The Shadow Strikes

Last updated
The Shadow Strikes
The Shadow Strikes FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Lynn Shores
Written by Walter B. Gibson (story "The Ghost of the Manor")
Al Martin (adaptation and screenplay)
Rex Taylor (adaptation)
Produced by Arthur Alexander
Max Alexander
Starring Rod La Rocque
Cinematography Marcel Le Picard
Edited by Charles Henkel Jr.
Distributed by Grand National Pictures
Release date
  • October 29, 1937 (1937-10-29)
Running time
61 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Shadow Strikes is a 1937 black and white American film based on the story Ghost of the Manor written by Walter B. Gibson under the pen name Maxwell Grant [1] [2] The Shadow was featured on a popular radio show and also as a pulp magazine crime fighter.

Contents

The film was directed by Lynn Shores and stars Rod La Rocque [3] as Lamont Cranston, The Shadow. (The cast list at the beginning and a newspaper article toward the end of the film spell his surname Granston). [4] This film is the first that features the character known as The Shadow, both this film and its sequel, International Crime , were produced by Colony Pictures and released by Grand National Pictures. The film was released on October 29, 1937. [4]

Plot

Lamont Granston assumes his secret identity as "The Shadow", to break up an attempted robbery at an attorney's office. When the police search the scene, Granston must assume the identity of the attorney, Chester Randall. Before he can leave, a phone call summons the attorney to the home of Caleb Delthiern, a wealthy client who wants a new will drawn up. As Granston meets with him, Delthiern is suddenly shot but not before he is able to state that his niece Marcia Delthiern "is to be completely disinherited if she marries Warran" (Berringer). The oldest nephew, Winstead Comstock is arrested as he is under suspicion since he stands to inherit half of Delthiern's entire estate, the remainder to be divided equally among the remaining heirs: Marcia, and two other nephews, Jasper Delthiern and Humphrey Comstock. Winstead is later cleared of suspicion as he was at the theater and a café at the time of the shooting.

Marcia discovers a pistol on Jasper's night stand, she and Humphrey phone "Randall" (Granston) at his private number and he agrees to come right over. After talking to Detective Kelly on the phone, Granston discovers the pistol is a different caliber than the one used in the Delthiern's murder. Marcia has Randall put the gun in the library desk drawer.

Chester Randall's secretary, Miss Hughes, phones Captain Breen to let him know she read that Randall is in town when in fact he is away on vacation. Breen finds Granston at the Delthiern's and inists he's an imposter. Granston/Randall has Breen phone his secretary to verify that he is who he says he is. Granston has his assistant, Henry Hendricks, disconnect the phone cord just before Granston talks to the secretary, but talks into the receiver as if she was still on the line. Breen is convinced and leaves.

Jasper owes casino club owner, Barney Brossett, ten thousand dollars for gambling debts. Jasper confronts Winstead and insists on an eleven thousand loan to pay off his gambling debts while holding the gun he finds in the desk drawer. A shot is fired and Winstead is killed, Granston asks Captain Breen to run a paraffin test to see if the pistol has been fired in the last two hours. Granston hands Marcia her uncle's will and asks her to keep it in a safe place.

Warran suspects that Granston is not really Randall after the telephone company repair the connection, he visits Randall's secretary and learns that Randall is supposed to be away on vacation and lets Captain Breen know. Marcia goes to Granston's home and warns him. Granston pays a visit to Brossett as Hendricks sets up a listening device in Brossett's window and overhears Brossett on the phone talking about getting the will from the Delthiern house to get Jasper to pay him to get the will back. Brossett's men go to the house and attempt to get Marcia to hand over the will, but The Shadow appears and forces them to hand it back.

