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Shadow of the Thin Man

 Shadow of the Thin Man
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TVTItem
 Shadow of the Thin Man
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Shadow of the Thin Man
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ShadowOfTheThinMan
 Shadow of the Thin Man
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Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })Shadow of the Thin Man is a 1941 film directed by W. S. Van Dyke, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. It is the fourth of six films in the Thin Man series that started with The Thin Man in 1934.In this one Nick and Nora Charles (Powell and Loy) are off to a race track for a leisurely afternoon when the races are interrupted by the mysterious death of a jockey. The jockey is believed to have been murdered because he was about to reveal that the mob had pressured him into throwing a race. Nick is pressed into service again as a detective, and he is asked by a do-gooder state assemblyman, Major Sculley (Henry O'Neill), to help investigate the mobsters who are fixing horse races. Things get even better when Whitey Barrow (Alan Baxter), a reporter who is in deep with the mob, is murdered. Nick's friend Paul Clarke (Barry Nelson), a much more honest reporter, is accused of the crime, but Nick hunts for the real murderer.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })The fourth and last of the Thin Man films directed by Van Dyke, who killed himself in 1943 after falling ill with cancer. Donna Reed appears as Paul's supportive girlfriend Molly, in one of her first big roles. Stella Adler appears as Claire, the mob boss's girl, in one of the only three film roles of her career; she would go on to found tremendously influential acting schools in New York and Los Angeles.
 Shadow of the Thin Man
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2021-06-05T02:23:39Z
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2021-06-05T02:23:39Z
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DBTropes
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_1a01fd1c
type
Kayfabe
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_1a01fd1c
comment
Kayfabe: Nick and Nora attend a wrestling match. When the man running it says that they are in for a great match, Nick quips "How do you know? Were you at the rehearsal?". Later on they leave while the fight is still going on, with one wrestler in a painful looking hold and groaning with discomfort. As she passes the ring, Nora tells him that she hopes he gets out of it okay. The wrestler stops groaning and thanks her for her concern in a perfectly normal tone of voice.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_1b65dfad
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The Cameo
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_1b65dfad
comment
The Cameo: Tor Johnson, who would later be made famous by Ed Wood, is one of the wrestlers.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_216dab44
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Framing the Guilty Party
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_216dab44
comment
Framing the Guilty Party: A throwaway gag has one of Nick's hoodlum buddies admitting that "The DA framed me, not knowing I was guilty."
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_2b7d29e1
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Artifact Title
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_2b7d29e1
comment
Artifact Title: As with all Thin Man films after the first two. (The "thin man" was a supporting character in the first film.)
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_2bcd8194
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Loyal Animal Companion
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_2bcd8194
comment
Loyal Animal Companion: As usual, Nick takes Asta when he goes out investigating. Asta winds up finding a diamond bracelet hidden in Claire's room.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_2f187e89
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It Works Better with Bullets
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_2f187e89
comment
It Works Better with Bullets: After the climactic 'whodunnit' reveal, the Big Bad grabs the gun from Nick's waist holster and threatens to shoot him. Nora jumps on him to keep him from being able to pull the trigger, but when the Lieutenant picks it up he says 'Nick, this gun isn't loaded!' Turns out, Nick had kept it unloaded for the sake of his son to prevent any accidents.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_35b241c0
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Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_35b241c0
comment
Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: High-class prostitute Claire Peters usually spoke with a pronounced "posh" British accent (or at least what sounded like one to Americans). But when frightened or angry, she would slip into a lower-class New Yorker accent. Nick catches her at this in one scene. ("Don't look now, but your accent's showing.")
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_59907e4f
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Police Are Useless
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_59907e4f
comment
Police Are Useless: A trope throughout the Thin Man series, but maybe never worse than here, when the cops completely miss the gun lying in the shower drain pipe directly underneath the jockey's body.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_5f52cfcf
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Intrepid Reporter
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_5f52cfcf
comment
Intrepid Reporter: Paul, who is a crusader determined to bring the rackets down. Inverted with Whitey, who is owned by the mob.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_6d6af605
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Take Me Out at the Ball Game
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_6d6af605
comment
Take Me Out at the Ball Game: Nick and Nora Charles are looking forward to a relaxing day at a racetrack, but when a jockey accused of throwing a race is found shot to death, Police Lieutenant Abrams requests Nick's help.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_716d9138
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Bar Brawl
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_716d9138
comment
Bar Brawl: Started by Asta, believe it or not, when he trips a man while zipping through a restaurant.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_7c897aaa
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Psychic Link
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_7c897aaa
comment
Psychic Link: Nick Charles and alcohol. He's sitting in a park with Nick Jr. when he perks up and says "Something tells me that something important is happening somewhere." It's Nora, back at home, shaking a martini mixture.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_7eebe99c
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The Alcoholic
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_7eebe99c
comment
The Alcoholic: Nick is utterly horrified when Nick Jr. insists he drink milk. When guests arrive, Nick desperately grabs at a martini and refers to it as "the antidote."
