The Shadow (1994 film)

The Shadow
Directed by	Russell Mulcahy
Written by	David Koepp
Produced by	Willi Bär Martin Bregman Michael Scott Bregman
Starring	Alec Baldwin Penelope Ann Miller John Lone Ian McKellen
Cinematography	Stephen H. Burum
Edited by	Peter Honess Beth Jochem Besterveld
Music by	Jerry Goldsmith
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	July 1, 1994
Running time	108 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$40 million (estimated)

The Shadow is a 1994 motion picture based on the character of the same name created by Walter B. Gibson in 1937. The film is one of many featuring the character as its star, but is by far the most expensive and lavish of those productions, with an estimated $40 million dollar budget and an expensive marketing campaign attributed to it.

Starring Alec Baldwin in the title role, the film was intended to be a summer blockbuster and to be the starting point for a new franchise of films that would be tied in with toy and clothing lines. Despite good intentions, the movie flopped, it was panned by both critics and fans and the planned franchise never materialized, although some toys were offered during its release period.

Plot

The Shadow's origin as described in the original magazine stories was deemed too complex to be amply covered in a mainstream motion picture, and was modified by the writers so that it could be told fairly easily.

Lamont Cranston (Alec Baldwin) is a former American soldier, and a veteran of World War I. Tired of being a servant to greater powers, Cranston hides himself away in Tibet, eventually rising to power as an iron fisted opium dealer and warlord. Living his life in opulence, Cranston sees little reason for reform, until he is unseated and captured by a monk who teaches him how to manipulate the minds of others and make himself virtually invisible to the naked eye, prompting him to take on the pseudonym of The Shadow.

With his newfound abiltities, Cranston returns to the United States, where he poses as an opulent playboy by day and fights crime by night under the cloak of his alter ego; his new life seems to be falling into place nicely when Shiwan Khan, the last living descendent of Genghis Khan makes his entrance. Khan exhibits psychic powers on par with Cranston's, but is decidely more evil, and begins going through the motions with a plan that will eventually give him control of the world. Able to brainwash others into doing his bidding, Khan is able to mull along secretly until The Shadow gets wind of his plans.

This movie has many characters that were introduced in the pulp fiction magazines in the 1930's, such as Margo Lane, Moe Shrevnitz, and Inspector Wainwright.

Trivia

• The living knife featured in some scenes of The Shadow is a prop recycled from the Eddie Murphy movie, The Golden Child.

• A few actors from this film went on to flourishing careers: Ian McKellen, though already experiencing a noted popularity, later went on to astonish fans as both "Gandalf the Grey" in The Lord of the Rings film series and Magneto in the X-Men franchise. Additionally, the suicidal museum guard in the film was portrayed by a near-obscure Ethan Phillips, who would rise to fame as the alien chef Neelix on the television series Star Trek: Voyager. And finally, the late Peter Boyle, who made people laugh as the "grumpy old dad" on Everybody Loves Raymond, co-starred in this film as the Shadow's personal taxi driver, Moe Shrevnitz.

• Since the announcement of a new Shadow film in 2006, there has been speculation that a new, Special Edition DVD will be released of this film.

• There are many deleted scenes from this film that were never released.

External links

• The Shadow at IMDb