L'ombre qui frappe

This is a fast-paced B feature with Rod La Rocque, in the role of "The Shadow", getting involved in a fairly interesting and unpredictable mystery. In several respects, it doesn't really have the expected feel that goes with "The Shadow", but in itself its not bad at all. La Rocque works all right as a mild-mannered, secretive hero, with his manner and even-toned voice conveying calm.

The story in this one starts with "The Shadow" breaking up what seems to be just another petty crime, but quickly becoming involved in a wider and more serious mystery. He must assume additional extra identities, playing a risky game with the various suspects and witnesses.

La Rocque's restrained style makes it come off naturally enough, and while the rest of the characters are mostly one-dimensional, there is enough going on to keep things interesting. While it has a noticeably different feel from the "Shadow" of stories or radio, in itself it's a fairly entertaining way to pass an hour for anyone who enjoys these old B-movies.

Rod LaRoque is Lamont Granston in this B mystery that confounds more than it satisfies. We are introduced to Granston in an opening scene that establishes a few murky facts: his father was killed by a gang of crooks; his butler is his loyal assistant; he apparently fights crime in disguise as the Shadow. Who and what is the Shadow? Well, we viewers know him by reputation, perhaps, but whatever powers he may possess are never really on display in this film.

Granston, in costume as the Shadow, does indeed foil a burglary at a lawyer's office, thereby setting the plot in motion. When the police arrive, Granston quickly assumes said lawyer's identity and becomes embroiled in a family controversy that involves a will, a murder, several suspects in and near the family, and a gang of gamblers somehow also involved. It's a fair if standard B movie plot; our hero stays, for the most part, a step ahead of both cops and crooks as he zeroes in on the killer's identity.

LaRoque himself is fine—he plays Granston as cool and smooth and slightly amused. He's capable of a sharp glance and quick action as needed. (He's also capable of carelessness, such as allowing the police to walk in on him as he's sifting through the contents of a safe.) Wilson Benge tries his best to add a little lilt and humor as Granston's assistant, Wellington, apparently an English butler or possibly a distant relative to one.

Other cast members, though, don't fare well at all—much of the film's dialog is not only clichéd but delivered without obvious enthusiasm. Whether the cast were beaten by too slow pacing or lack of rehearsal or just unimaginative dialog itself, entire scenes come and go without so much as a spark between characters or a snap to a speech. An exception is Cy Kendall as a boss gambler—he at least radiates smugness, to the extent that his small part allows.

Part of the problem with this movie is that we don't know what we are supposed to take as understood about the Shadow—Is this the radio crime fighter? If so, why don't we hear any of his signature lines? If not, why bother putting "the Shadow" in the title at all? The Shadow Strikes is okay as an average B movie, but that title leads viewers to expect something much more Shadow-y. Honestly, it's mystifying what might have led to this half-baked mess....did the producers unexpectedly acquire the character name and rush to shove it into a picture that was already half-written?

Note on the name: The character in this picture is indeed Lamont Granston. Why not Cranston? Possibly you-know-who knows....

This SHADOW is not the Shadow of the radio or the comics or even the Alex Baldwin movie of recent vintage. Rather, it is about a bon vivant who likes to play detective and gets mixed up in a murder mystery during which he impersonates a prominent lawyer. This would be all well and fine if Lamont Cranston donned some sort of disguise as the lawyer -- the Shadow is a master of disguises -- but he does nothing to alter his appearance and depends way too much on being able to conveniently appear, disappear and then reappear as the lawyer, who happens to be on vacation. So it's not really the Shadow, but at the very least star Rod La Roque (now there's a moniker!) plays Cranston as a real smoothie. The Shadow as such (and again I must point out this is not the Shadow most of us know, just a guy wearing a hat and hiding his face) puts in all of a 10-second appearance at the beginning and end of this dated little melodrama. Watch it for La Roque, a silent-era heart throb who survived the transition to talkies.

For anybody who enjoyed the last movie update of the Shadow, this movie might be a bit of a shock. The movie lacks the character of the Shadow, twice we see the man and even then he lacks the magic and is just a man with a coat and had whom's face you don't see. Never you see why he strikes fear in the hearts of criminals.

It looks like a detective story with as an afterthought the character of the Shadow thrown in. The story is about Lamont taking the identity of an out of town lawyer and in doing so he gets involved in a murder plot. As usual it is about big money to be inherited and gambling. And even the evil gangster in this movie is laughable, he seems to do his own things instead of his men, which proves his downfall.

As a mystery, nice ending, as a Shadow movie a tad disappointing.

I was drawn to this movie by it's attractive pulp 'Scourge of the Underworld' poster. The action surrounds the will of the eccentric Caleb Delthern who is seen at the beginning before he is shot dead through a window. Delthern's two nephews and a niece are the main suspects of his murder along with gang boss Brossett. One of the nephews is under the control of Brossett through gambling debts. There are plenty of added characters who flit on and off screen so the viewer is constantly whirled through this cast of suspects at speed. This was my double introduction to the actor Rod La Rocque and the shadow character of Lamont Cranston. Cranton (Rod La Rocque) is a will-o'-the-wisp character who has the ability to swiftly disappear when the police or other trouble arrive on the scene. He also has the mercurial ability to easily take on other peoples' identities and gain the confidence that he is who he says he is. I enjoyed the wily interactions between Cranston and his servant Hendricks. Hendricks (Norman Ainsley) is an apologetic slightly-built man in a bowler hat who is ever-alert to his master's thoughts and tricks. I enjoyed this gun-happy 1930s B-mystery and watched it for a second time to clear up some character loose-ends and I look forward to seeing it again.