An underworld mastermind has invented a device that allows him to kill by radio control! They seek the Czar's jewels! Now if we only knew who this 'Whispering Shadow' was...
The early 1930's saw the rise of a new type of film-t…
An underworld mastermind has invented a device that allows him to kill by radio control! They seek the Czar's jewels! Now if we only knew who this 'Whispering Shadow' was...
The early 1930's saw the rise of a new type of film-the Serial. These very short, interlocking films were shown as previews for an accompanying feature, usually 12-20 episodes of 10-15 minutes apiece, rewarding regular customers with a 'free movie' for their loyalty. The attention-getting episodes, often high in melodrama and action, usually ended in Cliffhangers and often spent the first 2-3 minutes of the next episode resolving the Cliffhanger before moving forward...if a serial proved popular it might be re-shown a few years later-or, as in this case, re-cut into a Feature Film and a new release cycle.
One of the earliest examples of this medium, the Whispering Shadow boasted a pretty decent cast of quality actors (The incomparable Bela Lugosi, Malcolm McGregor, Viva Tattersall, Robert Warwick, Lloyd Whitlock among others) two Directors shooting consecutive scenes back-to-back on different sets ( Colbert Clark and Albert Herman). The resulting feature ended up being just under 4 hours of gunplay, fistfights, mysterious deaths, animated shadows, massive banks of ominous machinery-and more red herrings than a Norwegian cannery! This second, edited release clocks in at a lean and mean 63 minutes and, if anything, is even more fast paced...
So, is it any good? IMHO The Whispering Shadow is no Citizen Kane-what is? But despite a slight unevenness of sound in a few of the location shots, I thoroughly enjoyed myself with this video equivalent of a Pulp Magazine . But feel free to judge for yourself...B&W, Sound.
