GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

MartinHafer This is the first Shadow movie. However, I have already seen this film's sequel, "International Crime", so I guess I am doing it a bit backwards. I had hopes that this would be a better film than the next one, as "International Crime" was a bit dull. And, fortunately it is in most ways.The plot involves The Shadow, Lamont Granston, inexplicably posing as a lawyer and getting sucked into a murder mystery. When the fake lawyer (Granston) is called to create a new will for a rich guy, in the middle of their conversation the guy is shot dead!! During the investigation, organized crime and the various beneficiaries in the will are all considered suspects--but the real culprit and his reasons are revealed at the end.Granston (Rod La Roque) is The Shadow in this film. However, the character's name in the radio shows and pulp magazines was Kent Allard but he sometimes posed as Mr. Cranston. Why the film got this so wrong is beside me, but what's worse is that almost NONE of the original character (begun in 1930) is present other than his occasionally donning a cloak and fedora. In other words, his weird psychic power to cloud men's minds is gone--and Granston, frankly, is indistinguishable from later characters like The Saint or The Falcon. In other words, he's just another bored gentleman amateur detective. Now this isn't bad--but it's NOT The Shadow in any meaningful way. In fact, at the end of this film, Granston reveals who he is!!! Yet, he returns for more films--which makes no sense. It's all pleasant and entertaining--especially since La Rocque was great as a glib gentleman and man about town. And, compared to other detective B-movies it's pretty good--with decent writing, acting and production values. Just don't expect anything 'Shadowy'!

Chuck Rothman (crothman) This version of the Shadow has little to do with the pulp hero (other than name) or the radio version. The Shadow was changed from a spirit of vengeance to a routine wise-cracking detective, though some vestiges of the mystery in the character remains.This still could have been a decent B-movie thriller except for the deadly dull direction. Everything moves at the pace of a dying snail and the plot is generally uninteresting.Rod La Roque does as much as he can with the role; he has some easygoing charm (though that is a departure from the original character) and manages to make the best of things. The rest of the cast, though, is pretty generic and bloodless. It becomes very hard to care about the situation.There's also a strange subplot explaining the Shadow's motivations, with an ending that kinda sorta might resolve it, but even that isn't clear. Very little to recommend it, other than La Roque's performance.

classicsoncall So, does anybody know who killed Caleb Delthern and Winstead Comstock? The newspaper headline stated that 'Amateur Criminologist, Granston, Solves Baffling Case'. Maybe they should have let the viewer in on the little secret. Are we supposed to believe the butler did it? Maybe Charlie Chan should have been along to wrap things up in methodical fashion the way he always did at the end of his films.I guess this just wasn't the type of movie I was expecting with The Shadow mentioned in the title. It was merely another detective story of the era with a couple of black hat and cape scenes bookending the story to capitalize on the Shadow name. That's not to say that it was entirely unwatchable, but it helps to have a high tolerance for severely wooden acting and totally implausible situations. Like why was The Shadow at Attorney Randall's office during the opening scene in the first place? Did he know a couple of safe crackers would be there, or did he happen to be in that building at just the right time to foil a robbery? See what I mean? Say, did you notice right after Kelly whisked the two thieves away to the station, Captain Breen encountered 'Randall' (Rod La Rocque) picking up the documents that had fallen on the floor during the attempted robbery. All the ones he had in his hand were neatly folded with a stack of envelopes, which he placed back on the floor when Captain Breen (Kenneth Harlan) walked in. However when Henry (Norman Ainsley) entered the room, the first thing he picked up was a long unfolded sheet of paper.Speaking of Breen, was there ever a detective that followed poorer protocol? Talk about compromising a crime scene, he lets a couple of reporters do anything they want at the Delthern murder scene, while he leaves the room!Too bad gambling boss Grossett didn't have a larger role, I kind of liked his smarmy character. Actor Cy Kendall had the perfect size and demeanor to play a heavy, which he did in 'B' Westerns as well as crime films like you see here.In summing up, I don't see any reason to recommend this one, even for die-hard Shadow fans, because the character's persona and mystique is all but absent. This one may know what evil lurks in the hearts of men, but I wish he had given us a hint. And to top it all off, young Jasper got away with his gambling debt scot free!

acct10132002 Not bad...now I know why the 1990s Shadow had no mask ever. The twin 1911 Army .45s were also missing. My problem was that I had initially read the Shadow as the early 1970s comic book. So I was very disappointed/angry that Hollywood would emasculate and unmask my daring, two-fisted gun-wielding hero with a totally forgettable character/plot in the 1990s. Then this year I viewed a copy of the suave,dapper mustache, no-mask, no .45s "Shadow Strikes" and last week the blond-haired/ no mustache/ no guns 1964 comic version. Recalling that my heart had been broken when my subscription check was returned in the 1970s and lawyers blamed...I was mollified and not angry anymore. Perhaps the estate lawyers sold the "Strikes" version to cheap-skate Hollywood moguls who never wanted a gun-wielding masked avenger in the first place. The usual pox be upon them until the third generation. I also recall that Hollywood, being easily confused if not demented/senile, may have decided that the Shadow was a "Cowboy type", ignoring the fact that he had no cowboy "get-up" or costume, holsters, or "six-guns". The Shadow should be armed with a pair of .45 AUTOMATICS as if ready to shoot Hitler and a few henchmen SS agents. Perhaps the Shadow could fight a new menace/fascism brother/sisterhood called Islamofascism. But I suppose Hollywood would have to grow a brain as well as reproductive danglers in a bag to be so bold and assertive. I'll not hold my breath for that to happen! I think "they" also forgot that time-travelling Nazis or a Nazi-era setting would sell a lot of tickets. The general public wants to see Nazis beaten back/captured if not shot to death. Recall that Roosevelt dealt with Nazi spies in WWII...three I think were executed for their crimes.