Watch The Shadow Strikes For Free

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Silent and early talkie star Rod La Rocque lacks in real screen magnetism in this murder mystery where he's involved in the family scandals with a rich man, shot and killed through a window as they spoke. The murdered man had made threats to disinherit certain family members, giving plenty of people motive for murder. There's even more suspects as this convoluted mystery gets underway, with presumed members of the underworld doing their best to get their hands on the will. It's slow, pondering, creaky with long pauses, and only passably acted. The insinuations of a series never came to fruition, fortunately, perhaps because of the success of the unrelated radio series, and mostly because of the obvious necessity to replace La Rocque had they decided to go that route. Only a minor actor playing an amusingly tough butler gives this any spark, with the romantic and family angles of the mystery never interesting enough to really get the audience to be in invested in really caring "Who done it".

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!

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.

The Shadow has a mustache?!The film doesn't really introduce either Lamont Cranston or The Shadow, but seems to assume the audience knows them already. Editing and cinematography are pretty poor, as is the writing and acting. Cranston/The Shadow is surprisingly careless, doesn't laugh, doesn't say "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men...The Shadow knows," or "the weed of crime bears bitter fruit," and appears to lack "the power to cloud men's minds." He evidently has only one servant, not a whole network.A subplot involving the mystery of Cranston's father's death is barely explored and seems an afterthought, despite the film's suggesting this may have been the reason for the genesis of The Shadow.Still, it's sort of fun.