Wednesday, May 23, 2018

The Shadow Strikes (1937)

Lamont Granston (Rod La Rocque) is The Shadow, hero of pulp fiction and radio serials. This film assumes you already know all about The Shadow as there is very little introduction.

Indeed we're straight into the action. The Shadow interrupts a couple of burglars trying to rob the office of a lawyer. The Shadow then impersonates the lawyer when the police turn up and gets involved in a murder mystery. The murder being of his "client" who was bumped off while a new will was being written up.

It is all rather ridiculous and often quite baffling at times. The Shadow isn't really much of a super hero, rather a keen amateur detective who wears a hat. Supposedly a master of disguise he relies mostly on the naivety and stupidity of all around him, especially the police, to maintain his pretense. The film is fast paced but nonsense. It's a lot of fun though. The Shadow and his loyal servant Henry (Norman Ainsley) make a great team.