A Máscara do Sombra

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.

Behind the Mask (1946)

** (out of 4)

Phil Karlson directed this second entry in "The Shadow" series. In this film, a sleazy news reporter is murdered and everyone thinks The Shadow was behind it. The alter ego Lamont Cranston (Kane Richmond) must prove that The Saint wasn't the murderer and find the real one. Every studio during this era had a mystery fighter on their hands and The Shadow belonged to Monogram, which should tell you just about everything you need to know. There's no question that the material here is more second rate than anything else and in the end this just isn't a very memorable movie. I think a lot of the problem goes to the screenplay, which is just rather routine as there's nothing in it that really separates this from the countless other films like it. It certainly doesn't help matters that Cranston is such a boring character that the viewer can never really connect with or really care about what happens to. Another problem is that there's way too much comic stuff. Yes, a mixture of comedy and mystery can be good but not when the jokes fall so flat. The supporting characters are just annoying and especially the assistant's girl who is written as that dumb blonde that gets on everyone's nerves. Richmond really isn't all that energetic or charismatic in the role of The Saint. I'm not sure if he just wasn't interested in the part or perhaps the screenplay just didn't excite him enough to give it more of a push. The supporting players are mostly forgettable, although no one is so bad to where they ruin the film. BEHIND THE MASK will remain watchable for fans of the genre but I think they'll realize that there's not much going on here.

Lamont Cranston, aka the Shadow, has his hands full as the murder of blackmailing reporter Jeff Mann is blamed on him.

After having seen "The Shadow" with Alec Baldwin, I felt it was important to seek out older incarnations. This one was on Netflix, so it was easy to pick. And, while I enjoyed it, it also lacks the crime-fighting elements that I enjoyed with the newer version.

The Shadow here does not seem to have any powers, or even much charisma. He is just a rich guy with a butler. And Margo Lane is more on his case here, coming off as a nag. I like her better in the newer version, as well. It may not be fair to compare a film from 1946 with one made 50 years later... but what choice do I have? There is still much to enjoy here, but I cannot see this as a lost treasure.

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 ...

Kane Richmond returns for his second stint as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow in this fourth movie in The Shadow series.up to this point,this this is my least favourite.for me,it was boring and tedious.i didn't find the story all that interesting,or engaging.and the movie annoyed me at times,especially with how loud it was at times.by that i mean lot of shrill screeching,a lot of it by the character of Margo Lane(Barbara Read).Shrevvy(George Chandler)is fairly helpful to Cranston,having more to do this time,and is less of a dim bulb than in the previous movie.that's a positive,at least.overall though,this was a disappointing entry.my vote for Behind the Mask is a 4/10