The Shadow

There was a time, not so long ago, when superhero movies were not the bread and butter of the Box Office. All that change in 1989, when Tim Burton's Batman opened up and blew the roof off. I was a kid who was obsessed with Batman. I had Batman shoes, Batman socks, Batman pajamas, Batman bed sheets, Batman shirts, even a custom made Batman chair. With the chance for a new line of monster money makers, Hollywood started to look at what could be, essentially, be the next Batman.

Disney tried their hand at it with 1990's Dick Tracy, and 1991's The Rocketeer. The former was a box office smash, and the latter wasn't. But an issue with the rights to the Dick Tracy character prevented a film franchise from going forward. Both though, were films I very much loved growing up. With the second Batman film, 1992's Batman Returns opening to big returns, it was still unclear what, if at all, would be the next hero to take the box office throne.

During all of this, Universal had been working on their attempt to grab control of the Superhero throne. However, Universal did something a little different than everyone else. Instead of looking to the comic book world for their hero, they looked towards what could be argued as the superhero prototype. A 60 year old character with its origins in pulp novels and radio. Universal was going to make a movie based on The Shadow.

The Shadow as a character has a rather interesting origin story, the character was initially created just to be a mysterious narrator of the radio program Detective Story Hour, a show ran by Street and Smith Publications, an imprint which specialized in pump and dime novels. But something strange happened when the mysterious, and slightly sinister Shadow began to narrate the detective tales. The audiences were more intrigued by him, than they were the stories on the show.

Street and Smith were flooded with requests from newsdealers wanting to stock “The Shadow Detective Magazine.” However, the magazine didn't exist. Not wanting to miss out on the chance to make a buck, Street and Smith hurried to get the first issue of “The Shadow Magazine” ready, commissioning Walter B. Gibson, under the pen name of Maxwell Grant, to write and create the world of The Shadow. The magazine hit the stands in 1931, and ran till 1949.

But the most famous characteristics of The Shadow weren't born in the pulp publications that featured him. The came from the development of “The Shadow” radio program, that premiered in 1937—with a 22 year old Orson Wells at the helm as The Shadow and Lamont Cranston, The Shadow's alter ego, described as a “wealthy young man about town.”

If anyone knows anything, even if they don't realize it, about The Shadow, it's the elements that came out of that radio program. The radio program responsible for The Shadow's catch phrase, “Who know's what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!” followed by a sinister, maniacal laugh. Radio being radio, and not a visual medium, a great conceit was created for the program. The Shadow has telepathic powers learned in the orient that allows him to “cloud men's minds, so they can not see him.”

In the pulp stories, The Shadow doesn't have that ability. Instead, he is a smart, cunning, almost genius level intellect with master detective skills. He has a network of agents, all identified by a ring that can be used to “summon” one another. His image being of a flowing black cape over a double breasted black trench coat, topped with a wide brimmed black hat, and a crimson red scarf covering the mouth. At his side, two nickel plated .45 guns at the ready.

Another conceit the radio show introduced, was that The Shadow WAS Lamont Cranston, in the pulp stories, Cranston is one of many aliases. The radio program also introduced a confidant, Margo Lane, the only character who knows who The Shadow really is. The show was a massive hit, running till 1954. In the middle of the time from conception to end there were attempts at the big screen: three movies, a 1940 movie serial, and two tries to bring the character to television. Even after the radio program and magazine ended, the character would return from time to time in comic book form. Even making an appearance with Batman, who the character had an influence on.

So, naturally, me being a Batman loving kid of the 90s, the news of The Shadow coming to my local theater was exciting. For, you see, I had an awareness of the character. My family and I would always go to Myrtle Beach each year for vacation, and the trips were always made in our trusty Starcraft tan colored van. Being of the age of 8, a road trip to the beach seemed like an eternity, and I was always trying to find a way to pass the time with my trusty Walkman at my side.

Road Trips always meant that we'd be stopping to eat at Cracker Barrel. One thing you always used to see at Cracker Barrel were tapes of vintage radio programs. Someone, and to be honest I don't remember who, but someone bought me a tape of two episodes of “The Shadow” to keep me company. As we departed the restaurant and got back into the van, I put the tape into my Walkman. I was mesmerized by the sounds that floated around. I laid back on the couch in the back of the van, stared up at the sky, and let my mind go to work. For a kid with a pretty active imagination, it was wonderful.

