As we learned on June 11, 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 among its upcoming releases would be thirteen “Shadow Detective” featurettes. These “two-reelers” had no connection to The Shadow’s pulp adventures; they were adaptations from radio’s THE DETECTIVE STORY HOUR.
While the first Shadow featurette — A BURGLAR TO THE RESCUE — was shot in Universal’s New York studio using Broadway actors, the remaining shorts in the series were shot in Hollywood on the Universal lot. Mainstream film actors and directors worked on the later entries in the series.
Following its move to Hollywood, the series was entrusted to Stanley Bergerman, who delegated day-to-day production responsibilities to Bryan Foy, scion of the famous theatrical family. German-born Kurt Neumann — who would become one of Hollywood’s most prolific directors of “B” pictures in all genres — was hired to helm the rest of the series and handled the megaphone on all but one of the remaining entries.
The fourth of the Shadow featurettes — 
HOUSE OF MYSTERY — was released to theaters shortly before Christmas of 1931. It is the strongest of the Shadow shorts that have been preserved. Adapted from a pulp story by Park Avenue Hunt Club creator Judson P. Philips, it has a good “stormy-night-in-the-old-dark-house” atmosphere and one genuinely shocking sequence in which a woman — played by Geneva Mitchell — plunges to her death after falling through a trap door in the ceiling. While hunting, a sheriff and his close friend practically stumble upon the crime scene and solve the mystery, despite efforts at obfuscation by the chief suspect’s wealthy father.
Our feature film for the night is the Charles Lamont directed film, INTERNATIONAL CRIME. Released in 1938 by Grand National Films, this black and white film stars Rod La Rocque as Lamont Cranston, also known as The Shadow. Very loosely based on Theodore Tinsley’s “Foxhound,” originally published in the January 15, 1937 issue of THE SHADOW MAGAZINE, it was adapted to the silver screen by Jack Natteford and John W. Krafft.
According to IMDb film reviewer Snow Leopard:
This Rod La Rocque Shadow feature is pretty entertaining for a B-mystery. It combines the main mystery story with the Shadow’s running battles of wits with the police and others. The two Shadow features with La Rocque both have a different feel from the radio and print stories, but both are watchable, and this one is the better of the two.
In this story, the Shadow has a radio show and a newspaper column, both of which he puts to use in solving the murder case that arises. The mystery itself is often just a sidelight to the Shadow’s personal entanglements with the police commissioner, with his new, overly eager assistant — played by Astrid Allwyn — and with some of the other principals in the case.
It’s the kind of interesting, complex setup that a first-class writer could have done a great deal more with. As it is, although there are a couple of missed opportunities, it moves at a good pace and is interesting enough to make it a decent way to spend an hour or so.
On Friday, August 20, join PulpFest 2021 for the second 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 HOUSE OF MYSTERY, followed by INTERNATIONAL CRIME. It’s the second 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!
The second Shadow feature film, INTERNATIONAL CRIME, was very loosely based on Theodore Tinsley’s novel, “Foxhound.” It originally appeared in the January 15, 1937 issue of THE SHADOW MAGAZINE, featuring front cover art by George Rozen.
HOUSE OF MYSTERY is based on Judson P. Philips’ novelette, “House of Death.” The story originally appeared in the January 17, 1931 number of Street & Smith’s DETECTIVE STORY MAGAZINE. The cover art is by John A. Coughlin.
Released in 1938 by Grand National Films, INTERNATIONAL CRIME is based on the wise-cracking style found in Dashiell Hammett’s THE THIN MAN series, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles. Unlike the popular Hollywood franchise, INTERNATIONAL CRIME is strictly a B-mystery.
