| Another Thin Man | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | W. S. Van Dyke |
| Written by | Anita Loos |
| Screenplay by | |
| Story by | Dashiell Hammett |
| Based on | The Farewell Murder by Dashiell Hammett |
| Produced by | Hunt Stromberg |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | |
| Edited by | Fredrick Y. Smith |
| Music by | Edward Ward |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Loew's Inc. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,107,000[1] |
| Box office | $2,223,000[1] |
Another Thin Man is a 1939 Americandetective film directed byW. S. Van Dyke, the third of six in theThin Man series. It again starsWilliam Powell andMyrna Loy asNick and Nora Charles and is based onDashiell Hammett'sContinental Op story "The Farewell Murder".[2] The Charles' son Nicky Jr. is introduced for the first time. The cast includes their terrierAsta,Virginia Grey,Otto Kruger,C. Aubrey Smith,Ruth Hussey,Nat Pendleton,Patric Knowles,Sheldon Leonard,Tom Neal,Phyllis Gordon andMarjorie Main.Shemp Howard, later ofThe Three Stooges, appears in an uncredited role as Wacky.[3][4]
The film was unable to be calledReturn 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 byShadow of the Thin Man (1941).
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 onLong 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.
The filmreview aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes show's the film score to be 86% based on reviews from 22 professional critics.[8]
According toFrank S. Nugent, "this third of thetrademarked 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 is the third of six feature films based on the characters of Nick and Nora Charles:
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]
