The Whispering Shadow

The Whispering Shadow (1933)

** (out of 4)

A mysterious figure known as The Whispering Shadow uses his gang to try and track down some famous and priceless jewels. The Shadow's power comes from being able to communicate through rays created by radio and television. Soon a number of suspects are believed to be The Whispering Shadow.

This 1933 film was the first serial that Bela Lugosi ever appeared in but my review is for the feature version. Back in the day a lot of serials were turned into feature movies and some like Lugosi's THE RETURN OF CHANDU had two feature versions. Obviously, by watching this version you're going to be missing out on a lot of the fun including all of the cliffhangers. Whereas the original version ran 225 minutes this one here clocks in at just 60.

As far as the feature goes, it's simply okay. Again, you can't judge the serial because I personally don't know what is missing from it but this feature really lacks much action. It seems that the majority of the running time here is just introducing the various red herrings and this leaves very little time for the action. There's a nice action sequence at the very start but that's about it. The ending, which I won't spoil here, is somewhat of a letdown.

Lugosi is in fine form here as he was able to pick up the biggest paycheck of his career. I thought he was believable whenever the spotlight was on him as the guilty party and he also manages to bring some fun to the part. The supporting cast also includes D.W. Griffith regular Henry B. Walthall in a supporting part.

In my youth (1980 or thereabouts), I was a projectionist at an art-movie cinema (remember those?). Anyway, one summer we showed an episode of "The Whispering Shadow" before each week's feature, and all can say is that it was great cheesy fun. My favorite episode was the one that ended with our hero and heroine trapped in a room--AND THE WALLS START MOVING IN TO CRUSH THEM TO DEATH! And as the walls move in, they wibble and wobble, because they are obviously just two muslin-covered stage flats being pushed in by a couple of stagehands, and all the while the hero and heroine roll their eyes and cling to each other and scream and scream and scream! Too funny for words. All joshing aside, the final episode does have an interesting twist that made my twelve weeks in the projection booth worth the while.

Bela stars in his first serial. Bela's acting is great, and the serial itself is not bad, considering it was filmed in 18 days (6 days a week for 3 weeks). The exciting titles of the 12 chapters are: 1) The Master Magician 2) The Collapsing Room 3) The All-Seeing Eye 4) The Shadow Strikes 5) Wanted for Murder 6) The Man Who Was Czar 7) The Double Room 8) The Red Circle 9) The Fatal Secret 10) The Death Warrant 11) The Trap 12) King of the World. It is interesting to note that the name of Bela's character was Adam Strang, and the main ingredient of the story was a radio death ray. Perhaps this was fodder for the science fiction writer Gardner Fox when he wrote those "Mystery in Space" comics in the 1960s, with Adam Strange and the Zeta beam! A serial that fans of Bela will find entertaining.

While "The Whispering Shadow" may not be a masterpiece nor Bela Lugosi's best film it's still quite fun to watch never-the-less. Who is The Whispering Shadow? Professor Strang is suspected by Jack Norton... but is he? How does he commit his crimes by TV and radio - and why? This is a fun little crime-mystery... it is worth a watch.

I have to admit the fight scene on the roof of a skyscraper with the helicopter coming in was one of my favorite scenes... pretty scary stuff. I also like the idea of hiding behind a wax museum.. all to lifelike are the wax figures.

I got this in my Bela Lugosi Scared To Death collection... one of several rare Lugosi films. I'm not disappointed the the collection nor this film. 7/10

Entertaining serial about a diabolical criminal mastermind known as the Shadow who uses his scientific genius to rob and kill while looking for stolen jewels. Notable for being Bela Lugosi's first serial. It's a fun, silly bunch of nonsense. Some cool action scenes, early sci-fi gadgetry, and Bela hamming it up are just some of the reasons to check this out. If you have a few hours to kill on the weekend, it's worth a look. Some chapters move along faster than others, but I was never really bored during any of them.