filmed in August 1941. It was the eleventh of 14 films in which Myrna Loy and William Powell stood together in front of the camera.

The film premiered in New York on November 21, 1941. It started in Germany in 1952, and was shown on television for the first time in 1992.

criticism

The film service ruled that the plot of the crime comedy was “just a 'shadow' of its predecessors” , but “the comedic play by William Powell and Myrna Loy still makes it a pleasure”.

Thin Man (film series)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Shadow of the Thin Man. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used