This fourth entry in MGM's
Thin Man series could just as well have been titled "Nick and Nora Charles Go to the Races". Officially retired from sleuthing, Nick Charles (
William Powell) does his best to be a dutiful husband to his lovely wife Nora (
Myrna Loy) and a good father to his young son Nick Jr. (
Dickie Hall). But when murder rears its ugly head at the local race track, Nick is called in by Major Jason I. Sculley (
Henry O'Neill), head of the New York athletic commission, to help solve the case. As usual, there is no shortage of suspects: This time the "rogue's gallery" includes high-rolling gamblers Link Stevens (
Loring Smith) and Fred Macy (
Joseph Anthony); Link's hoity-toity girlfriend Claire Porter (played by legendary acting teacher
Stella Adler); two-bit tout "Rainbow" Benny Loomis (
Lou Lubin); reporters Whitey Barrow (
Paul Kelly) and Paul Clarke (
Barry Nelson); and Clarke's sweetheart Molly Ford (
Donna Reed). Highlights include a zany episode on a department-store merry-go-round, an outsized brawl at a fancy sea-food restaurant, and the inevitable gathering together of suspects in the offices of police lieutenant Abrams (
Sam Levene). The flippant nature of
Shadow of the Thin Man can be attributed to screenwriters
Irving Brecher and
Harry Kurnitz, both longtime friends and associates of comedian
Groucho Marx. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide