You could have floored me with the fact that this flick was made in 1958; it has the look and feel of something at least a decade older. Also the sensibility. The Shadow wasn't a favorite character of mine growing up so I don't know a lot about his origin or history, but I always assumed him to be sort of a detective with an uncanny ability to make himself invisible, as if blending into the dark of night. This story takes on more of a mystical bent, and even includes a mentor for Lamont Cranston (Richard Derr), a mystic who trains him to develop his powers of mind reading and invisibility. They exchange thoughts via telepathy, and one could make a case that the real power behind the Shadow is his partner Jogendra (Mark Daniels).
In this effort, the Shadow is summoned by a friend to New Orleans who winds up murdered. The victim was helping to protect one Victor Ramirez, who was plotting to overthrow Generalissimo Valdez of Santa Cruz and set up his brother in the general's place. I thought the plot a rather odd one for a Shadow movie given my earlier comments, but as I say, I'm a relative newcomer to the character.
Historically speaking, the picture seems to draw a parallel to events of the era as they were occurring in real life. Fidel Castro was plotting to overthrow the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, assembling a group of revolutionaries that included his brother Raul. The Ramirez brother connection in the picture could have possibly been based on the Castro's, but who knows. The story starts out in the city of New Orleans, apparently near enough to the mythical country of Santa Cruz to parallel Cuba's location to mainland Florida. If it all sounds like a stretch, well I'm just trying to figure out what relevance a military coup has to do with The Shadow.
In this effort, the Shadow is summoned by a friend to New Orleans who winds up murdered. The victim was helping to protect one Victor Ramirez, who was plotting to overthrow Generalissimo Valdez of Santa Cruz and set up his brother in the general's place. I thought the plot a rather odd one for a Shadow movie given my earlier comments, but as I say, I'm a relative newcomer to the character.
Historically speaking, the picture seems to draw a parallel to events of the era as they were occurring in real life. Fidel Castro was plotting to overthrow the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, assembling a group of revolutionaries that included his brother Raul. The Ramirez brother connection in the picture could have possibly been based on the Castro's, but who knows. The story starts out in the city of New Orleans, apparently near enough to the mythical country of Santa Cruz to parallel Cuba's location to mainland Florida. If it all sounds like a stretch, well I'm just trying to figure out what relevance a military coup has to do with The Shadow.