The Missing Lady

The Missing Lady (1946)

** (out of 4)

The third and final film in Monogram's The Shadow series has Lamont Cranston (Kane Richmond) being hired to try and track down the title item, not an actual person but instead a stolen jade statuette. If you read the review in Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide you'll see that this here actually got a fairly glowing review but I personally didn't think the film was all that good. Yes, it's about on pace with many of the mystery/crime pictures from its era but that doesn't mean it's a good movie. I think, once again, the biggest problem is that it was clear this film (and the series) was produced to cash in on the countless other studios who all owned their own crime fighters. The screenplay here is one that I'll at least give a little credit to because it does show that they were at least trying to do something that wasn't 100% routine like the previous film in the series. This one here at least tried to add a little more mystery and I do think they the producers went for more a film noir type of film rather than just your cut and dry mystery solver. I thought the screenplay did allow for a couple interesting characters and there was also some nice twists along the way. Another good thing the film has going for it is the supporting cast of players who actually make for some lively and fun character. Even Richmond has more life and energy than in the previous movie, although I'd still say he made for one of the least interesting heroes of his type. With a little style added in, there's no question that this is a step up from BEHIND THE MASK but it's still short of the best from the genre.

A jade statue of a woman is extremely valuable and has been stolen. Now all sorts of crooks are flexing their muscles trying to find the work of art. In the process, some folks are murdered...and Lamont Cranston (the Shadow) is accused of the crime because, as usual, the police are stupid. So Cranston decides to investigate the case himself.

In too many ways this film is like any other private detective B-movie of the era (such as The Saint, The Lone Wolf or The Falcon) but little like the radio and pulp magazine versions of the character. Gone are the cool psychic Eastern skills, such as clouding of men's minds and mind control used by the Shadow. Instead, his skills seem much more mundane and this makes the story far less interesting than it should have been...which, oddly, is the case in many Shadow films. I simply don't understand why they took such a popular and exciting character and made him just like any other schmuck do-gooder B hero.

So Kane Richmond takes top billing as the "Shadow/Cranston" but it's really "Miss Effie" (Almira Sessions) and "Miss Millie" (Nora Cecil) who steal the scenes as the busy-body lift operators who shimmy around in perfectly symmetrical attire running one of those counter-weight elevators that has a mind of it's own as they entrap their "passengers" whilst they accrue all the gossip. The rest of the plot is all centred on rather a silly misunderstanding between our sleuth and police inspector "Cardona" (James Flavin). You see, the eponymous character is not actually a person, but a foot-high jade statue worth a cool $250,000 - and it's been pinched. The policeman thinks it's a person but "Cranston" knows it's not - and that's the premiss of the hour as they both try to track it/her down whilst the body count mounts up. There's plenty of fisticuffs, trashed furniture and a few wise cracks along the way to an ending that's probably about as convoluted as they come. It's all production-line stuff this with little to remember, but I did think there was just a soupçon of charisma on display here from Barbara Read's "Margo" and the dynamic between the investigator, the inspector and is boss, the "Commissioner" (Pierre Watkin) does raise a smile now and again.

From the scant few films made about this fantastic character, this is probably the best one. Dealing with a 'Missing Lady' it starts out with The Shadow already involved in the case and goes from there. Although making little use of The Shadow's history from either radio or the pulps this film is a nice little mystery that has a definite dark edge to it. Compare the two scenes where Lamont Cranston gets interrogated, first by the police and then by the crooks. The first is set in a pitch black room with a single overhead light above Cranston, and the police are only seen when they lunge into the light to bark a question, then as quickly fade into the darkness. When the crooks kidnap and question Cranston, the room is well lit and the crooks speak in low tones, but the ominous threat of doom permeates the scene, one which Cranston barely survives. It's a shame there isn't a boxed set of the three Kane Richmond Shadow films released. I found the first film ver entertaining, the second second film disappointing, but "The Missing Lady" is a fine way to end an all-too brief series.

When art collector James Douglas is found dead, the police notice his statue "The Jade Lady" has disappeared. It appears the missing piece of art is coveted by a lot of people that, at first, seem to interest a lot of people. After all, this statue is worth a quarter million, and it's easy to see the interest everyone shows. Lamont Cranston, better known as The Shadow, is investigating Douglas' murder and he becomes involved in trying to solve the mystery.

The last sequence of the film gathers all the people that want to have "the lady", as it is known. They are a motley crew, indeed. But never fear, The Shadow knows who the culprit is and almost has to pay with his own life, except that he is faster than the would be assassin.

"The Missing Lady" was one of those B pictures that are a lot of fun to watch. It doesn't pretend to be anything else than entertainment. Directed by Phil Carlson, the film is dominated by Kane Richmond who was the hero in the series. Fans of this genre will have a good time with this movie. Almira Sessions and Nora Cecil play a pair of spinsters that are a hoot to watch.