Lush
married detectives Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy) go to
the race track to play the ponies and wind up investigating the death of a
jockey. A young reporter named Paul
(Barry Nelson from The Shining making his screen debut), eager for a scoop,
sticks his nose in the matter and winds up getting framed for another murder. Mr. and Mrs. Charles then set out to clear
Paul’s name and nab the killer.
The
fourth Thin Man mystery is a slight improvement over the last one, Another Thin
Man. The scenes of the Charles’ domestic
bliss, wrangling their dog Asta, and rearing their son Nick Jr. (Dickie Hall)
are a lot of fun (I liked the part where Nick reads his son a racing form he
has hidden inside a storybook), but the mystery itself is considerably less
involving. While it’s a little more
interesting than the previous entries, the pacing has a tendency to drag whenever
Powell is sleuthing. Luckily, his charm helps
keep these overwritten scenes afloat.
Powell
and Loy’s breezy chemistry is as entertaining as ever and their banter is snappier
than the previous entries. The
supporting cast is fine too. We have Donna
Reed as Nelson’s loyal girlfriend who helps him in his quest for a story, famed
acting teacher Stella Adler plays a socialite with a motive for murder, and Sam
Levene has some good moments the investigator on the case. In addition to Nelson, Ava Gardner and Sid
Melton were also making their film debuts.
It’s
Loy who gets the best line of the movie when she tells Powell, “I’ll be with
you in two shakes of a cocktail.”
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