Season 3, Episode 3 - THE SHADOW (Film Serial) & THE LONE TIGER

 

The Shadowcast · The Shadowcast 21 - The Shadow 1940 Serial

 

 

 

"Me? The Shadow? 
Why, Vincent... The Shadow doesn't exist."

—Lamont Cranston

(The Shadow Serial, 1940)

Veda Ann Borg (Margot Lane), Jack Ingram (Flint) and Victor Jory (The Shadow)

Reputed to be the most faithful film adaptation of the pulp incarnation of The Shadow, today's episode reviews the entire series in FULL! In the early '40s, Columbia were still cutting their teeth on episodic Serials, overspending on properties like Shadow imitator, THE SPIDER, and losing money as a result.

 

By 1939, the new head of Columbia Serials had a fresh idea:
Spend less money on the serial itself... and more money on a popular license!

And so, to kick off the 1940 Serial season, THE SHADOW (1940) hit American theaters. 

A massive success, and one that features perhaps more direct elements of Gibson's original Shadow stories

than any other adaptation to date!

 

But it didn't come from a vacuum... 

 

The Agents of The Shadow pose for the cover of 'The Lone Tiger' (1939)
 

 Like 'The Shadow Strikes' before it, 'The Shadow' (1940) drew explicit inspiration from The Walter B. Gibson pulp novels: Namely, the trio of 'The Lone Tiger', 'The Silver Skull', and 'The Green Hoods'!

But The Shadowcast has noted similarities between this serial and at least one other story in The Shadow's late-'30s pantheon! Find out which one it is in our full review of this action-packed pulp classic!

 

Artwork by Edd Cartier
 

...REPORT!

Season 3, Episode 2 - THE SHADOW RETURNS / THE SHADOW: 1941

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Beg Satan for forgiveness, for you'll not find it this side of hell!"

—The Shadow
(The Shadow 1941, 1988)

 

 

 Our journey through The Shadow on film continues with a full review of the underrated

1946 B-picture, "The Shadow Returns", starring magician/actor Kane Richmond and Barbara Reed!

Is it worth watching? Or yet another low-budget blunder? Listen and learn, fellow agents! 

 

 

And, at long last, we explore the 1988 graphic novel classic "The Shadow: 1941"!

Does this World War II Shadow classic hold up? 

 Come and see how Marvel's one and only Shadow offering has

withstood the test of the cynical internet age!

 

REPORT!

90th Anniversary Special! - 'GANGDOM'S DOOM' and 'THE SHADOW STRIKES: GANGLAND DOOMED'

 

"Nick Savoli," said the sinister voice, "you have led a life of crime. While you were one of

many, you were ordinary. Now you believe yourself supreme. You are wrong. 

You are dangerous—that is all. 

You are mistaken when you believe that you are supreme."

"Is this a warning?" asked Savoli, with a grim smile. "Or is it a threat?"

"It is a judgment," said The Shadow sternly. 

-Gangdom's Doom, 1931

Artwork by Tom Lovell

The Shadow turns 90 years old! 

The Shadowcast commemorates the event with dueling automatics ablaze! Twin crime tales set in

Chicago's Gangland!

First, it's the formative 1931 masterpiece, where The Shadow outwits an obvious stand-in for Al Capone and the Chicago Mob, 'GANGDOM'S DOOM'!

Artwork by Jerome Rozen

Then, The Shadow returns 4 years later, in comic book form, to deal with the fallout of Al Capone's fall in DC Comics' 'THE SHADOW STRIKES: GANGLAND DOOMED!'

Artwork by Eduardo Barreto

REPORT!

Buy Gangdom's Doom here

Buy The Shadow Strikes here

Season 2, Episode 2 - THE SHADOW LAUGHS!

  

"Some people call me The Shadow. That is but one identity. I have other personalities that I assume, as easily as I don my black cloak and hat. One of my personalities is that of Lamont Cranston.
In the past, I have used it while you were away. At present, I choose to use it now.
It would be embarrassing for both of us to be here. 
So you must go."

-The Shadow Laughs!

(October, 1931) 

Artwork by George Wert

The inaugural Shadow trilogy concludes with climactic chapter "The Shadow Laughs!"

in December's edition of The Shadowcast! A dark, mysterious work in which 

The Shadow's signature twin .45 automatics make their debut, and Lamont Cranston...

...meets "Lamont Cranston"! A true classic you'll need to hear to believe. 

Artwork by Francesco Francavilla

We conclude with a bit of disquieting news about Condé Nast's incoming Shadow relaunch,
and wash the bitter taste out of our mouths with one of the greatest Mystery Horror masterpieces
ever aired, 1940's "The Laughing Corpse", featuring a series of serial murders where people
laugh themselves to death and die with a morbid grin. (you're welcome, Joker!)

"Love That Joker!"

See you in 2021, fellow agents!

Buy "The Shadow Laughs!" Here

Buy "The Laughing Corpse" Here

New Shadow Novels (And Possible FILM) Announced!

News both great and terrible today on The Shadowcast, as Condé Nast reveals an ALL NEW

series of Shadow prose novels will be written by famed mystery author

James Patterson!

Stay tuned to The Shadowcast for all future developments.