L'accusatore segreto

I enjoy this movie and have watched it several times (free on Amazon Prime). The colorful characters and some snappy dialog are what attracts me. The mystery aspects and especially Rod LaRocque's cheesy foreign accent (used in a few scenes) are not.

I like Astrid Allwyn as the young, eager girl-Friday-wannabe-- slightly ditsy, but not outlandishly so. She gets off some good lines, like this: Waiter: More caviar, madame? Astrid Allwyn: Oh, no! If I eat any more of that buckshot, I'll pass out!

Lew Hearn as Moe is a colorful character. He bails out Cranston, and standing outside the cell, Cranston asks how much he owes him. Moe says something like, "Is this a place to talk business? It'll be on your bill."

Thomas E. Jackson is enjoyable as always, as a gruff, put-upon police commissioner. I remember him as the gruff, put-upon editor in "Nancy Drew, Reporter."

And Peter Potter is memorable as Cranston's assistant, with that sleepy-sounding Oklahoma drawl of his.

The mystery, the safe-cracking Honest John, and all that, is not to be dismissed, though there are some corny aspects of the plot. But all in all I like this movie and will no doubt watch it again.

Director Charles Lamont and star Rod LaRocque had both been around for a LONG time in the silents. In this talkie, LaRocque is radio host Lamont Cranston, who thinks he gets a hot tip of a crime about to happen from "citizen" Phoebe Lane (Astrid Allwyn). When things don't turn out right, the cops are upset, so now its up to Cranston to solve the mystery himself. The sound and picture quality are remarkably good, as opposed to some of the other oldies showing on "Moonlight Movies" channel. It's just okay. Sub plot wherePhoebe interferes at first, but then is his ally, and it turns out she is related to the big boss publisher. Mildly entertaining, but very so-so. There are so many better things to watch...

This time the Shadow has a radio show. Everyone seems to know he is LaMont Cranston. He is at the behest of radio executives and newspaper men and always seems to have trouble getting to the studio on time. There is so much potential in the Shadow's character to come up with a first rate noir film. What do we get. A poor man's Nick Charles who is glib and silly. A plot that is, at best, confusing. There are characters coming at each other from all directions, but ultimately the Shadow knows. He is unflappable and self centered. The problem is that above all else he is dull and uninteresting. I would bet you that given a 1930's audience and a slight rewrite of the screenplay, no one would even know this movie is based on the wonderful old radio show.

I did. I just watched one. Actually it was in my DVD Mystery set and "The Shadow"s exploits are well-known, even if am too young to have heard his radio shows."International Crime", however, does nothing to enhance his memory or reputation. The biggest shock was to find that Rod La Rocque was such an incredibly bad actor - he must have been better in silents, as here he overacts and seems to have no range and no flair for light comedy. His female counterpart, Astrid Allwyn, is in the same boat as she chews the scenery as a ditzy would-be reporter. The sole bright spot is Lou Hearn as a cabbie with a yiddish accent.

The screen play is embarrassing and pointless, something to do with Nazi agents extorting money from a rich merchant, plus a running (unfunny) gag about an inept local Police Dept.

If you own the same DVD set as myself, skip this one - or turn on the radio.

Maybe you can make sense of the murder plot, I couldn't. Instead, it's dense and spread out enough to dumbfound Sherlock. But then the movie's more about radio broadcaster Cranston's rivalries than anything like a coherent mystery. So move over police commissioner Weston and employer Heath because Cranston's going to get the better of you on this investigation. One notable thing- actor La Rocque does little to make the overbearing Shadow likable, unlike most amateur detectives of the time. In fact, he's pretty much colorless even when pushing poor reporter Allwyn around. Good thing actress Allwyn's there to provide spark and spirit among a generally lackluster cast, along with some of her occasional snappy lines. All in all, the hour's a disappointment, especially for us geezer fans of the old 40's radio show. In fact, I still remember that iconic radio intro spoken in sinister tones: "Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of man. The Shadow knows, heh, heh, heh"- an intro usually followed by a spooky half-hour featuring the invasive spirit of the mysterious title character. Well, none of that here, nor much of anything else engaging. Too bad.