The Shadow (1940)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

While it's only loosely based on the radio show and the pulp magazine, The Shadow is a very exciting and entertaining serial. Victor Jory, who plays the Shadow, does a good job as Lamont Cranston. It also helps that he looks almost exactly like the one on the pulp magazine covers. The costume is good, but would have been even better if it showed Jory's nose. And his laugh is perfect, he sounds like the radio version.The main villain in The Shadow isn't a guy with a mask like in many of the other serials, but an invisible man who speaks through the head of a "black tiger". It's a bit creepy. He's also a very, very angry and impatient man, and treats his henchmen like crap. I don't know why people want to work for this jerk.I've seen better action scenes in serials, but the last chapter where The Shadow confronts "The Black Tiger" is pretty intense. Unfortunately, the cliffhangers aren't very interesting. Most of the time it's just explosions or falling objects that knock The Shadow out for a little while. The Shadow isn't perfect, but it's still better than most of the action movies we have today, where the fight scenes look more like dancing than actual fighting.

"The Shadow" is a fairly routine serial based on a popular radio serial of the day. It is raised a level by the casting of Victor Jory in the title role. Jory was usually cast as a villain in westerns (both the "A" and "B" varieties), but this time gets to play the hero and get the girl. Jory was generally better than his material and this role is no exception. He plays three different parts, that of Lamont Cranston the crusading crime fighter, Lin Chang an undercover "Chinese" gangster and of course the Shadow. Jory's rich resonant speaking voice was perfect for the Shadow character. The Lin Chang character is a little over the top and was probably included because of the popularity of Chinese screen detectives (Charlie Chan, Mr Wong etc.) at the time.The plot is strictly "B" movie. A master criminal called The Black Tiger is trying to take over the city through his terrorist attacks led by "B" veterans Jack Ingram and Charlie King among others. The Shadow naturally foils him at every turn. The Black Tiger has the power to turn himself invisible and does so in every chapter. In true serial tradition, his identity is not revealed until the final chapter.You can also expect to see multiple fights, explosions, car chases and hear an ear-splitting scream or two from the heroine (Veda Ann Borg) in most chapters as well. I was amazed at the number explosions, collapsed ceilings and car wrecks that Jory walks away from unscathed. But hey, we're talking Saturday Afternoon Matinees and who really cared how the hero escaped, as long as he did.

The thing I remember most was the deep, resonant voice of Victor Jory, who played The Shadow and Lamont Cranston. "What evil lurks in the hearts of men, the Shadow knows..." He kept me and my friends spellbound. We went to the theater every Saturday, never missing a single episode of that wonderful potboiler serial. We didn't care what the feature was, we were there to see The Shadow! All for dime! What memories... Ah, those really were the days!

Typical Columbia missed opportunity. Silly plot, director more at home in comedy shorts (and it shows), and a ludicrous villain with all the real menace of a banana; but it could have been bearable if they hadn't changed the Shadow himself so much. Victor Jory makes the most of the material, but now he's just a criminologist who tosses on a cloak and hat and goes around fighting evil. No invisibility (although the bad guy CAN), hardly any mocking laughter, just explosion after explosion trapping him, only to have him rise from the debris, dust himself off, and head out the door to the next explosion. Turn off the lights and go back to the radio...