The Shadow

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.

Not THE Shadow (as in, the Lamont Cranston Shadow) but more of A Shadow - and this one is villainous. It is an enjoyable mystery that employs many of the clichès of the old-dark-house genre, but does it in a self-aware way (would you ever believe that someone is killed at the exact moment he is about to reveal the hidden identity of the Shadow?). Perhaps overly talky, but the mystery does sustain your interest. Henry Kendall steals the show as an intentionally stereotypical perfectly-jolly-old-chap-fellow - a direct precursor to Charters and Caldicott in "The Lady Vanishes" a few years later. **1/2 out of 4.

THE SHADOW is a British 'old dark house' production of 1933 which feels like it belongs in the silent era; indeed, all of the cast are still wearing clothing and collars belonging to the previous decade. The film pairs Henry Kendall and Felix Aylmer as two of the people gathered at a country abode who are shocked to discover that one of their number is a blackmailer known as The Shadow, and the rest of the film sees them trying to solve his identity. Kendall is a likeable lead here and an almost youthful Aylmer very good in support. Yes, it's very talky and rather slow by modern standards, but nevertheless this early talkie is a good product of its age.

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.

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.