Wednesday, September 29, 2021

The Shadow 1940 15 part serial

 

If you haven't seen this chapter play from Columbia I have to say "Give it a try".  The Shadow isn't who we we've gotten to know through the pulps but that's alright.  It's pretty standard hero fare from this era.  Lots of punching and near death experiences.  Harry Vincent takes the role of Shrevvy for most of the film.  Margo is a lab assistant who screams a lot.  Joe Cardona is a bit player and Weston blusters a lot.  The Cobalt Club plays a big part in this and The Black Ship makes an appearance.  The Shadow survives more explosions in these 15 chapters than all of the pulps combined, it seems.

It's overlong but when taken in the context of 15 weekly installments I'll bet it was a bit of a thrill.  I'm watching it through the disadvantage of 81 years of movie making evolution.  Just like reading the pulps, one has to put themselves into the time it was created.


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