LEGENDARY HEROES #6

THE SHADOW

Street & Smith was the country's oldest and largest publisher of pulp magazines.  One of their titles, Detective Story Magazine, was experiencing declining sales.  In an effort to boost sales Street & Smith decided upon a radio show that would promote the pulp.  The publishers enlisted an ad agency and a writer-director to adapt stories from the magazine into a radio series.  The creative team hit upon the idea of having the stories narrated by a mysterious storyteller with a sinister voice.  Seeking an appropriate name for the mysterious narrator they came up with The Shadow.  On July 31, 1930, the Detective Story Hour debuted on radio with veteran voice actor Frank Readick supplying the hauntingly sibilant narration.  Radio listeners were thrilled and the program became a national sensation.  The show aired on Sunday evenings at 5:30 and listeners were soon demanding from their local news dealers copies of "that Shadow detective magazine".  Newsstands were being pressured to produce a magazine that didn't exist.  recognizing the demand of the reading public, circulation manager Henry William Ralston hired writer Walter B. Gibson to create a character that fit the name and voice of the radio narrator and come up with a story that featured him.

Using the pen name Maxwell Grant, Gibson wrote the story "The Living Shadow" that appeared in the premiere issue of The Shadow magazine on April 1, 1931.  Initially, and for most of its' publication run, The Shadow was printed twice a month on the 1st and 15th.  Over the course of the next 20 years Gibson wrote two novel-length stories a month, composing 282 of the 325 total stories produced.  As Maxwell Grant he claimed that each story was from the private annals of The Shadow as related personally to Grant.  The Shadow, like Zorro, became the archetype of the modern day superhero.  Clad in black he operated mainly after dark as a vigilante in the pursuit of justice, terrifying criminals and evildoers.  Because of the great demand to produce two full-length novels a month, occasionally guest writers were utilized to help with the writing.  Two of these were mystery writers Lester Dent and Richard Wormser.  In the late 1940's mystery novelist Bruce Elliott temporarily replaced Gibson as the primary author of the pulp series.  

In the pulp stories The Shadow is in reality Kent Allard, famed WWI combat pilot who fought for the French and became known as the Black Eagle.  After the war Allard found a new challenge in fighting criminals.  Allard fakes his death by crashing his plane in the Guatemala jungle then returns to NYC and adopts numerous identities to acquire information and conceal his true identity.  As The Shadow he arms himself with two Colt .45 automatics and uses magician tricks, like flash powder, to convince his prey that he is supernatural.  One of Allard's alter egos is that of Lamont Cranston, wealthy, urbane socialite.  Allard surrounds himself with a circle of assistants from all walks of life who aid him in his battle against criminal kingpins, mad scientists, international spies, and secret organizations.

The success of the magazine convinced Street & Smith that they needed to revamp their radio program.  The show had moved to NBC in October 1932 and aired on Mondays and Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m..  In 1936 the publishers pulled the plug on The Shadow as narrator and began plans to resurrect him in his own radio show, more in line with the pulp character.  On September 26, 1937, the new Shadow debuted on the Mutual Broadcasting System with 22 year-old actor Orson Welles lending his voice to Lamont Cranston/The Shadow.  The half hour series would air on Sunday evenings for the next 17 years, ending on December 26, 1954.  This was a phenomenal feat for a radio drama to air for that span of time.  While Welles assumed the role of The Shadow, the signature line that opened each show - "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?  The Shadow knows!" - was delivered by Frank Readick, accompanied by an ominous laugh and the 1872 composed musical theme "Omphale's Spinning Wheel".  At the end of each episode Readick would remind listeners that "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit!  Crime does not pay!  The Shadow knows!"

The character and appearance of The Shadow evolved over the years, and there were distinct differences between the pulp and radio versions.  The Kent Allard storyline was dropped by the radio drama as being too complicated for listeners.  The radio show also got rid of The Shadow's expanding circle of assistants and instead created Margo Lane as a socialite girlfriend of Lamont Cranston.  The pulp magazine added the character of Margo Lane to their stories much to the consternation of loyal readers.  It seemed that fans of The Shadow were either pulp enthusiasts of the character, or loyal radio listeners of his adventures, but seldom both.  The original radio Margo Lane was voiced by Agnes Moorehead, colleague of Orson Welles and one of his Mercury Theatre performers.  Both of them left the radio series in 1938.  In the pulps The Shadow wore a wide-brimmed black slouch hat, and a black crimson-lined cloak with upturned collar over a standard black suit.  In the radio drama no costume was necessary as The Shadow was invisible.  Time constraints of the half-hour show made it difficult to convey to listeners the complex machinations of the pulp Shadow, so they adopted The Shadow's ability  to "cloud men's minds" making him invisible to his criminal prey, a nifty trick that he acquired as a young man traveling through the Orient.  Criminals, like the radio audience, only knew The Shadow by his haunting voice.  Actors would use their normal voice when portraying Lamont Cranston, changing to a sinister voice with added effects when becoming The Shadow.  A red scarf worn below his nose and concealing the lower portion of his face was a result of the 1940's comic books, and was soon used by illustrators of the pulp magazine covers.

The Shadow, in pulp and on radio, was a huge success.  Street & Smith decided to cross promote the character and attract a younger audience by producing a comic book.  Comic books were a new sensation and Street & Smith saw the vast potential in this new marketing tool.  101 issues of "The Shadow" comic book were published monthly from March 1940 to September 1949.  A Shadow story kicked off each issue and the remainder were comic stories based on other Street & Smith pulp heroes.  On June 17, 1940, the Ledger newspaper syndicate launched a daily comic strip based on the Gibson written pulp stories and illustrated by Vernon Greene.  The strip lasted a mere two years, ceasing publication on June 20, 1942.  In the 1970's DC comics published a limited run of Shadow comic books with art by Mike Kaluta.  From then until now the character rights have shifted between comic houses producing many books and graphic novels.

The Shadow came to film in 1931 in the form of six short films produced by Universal and based on the Detective Story Hour radio program with the voice of the unseen Shadow provided by Frank Readick.  In 1937 the first real movie was released with Rod LaRocque in "The Shadow Strikes", followed by "International Crime" in 1938 again with LaRocque.  Both films were released by Grand National, part of Warner Brothers.  In 1940 a 15-chapter movie serial was released by Columbia starring Victor Jory.  Monogram, a poverty-row studio, produced three low-budget films in 1946 with Kane Richmond in the title role.  He wore a full face mask that would later be used in the serial "The Masked Marvel".  An unsuccessful TV pilot shot in 1957 was edited into a 1958 film and released in theaters as the "Invisible Avenger".  The best known film was the 1994 movie starring Alec Baldwin as The Shadow and Penelope Ann Miller as Margo Lane.  The radio show had in impressive 17 year run, while the pulp magazine which ran from 1931 until the summer of 1949 enjoyed an 18 year history.  By every standard "The Shadow" was a huge success - from radio show narrator to pop culture icon.