The Shadow fan club.
Movie Review: International Crime (1938)
In 1938 Grand National released its second Shadow Movie. Again they
started by choosing a story right out of the pulps to adapt to the
screen. This time they chose "Foxhound" (Shadow Magazine # 118 Jan
15th 1937) (a Ted Tinsley story) and set to work creating a
screenplay adaptation. How could they go wrong?
In their first Shadow movie the Shadow only had two very brief
appearances... could they do better this time? YES! They outdid
themselves.. this time the Shadow would appear on the screen exactly
ZERO times!
Yep... they adapted the Shadow himself right out of the story! In
this adaptation the name "Shadow" is just an on-air name and pen
name used by crime reporter Lamont Cranston. The top of his
newspaper column "The Shadow says" has a drawing of the "Shadow" as
we know him and in his office on the wall is a painting of the
Shadow as we know him. But that Shadow is nothing more than a pen
name for an anti-crime newspaper column!
In this adaptation Weston is not Cranston's friend... Weston dislikes
Cranston whose column often bashes the police for failing to control
crime! Margo Lane becomes Phoebe Lane... Cranston's ditsy assistant
whom he dislikes and would like to get rid of except she is related
to his boss.
Rod LaRocgue retains his role as the Shadow/Cranston... if you can
call it that.
This movie is perhaps tied with the Archie Radio Comics adaptation of
1964-65 as the worst ever adaptation of the Shadow and it is hands
down the worst Shadow movie ever made.
It is no surprise that Grand National found itself in deep financial
problems, and never recovered. Assets of the defunct firm were sold
around a year after the failure of "International Crime". Thus
making it, mercifully the last Grand National/La Rocque Shadow movie!
The next attempt to bring the Shadow to the Silver Screen would be
made by Columbia Pictures in 1940 and would take the form
of a 15 episode Saturday serial.
started by choosing a story right out of the pulps to adapt to the
screen. This time they chose "Foxhound" (Shadow Magazine # 118 Jan
15th 1937) (a Ted Tinsley story) and set to work creating a
screenplay adaptation. How could they go wrong?
In their first Shadow movie the Shadow only had two very brief
appearances... could they do better this time? YES! They outdid
themselves.. this time the Shadow would appear on the screen exactly
ZERO times!
Yep... they adapted the Shadow himself right out of the story! In
this adaptation the name "Shadow" is just an on-air name and pen
name used by crime reporter Lamont Cranston. The top of his
newspaper column "The Shadow says" has a drawing of the "Shadow" as
we know him and in his office on the wall is a painting of the
Shadow as we know him. But that Shadow is nothing more than a pen
name for an anti-crime newspaper column!
In this adaptation Weston is not Cranston's friend... Weston dislikes
Cranston whose column often bashes the police for failing to control
crime! Margo Lane becomes Phoebe Lane... Cranston's ditsy assistant
whom he dislikes and would like to get rid of except she is related
to his boss.
Rod LaRocgue retains his role as the Shadow/Cranston... if you can
call it that.
This movie is perhaps tied with the Archie Radio Comics adaptation of
1964-65 as the worst ever adaptation of the Shadow and it is hands
down the worst Shadow movie ever made.
It is no surprise that Grand National found itself in deep financial
problems, and never recovered. Assets of the defunct firm were sold
around a year after the failure of "International Crime". Thus
making it, mercifully the last Grand National/La Rocque Shadow movie!
The next attempt to bring the Shadow to the Silver Screen would be
made by Columbia Pictures in 1940 and would take the form
of a 15 episode Saturday serial.
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