The Shadow (in other forms and appearances) in Thrills and Chills Forum

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The Shadow (in other forms and appearances)

Author	Comment
Rick		#21	[-]
May 15 12 2:27 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'm no expert on the old Shadow movies, but I'd always been disappointed when I read that those films were really just standard mysteries, jettisoning the fantasy elements. No "clouding of men's minds", no invisibility. I did see THE SHADOW STRIKES a few years back and found it, unfortunately, just as advertised. But this afternoon I watched THE MISSING LADY on Netflix Streaming and it's something of a different animal. I'm not saying that the Shadow is depicted as being invisible...but I'm also not saying he's not. Every time we see Lamont Cranston in his Shadow guise, we see only -- appropriately enough -- a shadow. On one occasion it might actually be a silhouette instead, but it's hard to be sure. And almost every time someone speaks to The Shadow, they speak to...the shadow and not to whoever's casting the shadow. There are a couple of brief exceptions to this, but even those are somewhat questionable. Plus, on one of the shadow-casting scenes, it doesn't seem physically possible that someone could be in position to cause the shadow to fall where it does. So, no, no invisibility, but there is, it seems, an effort in THE MISSING LADY to at least suggest that The Shadow is not just a black-hatted investigator, but something a little weird.
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Tom Powers		#22	[-]
May 17 12 8:19 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Yes, the shadow-casting is very well done in the Monogram films. I suspect fabric "walls" were lit from behind in some shots to get the desired effect. Unfortunately, the films also include an increasing amount of sit-com level comedy.
will		#23	[-]
May 18 12 1:16 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The Columbia serial is certainly not a standard mystery. And while the Shadow does not have the ability to cloud men's minds and become invisble, that wasn't something he did in the pulps either. While the serial may be far from perfect, Victor Jory is such inspired casting it is always watchable.
The Batman of Gotham		#24	[-]
May 19 12 12:55 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Reading through this old thread this morning I realized that I had both THE SHADOW STRIKES and INTERNATIONAL CRIME on a couple of cheap double feature dvds - issued by Dollar Entertainment - but that I'd never really watched them. After reading Reed's reviews of these two films, I thought it was about time I gave them a shot. I watched both of them back to back and while neither one of them was satisfactory as an adaptation of THE SHADOW character, both of them were enjoyable little crime dramas. Up to this point, I'd heard of La Rocque but had never seen any of his work, probably because his filmography (if correct) shows he worked in virtually no genre productions during his career. Now I'll have to track down more of his work, because he comes across very nicely for a former silent film star -- sort of a cross between William Powell and Kent Smith: strong voice, sense of humor, quick wit, large physical presence. That pretty much sums up my own familiarity and assessment of Rod La Rocque. I was impressed with his performance(s) and thought he had a nice screen presence. What distracted me a bit, though, was his voice - I thought he sounded like Goodman Ace! Second half of the doubleheader is another Grand National film entitled International Crime (Marengo lists a 1937 release; imdb lists 1938), clocked at 64 min... ...Rod La Roque is so much fun to watch that any other complaints are minimized. His sidekick in this film, however, is Moe the cabbie, lending a bit of credence to the character, but not much. Astrid Allwyn has a nice role as a pushy cub reporter who wants to tag along with Cranston. Her character is of the bubbly ditz mode, but not too obnoxious. A couple of things to note in regard to INTERNATIONAL CRIME: In this movie "Moe the cabbie" does the yiddish comic "Hello, Schtranger!" schtick that was the trademark routine of the Schlepperman character from the Jack Benny radio show. Schlepperman was portrayed on the radio by Polish actor Sam Hearn and Moe the cabbie was portrayed in this film by Lew Hearn! Either Lew and Sam were brothers or it's the same actor using two different professional names, because the voices are identical and there's a strong physical resemblance as well. I've always liked Astrid Allwyn - and she doesn't disappoint here. I felt there was a strong Myrna Loy quality in her Phoebe Lane characterization... I don't know if that was intentional on her part or if it was just the way she came across to me? Anyway, I thought she and La Rocque had good chemistry together and, given half a chance, could have made a pretty good couple of Nick and Nora knock-offs! One more thing: The Radio announcer at the beginning of the film who introduces Lamont Cranston to the radio audience is none other than a young ( and uncredited ) Frank Nelson! "Yeeeeeeeeesssssssss!" Maybe they weren't the best films ever made but, there was enough in them to hold my interest! - GJS

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