Review of “The Shadow” (1994)

For our Saturday pizza and bad movie, we watched a relatively recent flick, one the dearly beloved liked back in the day but I’d never heard of.

Plot:

Between the two world wars, Lamont Cranston (Alec Baldwin) makes a living as a drug lord in Tibet. Maybe he lost his way looking for Shangri-La? He calls himself Yo-King and spends his days assassinating rivals in the trade. He’s a cold drug lord, even ordering the death of one of his own men if it makes killing a rival easier.

One day, armed men break into his evil lair(?), kidnap him, and bring him to a holy man known as the Tulku (Barry Dennen). The Tulku offers Yo-King the chance to redeem himself for all the horrible things he’s done. Yo-King refuses. However, the Tulku has supernatural powers and controls a supernatural sentient knife, the Phurba. It’s an offer he can’t refuse.

Seven years later, Lamont Cranston is living in New York City, having learned how to manipulate people’s minds by reading their thoughts, telepathy, and hypnosis. Without becoming invisible, he convinces people they don’t see him. But instead of hobnobbing with opium dealers, he rescues people from gangsters—with a catch.

His rescuees become his agents, complete with a ring. Their duties include passing along information and performing tasks at the behest of the Shadow. Only Cranston’s driver, Moe Shrevnitz (Peter Boyle), knows his true identity.

One night, Cranston has dinner with his Uncle Wainwright (Jonathan Winters), the Police Commissioner, at the Cobalt Club. Uncle Wainwright is irritated that Lamont can never show up to any appointment on time. What does he do with his time? A beautiful young woman sits down by herself at a table near them. Cranton is smitten.

Uncle Wainwright warns him to stay away from her because she hears voices. She’s Margo Lane (Penelope Ann Miller), the daughter of Reinhardt Lane (Ian McKellen), who works for the War Department.

Lamont sends a bottle of wine to her table and introduces himself. In talking to her, he realizes that she can read his mind. Oddly, she doesn’t quite grasp her ability. Ooooh. This isn’t going to work out for someone who has a secret identity…

At the end of the evening, he tries to put his whammy on her, telling her, “You will forget all about me.”

She laughs and asks, “Why would I do that?”

Thoughts:

The movie reflects comic books more than the old radio shows or movies about the Shadow. The Shadow has supernatural powers of sorts that he learned from a master, the Tulku. He’s doing good—violently—protecting the innocent and those who can’t defend themselves to make up for a violent past. When Uncle Wainwright grumbles about the latest of the Shadow’s escapades, Lamont merely talks him out of doing anything about it.

What’s a superhero without a supervillain? Shiwan Khan (John Lone), the last descendant of Genghis Khan, was also a student of the Tulku but apparently failed the redemption courses. He arrived at a museum in the solid silver sarcophagus of Genghis Khan and wants to rule the world.

Shiwan Khan is a naughty supervillain, able to talk anyone into killing themselves. One death involves a leap off the Empire State Building.

Much of the action is over-the-top. Lamont’s driver, Moe, routinely lifts one wheel off the ground as he turns corners in his low-center-of-gravity, needle-nose 1930s behemoth. Tim Curry’s performance as the creepy Farley Claymore, who hits on Margo and turns to the dark side when Shiwan Khan comes to call, is in a category all its own. This is a comic book come to life, more like a superhero movie than an old crime drama.

There are a couple of plot holes and missteps in the narrative. Reality never stands in the way of a good story. All in all, I enjoyed this, but I can see where people might not buy into it.

The movie was nominated for four Saturn Awards from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films in 1995: 1) Penelope Ann Miller for Best Actress; 2) Jerry Goldsmith for Best Music; 3) Bob Ringwood for Best Costumes; and 4) Best Special Effects.

I could not find this movie to stream anywhere, sadly.

Title: The Shadow (1994)

Directed by
Russell Mulcahy

Writing Credits (WGA)
Walter B. Gibson…(character The Shadow from stories)
David Koepp…(written by)

Cast (in credits order)
Alec Baldwin…Lamont Cranston/The Shadow
John Lone…Shiwan Khan
Penelope Ann Miller…Margo Lane
Peter Boyle…Moe Shrevnitz
Ian McKellen…Reinhardt Lane
Tim Curry..Farley Claymore
Jonathan Winters…Police Commissioner Wainwright Barth

Released: 1994
Length: 1 hour, 48 minutes