Rerun: The Shadow (1954)
23 Dec 2016 09:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cryptix23 posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
oldschoolcrimefighters(Originally posted July 13th, 2015)
Yet another creatively-titled adaptation.
This time we’ve got a twenty-five minute failed pilot, starring Tom Helmore as The Shadow/Lamont Cranston and Paula Raymond as Margot Lane (again with the ‘t’). Let’s see if this thing failed for a reason.
“We were on our way to the theatre.” Funny, it looks like you were waiting on your mark for Weston to enter.
Margot gets the best hats.
.
I already like this Margot. She’s sassy.
Apparently Lamont is a criminal psychologist this time around.
.
The guy playing Weston looks vaguely like George Dubya Bush
.
The detective sent from the murdered woman’s hometown knew her since she was a kid. Can you say ‘conflict of interest’? Because Weston can’t.
.
There’s something about Helmore’s face that I don’t like but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
And it’s not just the pencil moustache. I’m getting used to seeing those.
Nothing so far against him as an actor, I just don’t like his face. Not for Lamont.
.
Dramatic music leading into flashback!
Wait no it’s not a flashback? Huh. I really thought that was leading into a flashback.
.
“I’ve never seen a more totally male apartment!”
Margot. Margot. I want to like you but you’re losing points with lines like that.
.
Oh, nice. They didn’t try to make Margot the sympathetic, emotional one; rather, she excuses herself and leaves the psychologist to his work.
.
From longer shots Helmore looks a little like if Danny Kaye got left in the sun.
I think that’s what it is, there’s something weirdly wholesome about his looks that just doesn’t jive with Lamont Cranston.
.
Hey, this adaptation utilizes the hypnosis powers. Nice.
Helmore’s laugh isn’t quite right, either, but his Shadow voice is decent. Yet to actually see him, though.
The guy he’s terrorizing looks like Benedict Cumberbatch if his face was resized to be slightly shorter and wider.
Everybody in this thing looks like somebody else jfc
.
Is it just me seeing Cumberbatch in those eyes and that cheek/jawline? Yes? Okay. Moving on.
.
14 minutes in. Calling it now, mister childhood friend copman’s the murderer.
.
Yep, called it.
Margot do you not have peripheral vision, how did you not see him RIGHT THERE.
.
You really have to ask who “The girl he’d loved” is, Lamont?
.
Really? You're cutting to credits on that? No denouement?
Final Thoughts
Actually much better than expected. I’m disappointed it never got picked up as a show.
- Tom Helmore may not quite look the part but plays a fine Lamont Cranston -- well, Cranston by way of Nick Charles. While The Shadow does have his hypnotic powers and uses them to decent effect, he also remains invisible, so we never actually get a look at Helmore as the titular character. That’s probably the most disappointing part of this whole thing.
- Paula Raymond is a fantastic Margot, sassy and bantering and setting up a relationship dynamic reminiscent of The Thin Man. She doesn’t get much to do, sadly.
- The plot holds together and is pretty well-paced, but it’s not terribly exciting and has a couple weak spots. Not the strongest opener.
Overall, not the best, but far from the worst. Well worth the 25 minutes if only for the characters.
Yet another creatively-titled adaptation.
This time we’ve got a twenty-five minute failed pilot, starring Tom Helmore as The Shadow/Lamont Cranston and Paula Raymond as Margot Lane (again with the ‘t’). Let’s see if this thing failed for a reason.
“We were on our way to the theatre.” Funny, it looks like you were waiting on your mark for Weston to enter.
Margot gets the best hats.
.
I already like this Margot. She’s sassy.
Apparently Lamont is a criminal psychologist this time around.
.
The guy playing Weston looks vaguely like George Dubya Bush
.
The detective sent from the murdered woman’s hometown knew her since she was a kid. Can you say ‘conflict of interest’? Because Weston can’t.
.
There’s something about Helmore’s face that I don’t like but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
And it’s not just the pencil moustache. I’m getting used to seeing those.
Nothing so far against him as an actor, I just don’t like his face. Not for Lamont.
.
Dramatic music leading into flashback!
Wait no it’s not a flashback? Huh. I really thought that was leading into a flashback.
.
“I’ve never seen a more totally male apartment!”
Margot. Margot. I want to like you but you’re losing points with lines like that.
.
Oh, nice. They didn’t try to make Margot the sympathetic, emotional one; rather, she excuses herself and leaves the psychologist to his work.
.
From longer shots Helmore looks a little like if Danny Kaye got left in the sun.
I think that’s what it is, there’s something weirdly wholesome about his looks that just doesn’t jive with Lamont Cranston.
.
Hey, this adaptation utilizes the hypnosis powers. Nice.
Helmore’s laugh isn’t quite right, either, but his Shadow voice is decent. Yet to actually see him, though.
The guy he’s terrorizing looks like Benedict Cumberbatch if his face was resized to be slightly shorter and wider.
Everybody in this thing looks like somebody else jfc
.
Is it just me seeing Cumberbatch in those eyes and that cheek/jawline? Yes? Okay. Moving on.
.
14 minutes in. Calling it now, mister childhood friend copman’s the murderer.
.
Yep, called it.
Margot do you not have peripheral vision, how did you not see him RIGHT THERE.
.
You really have to ask who “The girl he’d loved” is, Lamont?
.
Really? You're cutting to credits on that? No denouement?
Final Thoughts
Actually much better than expected. I’m disappointed it never got picked up as a show.
- Tom Helmore may not quite look the part but plays a fine Lamont Cranston -- well, Cranston by way of Nick Charles. While The Shadow does have his hypnotic powers and uses them to decent effect, he also remains invisible, so we never actually get a look at Helmore as the titular character. That’s probably the most disappointing part of this whole thing.
- Paula Raymond is a fantastic Margot, sassy and bantering and setting up a relationship dynamic reminiscent of The Thin Man. She doesn’t get much to do, sadly.
- The plot holds together and is pretty well-paced, but it’s not terribly exciting and has a couple weak spots. Not the strongest opener.
Overall, not the best, but far from the worst. Well worth the 25 minutes if only for the characters.