dougdoepke Third-rate programmer that trades on mystique of radio's The Shadow, but without the substance. The mystery part never gels, the many characters too crowded to get a handle on. Then too, the loose storyline fails to build enough interest to generate needed suspense. The basic problem, as I see it, is with a poorly constructed script. For geezers like me who tuned into radio's Shadow, this mystery man does little more than make an occasional half-baked appearance. No 'clouding men's minds' or any other of his fascinating spectral powers.Too bad actor LaRocque wasn't cast as a gentleman sleuth minus all the Shadow folderol. He's perfect as a William Powell type, needing a whiskey instead of a cape. Except for the youthfully uncertain Blakeley-- who soon went into the production end-- the acting is better than the material. On the other hand, the dim budget shows up in the many scenes that rarely leave studio interiors. All in all, it's a substandard programmer and a dis-service to a memorable radio program.

Panamint With veteran heavy Cy Kendall and versatile movie cop Kenneth Harlan in support, and the extremely experienced and suave Rod LaRocque in a popular product "The Shadow", this film is somewhat of a disappointment in comparison to what it could have been. LaRocque gives us a supremely confident Cranston in a poised performance. LaRocque, a large, very tall man, wisely had perfected the art of downplaying since his entrance into talking pictures and he is fine here. But he should be surrounded with a vigorous director and some more active styled performers. This film falls into the unfortunate detective- filmmaker's pitfall namely: lack of energy.Whatever Colony Pictures was or wasn't, it certainly was a cheap outfit. While competent and watchable, this film lacks any spark in cinematography, editing or overall direction, apparently due to lack of funds. The plot is a basically solid detective mystery, but the execution of it was sort of loosely thrown together for filming in as few days as possible.Considering LaRocque's strong screen presence and the generally adequate efforts of the mostly discount cast, a fan of the black and white mystery/detective genre will find this film OK and representative of the genre in the bargain-basement sense.

Hitchcoc I own a few of the old radio shows this is supposedly based on, and I find them delightful. The Shadow is that dark hero who gives up a personal life to lurk in the darkness. He understands the minds of criminals and is able to make his way into their lairs and root them out. His voice is one of threat and he strikes fear into criminals. This is just a police drama with a rather lame plot about a will and who will inherit a bunch of money. We know he is the Shadow, but instead of a wide network and reputation, he seems just like a guy in a coat. He has a sidekick who does a lot of his bidding, there are hidden microphones and unannounced entrances into rooms, but, overall, it's pretty dull. I would imagine the fans, who grew up with the radio character, must have been pretty disappointed.

vollenhoven For anybody who enjoyed the last movie update of the Shadow, this movie might be a bit of a shock. The movie lacks the character of the Shadow, twice we see the man and even then he lacks the magic and is just a man with a coat and had whom's face you don't see. Never you see why he strikes fear in the hearts of criminals.It looks like a detective story with as an afterthought the character of the Shadow thrown in. The story is about Lamont taking the identity of an out of town lawyer and in doing so he gets involved in a murder plot. As usual it is about big money to be inherited and gambling. And even the evil gangster in this movie is laughable, he seems to do his own things instead of his men, which proves his downfall.As a mystery, nice ending, as a Shadow movie a tad disappointing.