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Shadow of the Thin Man

Shadow of the Thin Man

Comedy · Crime · Mystery · 1941

High society sleuths Nick and Nora Charles run into a variety of shady characters while investigating a race-track murder.

Movie details

Shadow of the Thin Man

“FUNNIER THAN EVER in their first new laugh-thriller in 2 years!”

1941 Comedy · Crime · Mystery 1h 37m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.2 / 10

7.1K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

88 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

63 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

7.0 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

High society sleuths Nick and Nora Charles run into a variety of shady characters while investigating a race-track murder.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Shadow of the Thin Man?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

W.S. Van Dyke

Written by

Harry Kurnitz · Irving Brecher

William Powell

William Powell

Nick Charles

Myrna Loy

Myrna Loy

Nora Charles

Barry Nelson

Barry Nelson

Paul Clarke

Donna Reed

Donna Reed

Molly Ford

Sam Levene

Sam Levene

Lieutenant Abrams

Alan Baxter

Alan Baxter

Whitey Barrow

Henry O'Neill

Henry O'Neill

Jason Sculley

Court is in session

Put Shadow of the Thin Man on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.