THE THIN MAN Murder, Mirth and Marriage  At The Movies Part 4   By Rich Drees   Despite the behind the cameras departure of Hammett and the Hacketts, MGM was quick to produce the next Thin Man film, 1941’s Shadow of the Thin Man. This time director Van Dyke worked from a screenplay by Irving Brecher and Harry Kurnitz from Kurnitz’s original story. Kurnitz was a friend of Loy’s, having been introduced by writer and producer Collier Young and his wife Valerie. Kurnitz had also written I Love You Again (1940) for Powell and Loy.      The film opens with the Charleses back in San Francisco and with a variation of the dog-walking joke from the first two movies. Nick and Nora decide to take an afternoon at the racetrack. Unfortunately, the body of a jockey is discovered in the locker room and Lt. Abrams (Sam Leven reprising his After the Thin Man role) is soon pressing Nick into helping with the investigation. Despite his protests, Nick soon finds himself in the thick of things.      Joining the cast of Shadow of the Thin Man were several new comers including Barry Nelson in his first film role as reporter Paul Clark and Donna Reed in her second movie role as Paul’s love interest Molly Ford. Nelson would go onto earn a place in history as the first James Bond in the television adaptation of Casino Royale on the 10/21/54 episode of Climax!. The film also starred acting teaching guru Stella Adler makes one of her only three film appearances as Claire Porte.      The film was shot in August 1941 and released in November. There appears to be some second unit footage shot in San Francisco, but nothing using any of the film’s principals.      By this time though, William Powell was beginning to get a little discouraged with his career. He had only done six films since Harlow’s illness and in all but one of them (The Baroness and the Butler (1938) at Fox) he had co-starred with Myrna Loy. While he didn’t dislike his on-screen partner, he was itching to stretch himself in other directions.      This was to be Van Dyke’s last Thin Man outing, as he committed suicide February 5, 1943. CONTINUE