In 1930s New York City, The Shadow (Alec Baldwin) battles his nemesis, Shiwan Khan (John Lone), who is building an atomic bomb.In 1930s New York City, The Shadow (Alec Baldwin) battles his nemesis, Shiwan Khan (John Lone), who is building an atomic bomb.In 1930s New York City, The Shadow (Alec Baldwin) battles his nemesis, Shiwan Khan (John Lone), who is building an atomic bomb.
- Awards
- 4 nominations
- Singer
- (as Sinoa)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhen Shiwan Khan and Lamont Cranston first meet, their dialogue about where Cranston purchased his tie is a spoof on product placement during the radio airing of The Shadow.
- GoofsShiwan Khan says that he is the last living descendant of Genghis Khan, which is provably not true (see trivia). He is probably counting only the line of approved dynastic marriages, as opposed to by-blows from one-night stands and other "mongrel" branches.
- Quotes
Margo Lane: Oh, God I dreamed.
Lamont Cranston: So did I. What did you dream?
Margo Lane: I was lying naked on a beach in the South Seas. The tide was coming up to my toes. The sun was beating down. My skin hot and cool at the same time. It was wonderful. What was yours?
Lamont Cranston: I dreamed I tore all the skin off my face and was somebody else underneath.
Margo Lane: You have problems.
Lamont Cranston: I'm aware of that.
- ConnectionsEdited into Taylor Dayne: Original Sin (1995)
- SoundtracksOriginal Sin (Theme from 'The Shadow')
Written, Produced and Arranged by Jim Steinman
Performed by Taylor Dayne
Courtesy of Arista Records, Inc.
There are few important films because the worlds of film are not worthy, weighty and wondrous. But long before they can matter, they need to be enticing and coherent. The so- called science fiction genre is simply a set of conventions that shortcut this challenge. Filmmakers can simply reference some prefab worlds; viewers need do less work.
But there are other paths to alternative worlds, and by themselves they can make interesting films, even if they don't provide much for building a life.
One such is this film. It struck me as important in the this "coherent world" way when I first saw it in a theater, and I recently revisited it in a poor quality DVD, apparently made from a old tape. It still worked.
The story itself is trivial. Though there are some fine character actors, they don't matter at all. The director and composer do well enough. But what matters here is the design of the world, the sight. The production design, art design, set dressers, costumers and even the way the camera is allowed to move through the space matters, not because they do a good job but because they are so attuned. It seems that someone started with the idea of cinematic shadows with agency, and constrained it to a beaux art/ art deco architecture. Even the scenes in Tibet conform to this vision, and make sense in the world we are presented.
Tim Burton is often credited with this approach, at least in the "comic superhero" world, though I think Warren Beatty led the way. But Burton's worlds are delivered more through the tone of the narrative and score than the actual visuals. Whatever magic the craftspeople were able to spin on this did not stick: none of them were able to create meaningful projects.
This itself is not meaningful either. But it sure is an achievement in a world of film that still is largely incompetent in terms of visual cosmologies. Maybe Universal will give it the treatment it deserves; the DVD is a travesty.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
- tedg
- Oct 23, 2010
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $25,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $32,063,435
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $11,713,845
- Jul 4, 1994
- Gross worldwide
- $48,063,435
- Runtime1 hour 48 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix