The Shadow

The old cliché is 'a dark and stormy night', but here there is no storm - just fog. And old clichés are the order of the day in "The Shadow", a creaky antique that is really fun and absorbing in spite of itself. Motion pictures became far too sophisticated and technological for this one, unless you yearn for a time when movies, and life, were simpler.

The Shadow is one bad dude, a blackmailer Scotland Yard has been trying to nab for some time. He is responsible for some suicides and murders, and finally shows up at the home of the Chief Inspector, along with various and sundry guests and visitors (this, of course, creates a lot of suspects). This story was based on a play, and something must have been lost in the translation because, as reviewer dburroughs above states, there is very little logic and a great deal of contrivance involved.

Nevertheless, it is very enjoyable if you just go with it and don't ask questions. And Henry Kendall, who plays a silly-ass Englishman/friend of the family, is worth the price of admission.

The Shadow buys secret letters and uses them for blackmail. His fiendish deeds drives some of his victims to suicide or he turns to murder. The police have been after him for the last 12 months.

After his last murder, The Shadow left a clue behind. A police officer is killed by The Shadow before he can reveal his identity but the law knows that The Shadow is one of the numerous people in the house as he kills another to hide his identity, trying to get the clue back.

More cops arrive and surround the house. The key to the safe where the clue is hidden is stolen as the police close in on The Shadow. Telephone wires are cut and lights are turned off allowing The Shadow to escape detection. Shots are fired at the police. But a woman has recognised the clue and knows who The Shadow is. Will she live to tell his secret?

Granted some logic is lacking as, for example, whydid the Shadow linger around the house owned by a police officer, but it's a jolly fun show with heavy fog abounding, dodgy couples claiming they are siblings, an isolated mansion, a funny man who thinks he's a detective, and the shadow fleeting around the house taking pots shots at anyone who claim they know who the Shadow is. It's actually quite absorbing, and the actor who plays possible dim, posh accented Reggie is a scene stealer. He's an entertaining character.

A black mailer known only as The Shadow is terrorizing the rich in England. If you don't pay him he'll ruin you or worse. When a police detective on his trail is killed he leaves behind clue. Things come to a head as suspects and uninvited guests end up at the home of the Chief Inspector of the police on a fog shrouded night.

This is an entertaining mystery from England that could complete nicely with many of the programmers that the American Studios were churning out. Granted one should not look at it too closely since the film doesn't play fair or logically, but one should look at it simply because it's a great way to spend a dark and stormy night.

In an old dark country house the police search for a killer known as The Shadow. A creaky old British drama starring stage revue artist Henry Kendall as the kind of bumbling upper class twit that must have been something of a cliche even in 1933. It's passable entertainment more because of its archaic attitudes ("As far as cunning is concerned, women... well you're all married," a police officer warns his colleagues at one point) than the quality of its plot. A young Felix Aylmer plays one of the suspects, and looks just like an old Felix Aylmer with dark hair.

This is a very English country house thriller as people gather at Sir Richard's mansion on a pea-souper of a foggy night. Sir Richard needs to safeguard his reputation by ensuring that the police catch a blackmailer known as The Shadow. Famous people have committed suicide because of the blackmailer. Then a man called Elliot gets killed when he tries to confront The Shadow and is left with a clenched fist design curio in his own clenched fist. This is thought to be a vital clue in finding the identity of the blackmailer.

There are some fairly interesting characters. There are the 'Silvertons' posing as brother and sister. We don't really know their motives clearly for engineering a stay at Sir Richard's house through the excuse of being caught on such a foggy night. There is a dotty aunt in the person of Mrs Boscomb who has some funny lines to say. But the fooling Reggie might be a challenge for you to take as a character.

Suspense grows after we realize The Shadow is in Sir Richard's house and the killings look set to continue. This mystery should keep you guessing. I admit I did actually guess The Shadow's identity shortly before the reveal at the end after an hour of wondering. But I still reckon it's a fairly-well disguised whodunit for fans of the genre.