The Shadow Returns

Of all the heroes and superheros of the thirties and forties, the shadow is the most intriguing. In his (Orson Welles-created) radio incarnation, he had a strange superpower. He could be invisible and apparently enter and leave any room effortlessly. On the radio, this was a great effect because of course we listeners couldn't see anything at all. So when one of the characters couldn't see another, it was a sort of narrative fold that drew us in.

Another device was a sort of demonic laugh, a sort of devilish celebration of justice.

How to transport that to cinema? The 1994 version was something of a miracle, one of the best designed movies ever. In that interpretation, the girl was decorous, the bad guy evil and the shadow genuinely invisible as well as having other superpowers.

This one is horrible in all ways except for the effort put into the comedy. The mystery isn't, though it has an interesting device, more improbable than most.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

to make a real Shadow movie this time. Burbank & Hawkeye appear although they don't actually do anything - in fact you'd think they were Lamont's buddies rather than The Shadow's agents from they way they are depicted.

Don't get me wrong, its better than 'International Crime' because it does at least feature The Shadow even if he isn't depicted as well as in the earlier serial or the pulps. And it does have more action than 'The Shadow Strikes' (it could hardly have much less). It would be nice if Margot wasn't a pretty much total flake and more of an agent/assistant/non-idiot. Though she comes off looking good next to Cardona & Weston who make the Keystone Kops look and sound good (yes, I know the Kops were silent but that would be an improvement for this film).

See it if you can but don't go out of your way.

Lamont Cranston and Margo Lane have sneaked into a darkened office. Lamont puts his ear to the safe dial but fears that it's too old and rusty for him to crack. Margo suggests that perhaps it's not locked, if it's such an old safe, which comment prompts a dirty look from Lamont. Undeterred, she reaches past him, turns the handle, and... bingo! opens the safe. With a sweet smirk, Margo then neatly sums up everything you need to know about this film: "Not a profound piece of deduction, but...cute, don't you think?"

Well, Lamont Cranston is not particularly impressed, and for all I know neither will true fans of the Shadow be amused. But...that's about what we get from this movie. I suspect that my own minimal knowledge of the Shadow and his various incarnations only increased my capacity for enjoying this film. And enjoy it I did--while it's no great shakes, it's fast moving, has some humor, and has enough plot to at least carry the jokes and various relationships.

"Enough plot," I say--which I guess really isn't much, since it struck me during the final suspect-gathering scene that I really barely recognized any of the roomful of suspects. However, Lamont knew them all, and he pointed the inspector in the right direction, and he also maintained the secret of his other identity. And importantly: Kane Richmond does make it all look like fun.

Second attempt at turning the radio character into a movie series. This time out its Kane Richmond as Lamont Cranston and his alter ego the Shadow. Here he has no power to cloud men's minds, instead he wears a mask and a fedora. Here he is investigating the smuggling of jewels in coffins and the deaths the occur around it.

Very comedic the film has almost no suspense despite its best efforts. The broad comedy simply cuts across the mystery and takes away from feeling of danger. The ploy almost works, however about two thirds of the way through the film the mashing of styles becomes too much and the back and forth nature of the plot (There are only really three locations, the commissioner's office, the dead man's house and a warehouse) interest dissipates and you get the feeling you'd really like to just jump to the end to see who the killer is.

Worth trying but only on cable.

Absolutely lame entry in the series. Except for the opening hook there's no atmosphere, a plotline that only Cal Tech could unravel, and a lead actor more suited for Father Knows Best than the sinister Shadow. Then too the fractured comedy crowds out anything more serious. As a mystery, it's about as involving as an ashpit. Okay, some snappy wisecracks are occasionally amusing, but just what the producers thought they were doing when they threw this mess together beats me. As a fan of the memorable old-time radio show, I'd like to sue Monogram for movie sacrilege. No, there's no need to go on. And please, I take no satisfaction in ridiculing this concoction. But a flop is a flop and this one just goes splat.