The first issue of Street & Smith’s THE SHADOW: A DETECTIVE MAGAZINE had been on the nation’s newsstands for only a few months when Universal Pictures announced that it would be releasing thirteen “Shadow Detective” featurettes. However, these “two-reelers” had no connection to The Shadow’s pulp adventures; they were adaptations from radio’s THE DETECTIVE STORY HOUR.
The sixth of The Shadow featurettes was released on February 17, 1932. THE CIRCUS SHOW-UP was an adaptation of Leslie T. White’s original pulp yarn with the same title. The story originally ran in the August 15, 1931 number of Street & Smith’s DETECTIVE STORY MAGAZINE. Directed by Lewis Seiler — who had helmed one of Tom Mix’s very best Westerns for Fox — it was adapted by Harold Tarshis.
THE CIRCUS SHOW-UP featured two of Loretta Young’s sisters — Polly Ann Young as a trapeze artist who is murdered, and Sally Blane as one of the suspects. Unfortunately, the production values of the short were almost non-existent. Most sequences consisted of people standing in front of a canvas and talking. Shortly after its release, Universal Pictures canceled the remaining films in the series.
Why did the Shadow DETECTIVE STORY featurettes fail when the radio show was so popular? That’s hard to say. The series’ overall quality — or lack of the same — probably had something to do with it. Radio listeners, after all, could imagine more lavish sets and backgrounds than the films could show on their paltry budgets. Although no first-rate talents appeared in the series, hard-core film buffs can take pleasure in the casts, which include wonderful “B” grade character actors. And while Kurt Neumann, who helmed four of the six shorts, eventually became a solid if uninventive director, these early efforts — with the possible exception of HOUSE OF MYSTERY — clearly represented the work of an apprentice.
Then, too, the loss of Frank Readick — who narrated A BURGLAR TO THE RESCUE — hurt the films. The Shadow as voiced in the Hollywood-shot entries simply was not as impressive. Moreover, while the character had been used well in the first featurette, subsequent installments employed him less effectively, sometimes tossing him for a single line to be followed by a chuckle. The moviegoing public rejected Universal’s Shadow.
Our feature film for the night is THE INVISIBLE AVENGER, a 1958 film directed by James Wong Howe, Ben Parker, and John Sledge. A compilation of two episodes of a 1957 Republic Pictures television pilot for a proposed series featuring The Shadow, the film starred Richard Derr as Lamont Cranston and The Shadow. Although he had a starring role in George Pal’s 1951 science fiction film, WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, Derr was primarily a character actor.
In THE INVISIBLE AVENGER, an exiled South American ruler living in New Orleans is targeted for kidnapping. Lamont Cranston and his mentor — a mystic named Jogendra — employ their mind-altering skills to help the man. Although no one knows the identity of The Shadow — a crime-fighting troubleshooter with telepathic powers — everyone knows Cranston can contact the Avenger.
According to popular culture scholar, Martin Grams, THE INVISIBLE AVENGER was released theatrically as part of a double feature with ZORRO RIDES AGAIN, a film version of the 1937 movie serial. It was re-released in 1962 — with added scenes — as BOURBON STREET SHADOWS.
On Saturday, August 20, join PulpFest 2021 for the third part of “The Shadow on the Silver Screen.” Beginning at 11:15 PM at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry, we’ll be showing THE CIRCUS SHOW-UP, followed by THE INVISIBLE AVENGER. It’s the final segment of our three-part Shadow film festival.
The general public is welcome to attend our evening programming events. To learn more about our programming schedule, please click the Programming button at the top of this page.
For those who also want to enjoy our dealers’ room, you can join PulpFest by clicking the Registration button at the top of this page. And don’t forget to book a room at the DoubleTree. They’re going fast!
According to IMDb, the sixth Shadow film, THE INVISIBLE AVENGER, was written by George Bellak and Ruth Jeffries, adapted from a screenplay by Walter B. Gibson. The copyright for the film was never renewed and it has lapsed into the public domain.
The last Shadow DETECTIVE STORY featurette, THE CIRCUS SHOW-UP, was based on a short story by Leslie T. White that ran in the August 15, 1931 issue of DETECTIVE STORY MAGAZINE. The cover art is by John A. Coughlin.
Released in 1958 by Republic Pictures, THE INVISIBLE AVENGER has been described as “better than the Rod LaRocque nightmares where the Shadow is some beefy guy in a cape and hat trying to solve some awfully plotted crimes.” So we’re closing our Shadow film festival with a bang, despite not knowing the identity of the artist who painted the film’s “chilling” poster.
