THE SHADOW - 5 GREAT CLASSIC MOVIES - GREAT QUALITY

Bonus of 239 Shadow Radio shows on 1 MP3 DVD


1) THE SHADOW STRIKES 1937 starring Rod La Rocque

The Shadow, the famed radio and pulp-novel hero with the mysterious power 
to "cloud men's minds" so that they cannot see him, was first brought to the 
screen by low-budget Grand National Pictures in 1937. Former matinee idol 
Rod LaRocque stars as the Shadow's man-about-town alter-ego Lamont 
Cranston, a lawyer-criminologist who occasionally adopts his celebrated 
disguise to prey on the consciences of the guilty. The only person who knows 
the true identity of the Shadow is Cranston's faithful manservant Henry 
(Margot Lane, the Shadow's "constant friend and companion" who shared 
his secret in the radio version, does not appear in the picture). On this occasion, 
Cranston tries to solve the murder of a wealthy "gentleman" who had enemies 
galore, with suspects ranging from the victim's heirs to a gang of racketeers. 
Since the film's budget precluded the special effects needed to cloud men's 
minds, Cranston must rely on his wits -- and a none-too-concealing cloak and 
mask -- to outmaneuver the villains

2) INTERNATIONAL CRIME 1938 starring Rod LaRocque

International Crime is the second of two Grand National programmers inspired 
by the popular "Shadow" pulp novels by Maxwell Grant. Rod La Rocque plays 
Lamont Cranston, famed criminologist and (in this film at least) radio crime reporter. 
This time around Cranston does not "cloud men's minds" hypnotically to become 
the invisible Shadow: he remains fully visible from beginning to end, with nary a 
clouded mind in sight. In attempting to solve the murder of a wealthy financier, 
Cranston exposes a gang of foreign saboteurs. Based on the story "The Fox Hound" 
by Ted Tinsley (not Maxwell Grant, as the credits claim), International Crime includes 
several of the supporting characters from the "Shadow" pulps. However, the 
heroine (Astrid Allwyn) is Phoebe Lane, not Margot

3) BEHIND THE MASK 1946 starring Kane Richmond

Crooked newspaper columnist Jeff Mann (James Cardwell), who apparently 
was blackmailing half the criminal gangs in the city, is murdered in his own 
office, and a police officer is killed the same night in the alley outside the 
newspaper's building -- and the prime suspect is the Shadow, the mysterious 
masked adventurer with the ability to cloud men's minds so they can't see him. 
The Shadow is, in reality, millionaire playboy and dilettante criminologist Lamont 
Cranston (Kane Richmond), who is about to get married to Margo Lane 
(Barbara Read); he's vowed to give up being the Shadow, but now he has 
to investigate this case to clear himself, much to Margo's dismay. 

4) THE SHADOW RETURNS 1946 starring Kane Richmond

The Shadow Returns was the first of three above-average Monogram features 
based on the popular radio melodrama The Shadow. Kane Richmond stars as 
wealthy man-about-town Lamont Cranston, who years ago in the Orient had 
learned the hypnotic power to "cloud men's minds," thereby transforming himself 
into the crime-fighting Shadow. When Inspector Cardona (Joseph Crehan) is unable 
to solve a high-profile jewel theft, Cranston goes into his mind-clouding act to 
investigate. He is "helped" by his lady friend Margo Lane, who though an intelligent 
and resourceful character on the radio series is herein portrayed as a blithering idiot 
by Barbara Reed. In fact, Margo comes off far stupider than the film's official comedy
relief, Cranston's chauffeur Shrevvie (Tom Dugan). Outside of the irksome Margo Lane, 
The Shadow Returns is an entertaining mystery, with the "disappearing" gimmick handled with subtlety and inventiveness by director Phil Rosen.

5) THE MISSING LADY 1946 starring Bert Roach as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow
The Shadow (Richmond) investigates the murder of an art dealer with his only clue being a stolen jade statuette 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - www.en.wikipedia.org