Editing Another Thin Man

{{short description|1939 film directed by W. S. Van Dyke}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Another Thin Man
| image          = Anotherthinman.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[W. S. Van Dyke]]
| producer       = [[Hunt Stromberg]]
| writer         = [[Anita Loos]]
| screenplay     = {{Plainlist|
* [[Frances Goodrich]]
* [[Albert Hackett]]
}}
| based_on       = {{Based on|''The Farewell Murder''|Dashiell Hammett}}
| story          = [[Dashiell Hammett]]
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[William Powell]]
* [[Myrna Loy]]
* [[Virginia Grey]]
* [[Otto Kruger]]
* [[C. Aubrey Smith]]
* [[Ruth Hussey]]
}}
| music          = [[Edward Ward (composer)|Edward Ward]]
| cinematography = {{Plainlist|
* [[William Daniels (cinematographer)|William H. Daniels]]
* [[Oliver T. Marsh]]
}}
| editing        = [[Fredrick Y. Smith]]
| studio         = [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]
| distributor    = [[Loews Cineplex Entertainment|Loew's Inc.]]
| released       = {{Film date|1939|11|17|US}}
| runtime        = 103 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $1,107,000
| gross          = $2,223,000
}}
'''''Another Thin Man''''' is a 1939 American [[detective film]] directed by [[W. S. Van Dyke]], the third of six in the [[The Thin Man (film)|''Thin Man'']] series. It again stars [[William Powell]] and [[Myrna Loy]] as [[Nick and Nora Charles]] and is based on [[Dashiell Hammett]]'s [[The Continental Op|Continental Op]] story "The Farewell Murder".<ref>{{cite book |author=Library of Congress Copyright Office |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=41ljAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA269 |title=Catalog of Copyright Entries |year=1938 |page=269 |access-date=2012-07-30}}</ref> The Charles' son Nicky Jr. is introduced for the first time. The cast includes their terrier [[Skippy (dog)|Asta]], [[Virginia Grey]], [[Otto Kruger]], [[C. Aubrey Smith]], [[Ruth Hussey]], [[Nat Pendleton]], [[Patric Knowles]], [[Sheldon Leonard]], [[Tom Neal]], [[Phyllis Gordon]] and [[Marjorie Main]]. [[Shemp Howard]], later of [[The Three Stooges]],  appears in an uncredited role as Wacky.<ref>{{cite web|title=Another Thin Man|url=http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/402|website=[[The Three Stooges]] Online Filmography|access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref><ref name=IMDB>{{cite web|title=Cast: Another Thin Man|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031047/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast|website=[[The Internet Movie Database]]|access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref>

The film was unable to be called ''Return of the Thin Man'' because The Thin Man from the original film was "completely dead" according to newspapers in 1939.{{fact|date=March 2025}} It was followed by ''[[Shadow of the Thin Man]]'' (1941).

==Plot==
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 on [[Long 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.

==Cast==
* [[William Powell]] as Nick Charles
* [[Myrna Loy]] as Nora Charles
* [[Virginia Grey]] as Lois MacFay
* [[Otto Kruger]] as Assistant District Attorney Van Slack
* [[C. Aubrey Smith]] as Colonel Burr MacFay
* [[Ruth Hussey]] as Dorothy Walters, Charles' nanny
* [[Nat Pendleton]] as Lieutenant Guild
* [[Patric Knowles]] as Dudley Horn, Lois's fiancé
* [[Tom Neal]] as Freddie Coleman, MacFay's secretary
* [[Phyllis Gordon]] as Mrs. Isabella Bellam, MacFay's housekeeper
* [[Sheldon Leonard]] as Phil Church
* [[Don Costello]] as Diamond Back Vogel
* [[Harry Bellaver]] as Creeps
* [[Muriel Hutchison]] as Smitty
* [[Abner Biberman]] as Dum-Dum
* [[Marjorie Main]] as Mrs. Dolley
* [[Shemp Howard]] as Wacky (uncredited)
* The Afro-Cuban dance team of René and Estela, headliners at the Havana-Madrid Club in New York City, is featured in the floor show at the West Indies Club.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 30, 1939 |title='Thin Man' Shows Cuban Dance Team |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19390830&id=E_UaAAAAIBAJ&pg=4255,4760288&hl=en |newspaper=[[The Pittsburgh Press]] |access-date=2016-02-23}}</ref><ref name="AFI">{{cite web |url= https://catalog.afi.com/Film/5102-ANOTHER-THINMAN|title=Another Thin Man |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |access-date=2022-01-01}}</ref>

==Reception==
The film [[review aggregator]] website Rotten Tomatoes show's the film score to be {{RT data|score}} based on reviews from {{RT data|count}} professional critics.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/another_thin_man |title=Another Thin Man |publisher = [[Fandango Media]] |work= [[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date = June 28, 2019}}</ref>

According to [[Frank S. Nugent]], "this third of the [[Nick and Nora Charles|trademarked 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".<ref>{{cite news | title= Post-Turkey Reports on ''Another Thin Man'' at the Capitol, ''Daytime Wife'' at the Roxy, ''Flying Deuces'' at Rialto and a double feature at the Palace | date= November 24, 1939 | url= https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9500EFD8143EE432A25757C2A9679D946894D6CF | first= Frank S. | last=Nugent | newspaper= [[The New York Times]] | access-date=2012-07-30}}</ref>

[[File:Century Danforth 1939.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''Another Thin Man'' on the marquee of a Toronto cinema as a double feature with the [[Richard Arlen]] film ''[[Missing Daughters (1939 film)|Missing Daughters]]''.]]

''Another Thin Man'' is the third of six feature films based on the characters of Nick and Nora Charles:
* ''[[The Thin Man (film)|The Thin Man]]'' (1934)
* ''[[After the Thin Man]]'' (1936)
* ''Another Thin Man'' (1939)
* ''[[Shadow of the Thin Man]]'' (1941)
* ''[[The Thin Man Goes Home]]'' (1944)
* ''[[Song of the Thin Man]]'' (1947)

==Box office==
''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.<ref name="Mannix">"The Eddie Mannix Ledger". ''Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study'' (Los Angeles).</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Another Thin Man (film)}}
* {{IMDb title|0031047}}
* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/another-thin-man-am2988 ''Another Thin Man'' at AllMovie]
* {{TCMDb title|1747}}
* {{AFI film|5102}}

{{Dashiell Hammett}}
{{The Thin Man}}
{{W. S. Van Dyke}}

[[Category:1939 films]]
[[Category:1930s mystery films]]
[[Category:1939 mystery films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American comedy thriller films]]
[[Category:American crime comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:American detective films]]
[[Category:American mystery films]]
[[Category:American sequel films]]
[[Category:Films directed by W. S. Van Dyke]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films]]
[[Category:Films about patricide]]
[[Category:The Thin Man films]]
[[Category:1930s crime comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1930s comedy thriller films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Edward Ward (composer)]]
[[Category:1930s English-language films]]
[[Category:1930s American films]]
[[Category:English-language crime comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:English-language mystery films]]
[[Category:English-language comedy thriller films]]