International Crime

I did. I just watched one. Actually it was in my DVD Mystery set and "The Shadow"s exploits are well-known, even if am too young to have heard his radio shows."International Crime", however, does nothing to enhance his memory or reputation. The biggest shock was to find that Rod La Rocque was such an incredibly bad actor - he must have been better in silents, as here he overacts and seems to have no range and no flair for light comedy. His female counterpart, Astrid Allwyn, is in the same boat as she chews the scenery as a ditzy would-be reporter. The sole bright spot is Lou Hearn as a cabbie with a yiddish accent.

The screen play is embarrassing and pointless, something to do with Nazi agents extorting money from a rich merchant, plus a running (unfunny) gag about an inept local Police Dept.

If you own the same DVD set as myself, skip this one - or turn on the radio.

A strange little offshoot of the Shadow mythos. Definitely the better of the two Shadow movies starring Rod La Rocque. This time, Lamont Cranston is a crusading crime journalist who writes a daily column entitled "The Shadow"! He does not wear the famous cloak and slouch hat, has no mind powers and everybody knows that he is the Shadow. His assistant is Phoebe Lane, who is cute and dizzy and not much relation to the superior Margo Lane at all. The film is based on the wise-cracking style of "The Thin Man" and occasionally delivers a genuinely funny moment. But for the most part this is a pretty dull murder mystery involving foreign agents. Completely lacking in the film noir, supernatural atmosphere of the radio series and the magazine. A curiosity but hardly The Shadow we know and love.

Typical Hollywood manipulation of an existing fictional character. This time the Shadow is nothing more than a lure to get kids to listen to police reports. There is no relation between this version of the character or any previous versions. The Shadow is purely imaginary and exists only as a picture on the wall of Lamont Cranston's office and the heading of his newspaper column. The story itself isn't bad, but they could have easily have left any reference to the Shadow or Lamont Cranston out of it and it would have been just as well. If you are seeking a movie containing the beloved pulp fiction character you would be better to ignore this one and look elsewhere.

I enjoy this movie and have watched it several times (free on Amazon Prime). The colorful characters and some snappy dialog are what attracts me. The mystery aspects and especially Rod LaRocque's cheesy foreign accent (used in a few scenes) are not.

I like Astrid Allwyn as the young, eager girl-Friday-wannabe-- slightly ditsy, but not outlandishly so. She gets off some good lines, like this: Waiter: More caviar, madame? Astrid Allwyn: Oh, no! If I eat any more of that buckshot, I'll pass out!

Lew Hearn as Moe is a colorful character. He bails out Cranston, and standing outside the cell, Cranston asks how much he owes him. Moe says something like, "Is this a place to talk business? It'll be on your bill."

Thomas E. Jackson is enjoyable as always, as a gruff, put-upon police commissioner. I remember him as the gruff, put-upon editor in "Nancy Drew, Reporter."

And Peter Potter is memorable as Cranston's assistant, with that sleepy-sounding Oklahoma drawl of his.

The mystery, the safe-cracking Honest John, and all that, is not to be dismissed, though there are some corny aspects of the plot. But all in all I like this movie and will no doubt watch it again.

As any movie buff knows, Charles Lamont was mostly known for his comedy flicks, starring Abbot and Costello, Francis the talking mule or some late forties colorful adventures films for Universal Studios. Forget the rest. But when I found this one, regarding to the title, I said to myself, that maybe among the Lamont's "muddy" career, there could be an hidden gem, such for instance a taut crime film. Who knows? In my long life as a moviegoer, I have seen so incredible things.... But unfortunately, it was not the case for this one. Not at all. Not a comedy, but too light hearted for my taste. What a deception.