Delthiern's butler, Wellington finds Granston's address on a piece of paper in Marcia's purse and goes to Granston's place and tells him he intends to kill him. Brossett now suspects that Granston is the Shadow, follows him to his residence and confronts him, while Wellington is hidden behind a curtain. Brossett and Wellington attempt to shoot Granston but instead kill each other as Granston ducks out of the way. A dying Wellington admits that he tried to get his son, Warran Berringer, some of the Delthiern money. [5]

Cast

Related Research Articles

<i>Five Star Final</i> 1931 film

Five Star Final is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film about the excesses of tabloid journalism directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Edward G. Robinson, Aline MacMahon and Boris Karloff. The screenplay was by Robert Lord and Byron Morgan based on the 1930 play of the same name by Louis Weitzenkorn. The title refers to the practice of newspapers publishing a series of editions throughout the day, with their final-edition front page having five stars printed and the word "Final." "Five Star Final" is also a font introduced during World War I and then favored by newspapers for its narrow type.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Shadow</span> Fictional character

The Shadow is a fictional character published in the United States of America by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter B. Gibson, The Shadow has been adapted into other forms of media, including American comic books, comic strips, serials, video games, and at least five feature films. The radio drama included episodes voiced by Orson Welles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randall Flagg</span> Fictional character created by Stephen King

Randall Flagg is a fictional character created by American author Stephen King, who has appeared in at least nine of his novels. Described as "an accomplished sorcerer and a devoted servant of the Outer Dark", he has supernatural abilities involving necromancy, prophecy, and influence over animal and human behavior. His goals typically center on bringing down civilizations through destruction and conflict. He has a variety of names, usually with the initial letters "R. F." but with occasional exceptions, such as Walter o'Dim and Marten Broadcloak in The Dark Tower series.

Maxwell Grant was a pen name used by the authors of The Shadow pulp magazine stories from the 1930s to 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rod La Rocque</span> American actor

Roderick Ross La Rocque was an American actor.

<i>A Face in the Crowd</i> (film) 1957 American drama film by Elia Kazan

A Face in the Crowd is a 1957 American satirical drama film directed by Elia Kazan and starring Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal and Walter Matthau. The screenplay is by Budd Schulberg and is based on his short story "Your Arkansas Traveler", from the 1953 collection Some Faces in the Crowd.

<i>Hot Water</i> (novel) 1932 novel by P.G. Wodehouse

Hot Water is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published on August 17, 1932, in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins, London, and on the same date in the United States by Doubleday, Doran, New York.

<i>The Shadow</i> (1994 film) 1994 superhero film by Russell Mulcahy

The Shadow is a 1994 American superhero film from Universal Pictures, produced by Martin Bregman, Willi Bear, and Michael Scott Bregman, and directed by Russell Mulcahy. It stars Alec Baldwin, supported by John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller, Peter Boyle, Ian McKellen, Jonathan Winters, and Tim Curry. The film is based on the pulp fiction character of the same name created in 1931 by Walter B. Gibson.

<i>The Purple Monster Strikes</i> 1945 film by Fred C. Brannon, Spencer Gordon Bennet

The Purple Monster Strikes is a 1945 Republic Movie serial. It was also released as a Century 66 television film under the title D-Day on Mars (1966).

Forbidden Paradise is a 1924 American silent drama film, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, produced by Famous Players–Lasky, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is based on a 1922 Broadway play, The Czarina, by Edward Sheldon, who adapted the Hungarian-language book by Melchior Lengyel and Lajos Bíró. The play starred Doris Keane, in one of her last stage roles, as Catherine the Great. Basil Rathbone costarred with Keane. The film stars Pola Negri as Catherine the Great and Rod La Rocque in the Rathbone role. Clark Gable makes his second appearance on film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margo Lane</span> Comics character

Margo Lane is a fictional character in The Shadow stories. Margo is a friend and companion to Lamont Cranston, and an agent for his alter ego, The Shadow, in the wealthy set. Her first appearance was in 1937 in The Shadow radio drama. Her first appearance in a print story was in The Thunder King, a story in the June 15, 1941, issue of The Shadow Magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kane Richmond</span> American actor (1906-1973)

Kane Richmond was an American film actor of the 1930s and 1940s, mostly appearing in cliffhangers and serials. He is best known today for his portrayal of the character Lamont Cranston in The Shadow films in addition to his leading role in the successful serials Spy Smasher and Brick Bradford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter McGrail</span> American actor

Walter B. McGrail was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 150 films between 1916 and 1951. Besides feature films, he appeared in The Scarlet Runner, a 12-chapter serial.

