Another Thin Man
Another Thin Man is a 1939 American comedy-drama mystery from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the third film in the Thin Man series starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as the married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles. Directed by W. S. Van Dyke II and produced by Hunt Stromberg, it was released on November 17, 1939 and became one of the year's highest-grossing films.1 • 2
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | November 17, 1939, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Loew's, Inc.)1 |
| Series position | Third of the six Thin Man films (1934–1947)1 • 3 |
| Director / producer | W. S. Van Dyke II; Hunt Stromberg1 |
| Writers | Screenplay by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, with Anita Loos as contributing writer; original story by Dashiell Hammett1 • 4 |
| Running time | 103 minutes (AFI lists 105 mins)5 • 1 |
| Principal cast | William Powell (Nick Charles), Myrna Loy (Nora Charles), Virginia Grey (Lois MacFay), Otto Kruger (Van Slack), C. Aubrey Smith (Colonel Burr MacFay), Ruth Hussey (Dorothy Waters)2 |
| Reception | 86% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 22 reviews; 85% Popcornmeter from 2,500+ ratings6 |
Spoilers
Plot
Retired detective Nick Charles and his wife Nora accept an invitation to visit the family friend Colonel Burr MacFay at his Long Island, New York estate, arriving with their new son, Nick Jr., and the family dog Asta. MacFay, who has feared he is about to be murdered, is killed soon after, and suspicion falls on Phil Church (Sheldon Leonard), an ex-business associate who spent several years in prison over one of MacFay's deals and had threatened the Colonel's life. Church apparently leaves for Cuba, but MacFay's family and associates may also be mixed up in the crime, and Nick helps the police sort through the list of suspects and motives.6 • 7
The film introduces a change in the Charles household: the baby Nicky Jr., whose arrival had been signaled by baby booties at the close of the previous entry. The birthday party for one-year-old Nicky Jr. provides the setting for the mystery's resolution in the final reel.8 • 7
Production
Powell's illness. The script and crew were ready to begin filming early in 1938 when William Powell's health intervened. He had been diagnosed with cancer, though this was not revealed at the time, and he was still grieving the sudden death of his fiancée Jean Harlow the previous year. Successful operations in March 1938 and January 1939 allowed him to overcome the disease, and his doctors permitted a return to work in the fall of 1939. In the meantime he had passed on playing Maxim de Winter in Hitchcock's Rebecca, and from completing Double Wedding in 1937 until Another Thin Man he appeared in only one film, Fox's 1938 The Baroness and the Butler. According to 1938 Hollywood Reporter news items, actors Reginald Gardiner and Melvyn Douglas were considered as replacements for Powell in the series while the illness delayed the film's start.2 • 1
To accommodate Powell's weakened condition, director Van Dyke, a veteran of the previous two films, insisted that filming last only six hours a day and worked on four soundstages with double crews to compensate for the shorter working time; he also doubled the crew size and required stand-ins for all principal actors for lighting chores between setups. Powell was given a standing ovation by the cast and crew on his first day on the set. Shooting ran 36 days, from July 17 to August 26, 1939, with retakes completed by October 13.2 • 1 • 9
Credits and title. The working title was The Thin Man Returns. A 9 October 1939 MGM "Notice of Tentative Credits" records Anita Loos as a contributing writer on the screenplay. The film was based on a story by Dashiell Hammett, who wrote the original novel, and the script was by the four-time Oscar nominees Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett; it was their final contribution to the series.1 • 2 • 4
Release and reception
The film was released in November 1939 and became one of the year's highest-grossing films.2 On Rotten Tomatoes it holds an 86% Tomatometer from 22 reviews and an 85% audience score from more than 2,500 ratings.6 Critics have generally treated the plot as secondary to the Charleses' repartee: The Times (UK) advised enjoying the detail "without any attempt to spot the murderer," while Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader called the 1939 release "still watchable, though the spirit is now sitcom."6
Place in the series
Another Thin Man was the third of five MGM sequels to The Thin Man (1934), followed by Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), The Thin Man Goes Home (1943), and Song of the Thin Man (1947).3 It is the first film in which the Charleses appear as parents, and scholars of the series have read the sequels' plots as revolving around the continuity of the extended Charles family and the problem of producing an heir, with MGM steering the couple away from their earlier boozing and partying toward middle-class amenities.8 • 10 Shemp Howard, in his only MGM film, has a small role in the final reel as Wacky, one of a group of ex-cons Nick had sent to prison.7
References
- Another Thin Man (1939), AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Another Thin Man, Turner Classic Movies article by Lang Thompson (2003)
- The Thin Man (1934), AFI Catalog
- The 6 Thin Man Movies: A Guide to the Classic Series, Annika Larsen Review
- Another Thin Man (1939), The Numbers
- Another Thin Man, Rotten Tomatoes
- Another Thin Man (1939), ThreeStooges.net
- Courtney A. Grimm, Ohio University thesis on the Thin Man series (2008)
- Another Thin Man (1939) production crew, ThreeStooges.net
- Academic chapter on Hammett and the Thin Man sequels, Library of Acedia Stacks
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Teen and comedy series film entries › Entries released before 1990
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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