Behind the Mask

This second of Monogram's three Shadow movies again features Kane Richmond as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow, and Barbara Read as his girlfriend/assistant Margo Lane. It starts with a well-done, gritty set-up; a blackmailing reporter makes his way through rain-streaked streets at night, to various dingy illegal 'bookies' and nightclubs, meeting with 'clients' and taking payments. One client decides enough is enough and has the blackmailer taken care of in a manner that implicates the Shadow. Cranston sets out to catch the murderer and to clear his alter-ego's name.

Sadly, after such a promising opening this reverts to the 'Thin Man' style banter that dragged the first one down, and by the half-way point plummets into 'comedy' that really isn't funny now. The tension built so well at the beginning just evaporates. On top of that, the Shadow hardly appears, with most of his work done as Lamont Cranston (who, as before, is played like any other amateur detective or adventurer of the era, with no mystical abilities). By the end the killer is caught and the Shadow is exonerated, but it's hard to care. There's a good, noir story in here, but it's squandered. A definite drop. 4/10.

Then you'll probably like this movie. Maybe.

If you like the Walter Gibson, et al, Shadow then you might want to avoid this unless you are an insane completist like me.

The Shadow & Margot were never meant to be a slapstick version of Nick & Nora and unfortunately that is what has been done to them in this. Okay, Shrevie was always played for laughs on the radio so he is acceptable that way (though I prefer the crafty cabbie from the pulps) but even then he wasn't a total moron.

Oh, the mystery part? Yeah, I suppose there is one and its not the worst mystery ever filmed, that might just be 'Sinister Hands', but if you don't guess whodunnit ahead of time its probably because you fell asleep & didn't care.

The Shadow is one of the great pre-comic book heroes of the 1930s, so you'd think that this film would be a lot more fun than it is. The problem is that the film-makers didn't seem much interested in making a Shadow film ... what we have here is a not very good detective movie with lots of ill-considered "humorous" scenes.

Not even a curiosity, this is not for Shadow fans. Take a look at the 1940 chapter serial with Victor Jory. Much closer to the original Shadow concept. Though there's still loads of potential for someone to make the definitive screen adaptation of The Shadow ... 'cos Russell Mulcahy's 1994 effort wasn't it either ...

When a shady reporter is murdered, the killer is disguised as well-known, masked crimefighter The Shadow. Now, the police are after the mysterious hero.

The Shadow's alter ego, Lamont Cranston (Kane Richmond) must track down the killer impostor before the cops close in.

BEHIND THE MASK is more comedic than one might expect, since in the original, The Shadow was a dark, almost sinister persona able to frighten the criminals he pursued. In this film, The Shadow is marginalized, while the unmasked Cranston does the sleuthing.

Played mostly for laughs, so, don't expect a serious crime drama...

An early B comedy by Phil Karlson this was a nice surprise with a stone cold open on an odious blackmailer making his rounds. Ooops! It's a crusading reporter shaking down his list of suckers. The opening scene has him slapping a "sucker", who kinda likes it, and then relieving her of the stiletto she was about to slide into his back. So there's no shortage of suspects.

Kane Richmond is solid as Lamont/Shadow with a Jack Carson-like presence, albeit on a B level. The rest of the cast has a few familiar faces. Condolences to others who also peg the killer. It's a formulaic cliché that has been done to death but I actually liked that I could finger the culprit at first siting.

Lots of inappropriate humor, S&M is a strong undercurrent with a comical cross dressing sequence thrown in, this movie begins and ends with slaps and spankings. If you think this stuff is "corny" because it's period 40s... too bad for you.