So as the hype began on TV for the movie, the more excited I became, and the next thing was to beg for the action figures that had come out before the film opened. But then, something odd happened that Summer. I didn't see the movie. In fact, I don't think it played in my hometown. I didn't see the movie till that Fall, when it came out on VHS. And I really liked it, thought it was great! I waited for the next one, but the next one never came to be.

More Batman movies came, and I saw all of those dutifully. But The Shadow kinda drifted to the wayside. Why? Well, let's use this as a convenient transition into talking about the film (Marvel at writing in action, folks!). As a movie, the 1994 film The Shadow has a had a reputation for years of being a bad movie, a misfire. But is it? The film has always been in print, on VHS, then DVD, and even a Universal issue catalog title Blu-Ray release.

Then, as 2013 was coming to a close and all the home video labels were announcing their early 2014 release slates, Shout Factory, that label devoted to all things cool, cult, and pop cultural made an announcement that took many by surprise. They were going to be releasing a Collector's Edition of The Shadow on blu-ray in February 2014. I was one of many who was, somewhat delightfully, surprised by the announcement.

“Really? The Shadow. From Shout Factory? Huh, that's a surprise, I didn't know that film had that much of a following.” Most of what Shout Factory releases on Blu-Ray are cult movies, classic underground hits with a rabid following. But time does strange things to movies, and things that were total flops when they first came out (1985's Clue comes to mind), can develop into a rabidly loyal fan base by word of mouth. So the question must be poised, with a respected label like Shout issuing the film, is it time for The Shadow to come out of the shadows? (You can groan at that one, but like you wouldn't have passed up that line either!)

Last night, I watched Shout Factory's new blu-ray of The Shadow, and outside of the disc being of the typical top notch Shout Factory standard, it was the first time I had seen the film in well over a decade. To be frank, I think The Shadow is ripe for rediscovery. I wouldn't call the movie perfect, but is it as bad as they say? Not at all, and it all comes in how you approach the film. If the culture of comic-con and the internet had existed in 1994, the cast of The Shadow would have caused a minor meltdown.

Alec Baldwin at the height of his box office appeal cast as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow, and Penelope Ann Miller as Margo Lane. But that's not what's most remarkable about the cast, it's the supporting players. Ian McKellen, Tim Curry, Peter Boyle, and Jonathan Winters. I mean, as far as casts go, that's pretty damn good.

In tone, The Shadow got it right. David Keopp's script combined elements from the both the pulp and radio version of the character. In the film, there's a network of agents, and only Cranston as the Alter Ego. The Shadow can both “Cloud men's minds” and appear in costume in the look of the pulp character. So faithful to the original material is the film, that a make up piece is applied to Baldwin to give him the look of the pulp and comic's Shadow—which was always drawn with a notably long nose peaking out from the crimson red scarf. The film uses this as a great device, to imply that Cranston can—telepathically--alter his face slightly to help disguise himself even more.

It's also a very beautiful film to look at, set in the 1930s, with a film noir vibe and a stylized “Hollywood look.” The film tries to look and feel like it's a 30s film, but still remains modern thanks to a smart and witty script. That desire to the stay true to the pulp roots of The Shadow is what might have hurt it at the box office. The film doesn't expect to be taken super seriously, it's expected to be a fun, escapist romp. Made right on the cusp of the CGI revolution, which the film has a little of in it, it still has a soundstage took, backdrops and models. But, and here's the biggie on it for me, it was intended to have that look. This is a superhero movie that, hold on to your hat, was supposed to look like a movie.

Critics at the time mostly dismissed the film, with the only notable positive review coming from Roger Ebert. It opened strongly at #2 at the Box Office, but what is it that happened that caused the film to just fizzle without momentum? Timing. The Shadow opened two weeks after The Lion King and a week before Forrest Gump, then later in the month of it opened, The Mask hit theaters. Every kid in America saw both The Mask and The Lion King.

So here we are, 20 years after the film opened, and it appears that The Shadow has developed something of a cult following. Most likely made up of people like me, those imaginative kids who saw the film when it first came out, and never understood why more people didn't pick up on it. You may not like the movie as much as I do, and that's fine. But looking at the film with adult eyes, nostalgia aside, I feel the film doesn't deserve to have its reputation as a “Hollywood misfire.”

The film is worth a look, and if the cult for The Shadow continues to grow, perhaps Hollywood will wanna take another stab at it. Recently, Sam Raimi wanted to make a new film, but couldn't find the right script. I hope it happens, as a character The Shadow is a good one worth bringing back to modern audiences. The 1994 film is a good place to start, and one I hope you'll add to your warm weather viewing.