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_87bb6874
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Villain with Good Publicity
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_87bb6874
comment
Villain with Good Publicity: The murderer is revealed to be Major Sculley, the deputy from the state assembly charged with busting the mob rackets. Sculley turns out to be neck-deep in the rackets himself.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_94332264
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Busman's Holiday
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_94332264
comment
Busman's Holiday: As usual in the Thin Man series, but Nick actually doesn't resist the call to action in this one as much as he does in earlier films.
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Shadow of the Thin Man / int_94332264
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_967856d8
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Hired to Hunt Yourself
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_967856d8
comment
Hired to Hunt Yourself: Major Sculley, the state legislator charged with busting the rackets, is the head racketeer.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_a08199ec
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The Dog Was the Mastermind
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_a08199ec
comment
The Dog Was the Mastermind: As usual in Thin Man films—see Villain with Good Publicity below.
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Shadow of the Thin Man / int_a08199ec
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_b41b9606
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Never One Murder
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_b41b9606
comment
Never One Murder: As per the Thin Man formula. Rainbow Benny the hoodlum is murdered in his room.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_ba112560
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Throwing the Fight
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_ba112560
comment
Throwing the Fight: The victim whose death starts the plot is a jockey who was forced by gangsters to throw a horse race.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_bc3b029b
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Impairment Shot
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_bc3b029b
comment
Impairment Shot: Nick gets dizzy when cajoled into riding a carousel with Nick Jr.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_bfc84d44
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Calling Parents by Their Name
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_bfc84d44
comment
Calling Parents by Their Name: Nick Jr. calls his father "Nick". This is meant to signal that Nick is a Cool Old Guy.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_c5249c79
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Nice Hat
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_c5249c79
comment
Nice Hat: Nora wears a very large one. A Running Gag has everyone she meets describe it as "screwy". She gets fed up and hands it to the last person to do so.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_cfbd1467
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Never Suicide
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_cfbd1467
comment
Never Suicide: Subverted, sort of—the jockey was going to kill himself, but he dropped the gun, which fell into a drain and went off, killing him.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_d2b59903
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Cool Old Lady
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_d2b59903
comment
Cool Old Lady: Whitey's landlady is an elderly woman who listens to gruesome radio serials, carries around a magazine about murder stories, and uses slang like "case the joint". She couldn't care less that Barrow's dead because he owed two months rent and "The slug he got saved me the trouble of tossing him out on his ear".
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_e07d3d72
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Uncle Tomfoolery
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_e07d3d72
comment
Uncle Tomfoolery: Depressing racist humor in the person of the Charles' family maid who confuses "telescope" with "telepathy", says "ain't" a lot, etc.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_e13156e1
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Mama Bear
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_e13156e1
comment
Mama Bear: Seeing the villain about to shoot Nick, Nora throws herself straight onto the guy and wrestles him into submission with a choke-hold, all the while screaming for Nick to run for it (keep in mind; the man had a gun which he was pointing straight at Nick and Nora). Granted, she then passed out and had no memory of it, and it turns out the gun was empty, but it's still pretty impressive.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_e5e6640b
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Flanderization
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_e5e6640b
comment
Flanderization: The recurring police detective Lt. Abrams. In his first film, After, he came across as a competent cop who may be wrong in who he suspects for murder, but had good reasons for thinking he was right. Now he's more of a clumsy bumbler.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_e933b1f7
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Follow That Car
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Follow That Car: A bad guy zips away in a cab. Nora tells the cabbie "Follow that car!" The cabbie roars off after the car—without Nora.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_e9e35e8f
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Exact Words
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_e9e35e8f
comment
Exact Words: Nick bets Abrams five dollars that "there was only one murderer" in the case of two seemingly unrelated shootings. Abrams can see no connection between the two and takes the bet. They're both right; the two deaths are unrelated, but Nick has already deduced that the first was an accident, so there was only one murderer.
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 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_f4fcc961
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TV Telephone Etiquette
 Shadow of the Thin Man / int_f4fcc961
comment
TV Telephone Etiquette: After receiving a vital piece of information over the phone during the Summation Gathering, Nick slams the phone down without saying goodbye.
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Shadow of the Thin Man

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 ShadowoftheThinMan
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Shadow of the Thin Man
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Calling Parents by Their Name / int_a57ee9c1
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It Works Better with Bullets / int_a57ee9c1
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Kayfabe / int_a57ee9c1
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Never Suicide / int_a57ee9c1
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Suicide, Not Murder / int_a57ee9c1
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