<i>International Crime</i> (1938 film) 1938 American film

International Crime is a 1938 American film featuring a loose version of The Shadow directed by Charles Lamont starring Rod La Rocque and Astrid Allwyn.

<i>Prison Shadows</i> 1936 film by Robert F. Hill

Prison Shadows is a 1936 American crime film directed by Robert F. Hill and starring Edward J. Nugent, Lucille Lund and Joan Barclay.

<i>Loaded Pistols</i> 1948 film

Loaded Pistols is a 1948 American Western film directed by John English and starring Gene Autry, Barbara Britton, and Chill Wills. Written by Dwight Cummins and Dorothy Yost, the film is about a cowboy who protects a young man wrongly accused of murder, while trying to find the real badguys.

<i>Please Murder Me</i> 1956 film by Peter Godfrey

Please Murder Me! is a 1956 American film noir directed by Peter Godfrey and starring Angela Lansbury, Raymond Burr and Dick Foran. The film contains an incomplete copyright notice omitting mention of its claimant and has fallen into the public domain.

<i>The Falcon Strikes Back</i> 1943 film

The Falcon Strikes Back is a 1943 American crime film directed by Edward Dmytryk and stars Tom Conway as the title character, the amateur sleuth, the Falcon. Supporting roles are filled by Harriet Hilliard, Jane Randolph, Edgar Kennedy, with Cliff Edwards filling in for Allen Jenkins as the Falcon's sidekick, "Goldie" Locke. It is the fifth film in the Falcon series and the second for Conway, reprising the role that his brother, George Sanders had initiated.

<i>The Navy Comes Through</i> 1942 film by A. Edward Sutherland

The Navy Comes Through is a 1942 American World War II film directed by A. Edward Sutherland. It stars Pat O'Brien, George Murphy and Jane Wyatt. Vernon L. Walker and James G. Stewart were nominated for an Oscar for Best Special Effects. The film was based on Borden Chase's 1939 short story "Pay to Learn". The working titles of the film were Pay to Learn and Battle Stations. The film was the first RKO Pictures use of a new radio signal trademark that spelled out the word "victory." Prior to this, the studio's radio signal trademark spelled out "RKO."

<i>Faults</i> (film) 2014 American film

Faults is a 2014 psychological thriller dark comedy film written and directed by Riley Stearns in his feature film debut. The film stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Leland Orser, Jon Gries, Beth Grant, Chris Ellis and Lance Reddick. The film premiered at the 2014 SXSW on March 9, 2014, and was picked up by Screen Media Films for theatrical release on March 6, 2015.

References

  1. ↑ Gildea, William (13 May 1978). "The Crime Fighter Lives On In Walter Gibson's 282 Novels". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C., USA. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  2. ↑ "Walter B. Gibson; Novelist Created 'Shadow' of Radio Mystery Programs". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California, USA. 8 December 1985. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  3. ↑ "THE SCREEN; ' The Shadow Strikes,' With Rod La Rocque, Opens at Central-A New Mexican Film Here". New York Times. New York, New York, USA. 13 September 1937. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  4. 1 2 Erickson, Hal (2014). From Radio to the Big Screen, Hollywood Films Featuring Broadcast Personalities and Programs. Jefferson, North Carolina, USA: McFarland Incorporated Publishers. p. 106. ISBN   9781476615585.
  5. ↑ Backer, Ron (2010). Mystery Movie Series of 1940s Hollywood. Jefferson, North Carolina, USA: McFarland Incorporated Publishers. p. 88. ISBN   9780786457007.
  6. ↑ Jones, Stephen (2009). The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 20. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Little, Brown and Company. p. 507. ISBN   9781849012515.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.