While it's only loosely based on the radio show and the pulp magazine, The Shadow is a very exciting and entertaining serial.
Victor Jory, who plays the Shadow, does a good job as Lamont Cranston. It also helps that he looks almost exactly like the one on the pulp magazine covers. The costume is good, but would have been even better if it showed Jory's nose. And his laugh is perfect, he sounds like the radio version.
The main villain in The Shadow isn't a guy with a mask like in many of the other serials, but an invisible man who speaks through the head of a "black tiger". It's a bit creepy. He's also a very, very angry and impatient man, and treats his henchmen like crap. I don't know why people want to work for this jerk.
I've seen better action scenes in serials, but the last chapter where The Shadow confronts "The Black Tiger" is pretty intense. Unfortunately, the cliffhangers aren't very interesting. Most of the time it's just explosions or falling objects that knock The Shadow out for a little while.
The Shadow isn't perfect, but it's still better than most of the action movies we have today, where the fight scenes look more like dancing than actual fighting.
Victor Jory, who plays the Shadow, does a good job as Lamont Cranston. It also helps that he looks almost exactly like the one on the pulp magazine covers. The costume is good, but would have been even better if it showed Jory's nose. And his laugh is perfect, he sounds like the radio version.
The main villain in The Shadow isn't a guy with a mask like in many of the other serials, but an invisible man who speaks through the head of a "black tiger". It's a bit creepy. He's also a very, very angry and impatient man, and treats his henchmen like crap. I don't know why people want to work for this jerk.
I've seen better action scenes in serials, but the last chapter where The Shadow confronts "The Black Tiger" is pretty intense. Unfortunately, the cliffhangers aren't very interesting. Most of the time it's just explosions or falling objects that knock The Shadow out for a little while.
The Shadow isn't perfect, but it's still better than most of the action movies we have today, where the fight scenes look more like dancing than actual fighting.