Main Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart, Elissa Landi, Joseph Calleia
Release Year: 1936
Country: US
Run Time: 113 minutes
Plot
This second of MGM's Thin Man films reteams William Powell and Myrna Loy as, respectively, bibulous private detective Nick Charles and his socialite wife Nora. The Charleses are sucked into another murder case via Nick's lovely cousin Elissa Landi, whose husband Alan Marshall has vanished. Hubby has been conducting an affair with nightclub thrush Dorothy McNulty (later known as Penny Singleton) and is also blackmailing gangsterish Joseph Calleia. When the corpses begin piling up, Nick and Nora try to piece the clues together, with the earnest assistance of Jimmy Stewart, who carries a torch for Landi. You won't believe who turns out to be the murderer in this one--then again, given the plot's strict adherence to "least likely suspect" formula, you probably will. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The Charleses, Nick (William Powell) and Nora (Myrna Loy), are as charming as ever, perhaps even more so, in this their second whodunit, which almost plays like a Warner Bros. thriller: fast-paced, noisy, and never dull. A huge cast of Runyon-esque supporting characters keeps the pot boiling merrily and the climactic unmasking of the real killer is, for once, quite a surprise. W.S. Van Dyke and his writers knew exactly how to spin such a yarn and get the most out of a breezy story that takes you from stuffy Nob Hill to Chinatown and back. After the Thin Man, incidentally, is the last entry in the series with a title that makes any kind of sense. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Nick and Nora Charles return from vacation to their home in San Francisco on New Year's Eve, where Nora's stuffy family expect the couple to join them for a formal dinner. Nick is despised by Nora's Aunt Katherine, as his immigrant heritage and experience as a "flat foot" are considered below Nora. The true reason for their invitation is that Nora's cousin Selma's ne'er-do-well husband Robert has been missing. Nick is coerced into a little quiet detective work for the family.
They easily find Robert at a Chinese nightclub, where he's been conducting an affair with Polly, the star performer. Robert tries to extort money from Selma's unrequited love, David Graham (James Stewart): $25,000 and Robert will leave Selma alone permanently. Unknown to Robert, Polly and the nightclub's owner, Dancer, plan to grift the money and dispose of him. After being paid off, and returning home for some clothes, Robert is shot at the stroke of midnight. David finds Selma standing over Robert and hurriedly disposes of her gun. Despite this, the police determine that she's the prime suspect, and her fragile mental state only strengthens the case. Selma insists that she never fired her gun, and Nick is now obliged to investigate and determine the true murderer.
As suspects pile up, schemes and double-crosses are found and two more murders occur, including Polly's brutal brother. Lt. Abrams (Sam Levene, making his series debut) readily accepts Nick's assistance. Nick follows a trail of clues that lead him to the apartment of a mysterious "Anderson". As in the previous film, the true murderer is the least likely suspect, betrayed by a trivial slip-up during a final interrogation and denouement featuring all the suspects. The case solved, and once again traveling by train, Nora reveals to Nick something he hasn't detected yet: they're going to have a baby.
Production
The film's story was written by Dashiell Hammett, based on his characters Nick and Nora, but not a particular novel or short story. Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich wrote the screenplay.
