Movie Review: The Shadow Strikes (1937)
Synopsis: Seeking to find the man who killed his father, attorney Lamont Granston moonlights as a vigilante known as the Shadow. After capturing a pair of would-be burglars breaking into a safe belonging to another attorney, Chester Randall, Granston is discovered by police and assumes Randall's identity to hide the reason he was there.
His lie becomes more complicated when Randall receives a call summoning him to the home of the wealthy Caleb Delthiern and the police captain, Breen, insists on going with him. Granston is then forced to extend the lie even longer when Delthiern is murdered right next to him while attempting to change his will. Despite cautionary warnings from his assistant, Henry, Granston chooses to risk detection by investigating.
Who's in it? The movie stars Rod La Rocque, Agnes Anderson, Norman Ainsley, Kenneth Harlan and Cy Kendall.
Review: Much like with Dick Tracy prior to watching some of the films made in the 1940s, my only knowledge of the Shadow came from the 1994 Alec Baldwin movie and since I didn't enjoy that film, was very limited. So, since watching the classic Dick Tracy movies made me more of a fan of that character, I decided to do the same with this one by watching The Shadow Strikes.
I was left a bit undecided about the vigilante himself (La Rocque) but can honestly say I enjoyed the movie.
As far as the Shadow/Lamont Granston goes, I did think there was something lacking. As far as I can tell, this was not a sequel to another film, but it felt that way because the viewer is given very little background about Granston (I didn't even realize he was a real attorney until the very end), just his father was murdered, and he was now a crime fighter. I think the filmmakers were assuming people watching this movie already knew the rest.
That said, the overall plot was much more entertaining than I had expected. Granston wasn't just trying to solve a murder; he was also trying to keep Captain Breen (Harlan) and others from figuring out he wasn't actually Randall. This led to a few suspenseful moments when Randall's secretary caught wind of the impersonation.
The mystery itself was also a good one because there seemed to be multiple people who could potentially be involved, whether it was one of the relatives who stood to gain an inheritance, the crime boss, Barney Brossett (Kendall), who was behind the original break-in at Randall's office or Warren Berringer (John Carnivale), the man who was set to marry Delthiern's niece, Marcia (Anderson) but was someone Delthiern clearly didn't trust. I will admit, I was surprised when the killer's identity was revealed.
I am undecided about the movie's ending, which ties up all the loose ends a little too neatly by simply choosing not to answer a bunch of questions ranging from why everyone was OK with Granston lying to the police about who he was to whether or not his identity as the Shadow was also revealed (it kind of felt like you couldn't expose one without exposing the other). I get wanting to have a movie like this have a happy ending, but it really did seem like Granston should have either been forced to flee town or go to jail.
Final Opinion: The overall story is good, but I did think the film had some gaps when it came to Granston's past and future. Fortunately, the former does make up for the latter.
My Grade: B-
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Here are some reviews of other 1930s mysteries:
Movie Review: Mystery House (1938)
Movie Review: The Cat and the Canary (1939)
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