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.

As a combination of poor lighting, poor scripting, and the poor print I watched (which did, however, bear the TCM logo, so there is probably none better available), "Missing Lady" is very hard to follow - in some instances, it is literally difficult to see what is happening on the screen. The film is half tough film noir (there is a gangster aptly named "The Ox"), half silly sitcom, with the exact same situations of the previous Monogram series chapters repeated (Margo being jealous of any woman Cranston meets, or even doesn't meet, the clueless police inspector shouting instead of listening to Cranston, etc.). There is also a bizarre duo of old ladies who race dual elevators and complete each other's sentences. Looking at this short-lived Monogram series as a whole, I would say Kane Richmond had potential as the Shadow/Cranston, but he needed to be surrounded by better writers, better supporting casts, and higher production values for the series to have any chance of lasting longer. ** out of 4.

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.

I have "The Shadow" radio series starring Orson Welles, so I was interested to see Lamont Cranston on film. This was my first one, and I have to say, I enjoyed it. I really liked Kane Richmond, who resembles the actor Donnelly Rhodes - very handsome with a nice quality. George Chandler plays his major domo Shrevvie, and Barbara Read is Margo - a much different characterization from the radio show. Read was married to William Talman of "Perry Mason" and committed suicide when she was 45.

This plot concerns murder and mayhem over the disappearance of a jade statue.

Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of "The Shadow." He appears very briefly only a few times.

Entertaining.