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I love the Bill Johnstone Shadow years just because of the political atmosphere and the scary things their writers cooked up.Hypnotic Death 2-12-39 *****Bill Johnstone & Marjorie AndersonI always love episodes when Cranston/Allard has to face a fow with hypnotic powers.Friend of Darkness 2-19-39 ***Bill Johnstone & Marjorie AndersonA wonderful PSA on seeing eye dogs.Evil In the House 11-7-48Bret Morrison & Grace MatthewsUntil Death Do Us Part 3-6-49Bret Morrison & Grace MatthewsBased on the product, I give it *****. Not really up to par with the best Shadow fair.Gun Island 10-23-38 ****Bill Johnstone & Agnes MooreheadA fantastic episode with pirates and patriotism.
I thought it was a large boxed set, with nine discs, based on the description here. I got this as a Christmas gift and was rather shocked.
The Episodes that are in this collection are as follows:The Caverns of Death 9-11-38 ***Orsen Welles & Margot StevensonA so-so episode about a cavern, and some death. But it is actually six episodes on three discs from all over the Shadow's history.
I love the episodes, that's not the issue, that product description needs to be changed. This episode is worth it just to watch the political soft shoing they had to do in those days.
Based on Amazon's greatly missleading discription I give it **.
On long family car rides I would wake up in the middle of the night, and every now and again some radio station would be playing an episode. As I said, very Old Testament.Personally, I think Welles was the best (although Morrison and Johnstone were also very good). Ha ha."I don't know about you, but (to paraphrase Homer Simpson) I like my beer cold, my women hot, and my villains EEEEEEVIL. It featured what might be the best piece of cartoon villainy in all of entertainment history, when the baddie, smooth-talking Barry Vinton, exclaims: "Ah, this is the life, there's nothing like it. Didn't matter to the Shadow.
And then the climax, on deck with a machine gun, shooting them down like scurrying rats. The violence and Old Testament morality of the show scared the hell out of me when it wasn't making me laugh myself into apoplexy. The sighting of fresh quarry in this periscope. And contrary to popular legend, Welles did not refuse to rehearse for his Shadow sessions out of ego, although he did opt out of them in his contract, he simply didn't have time. I was introduced to this wonderful old program when I was a little kid back in the early 80's.
His rich voice was marvelous on the ears, capturing the essence of Cranston -- a combination of effortless, almost smug brilliance, British suaveness, dry wit, decency, cruelty, and ruthless obsession. If he couldn't trick you into blowing yourself up, he'd have you on an express train to the death house, and never mind your mental illness. It is interesting to note that the obvious crazies, the mad-scientist types who wanted to put human brains in gorillas and phantom-of-the-opera type psychos who strangled women and beat their faces in, were shown no more mercy than the gangsters who had actually chosen to be evil. The excitement of the chase and the spine-tingling thrill as the torpedo finds its mark.
And nobody delivers mustache-twirling villainy like "The Shadow."The Shadow had a certain formula I grew to love as I began to buy episodes as a kid. If that isn't dedicated, what is.Whoever your favorite Shadow, you know when you hit "play" on one of these puppies, you're gonna open up that mind's eye and let it feast on a darkly violent city landscape where the bad guys always finish last.if they finish at all.4/12/09 UPDATEAudiotapes are a dying, nearly extinct breed nowadays, and the vast majority of extant "Shadow" episodes are now available in electronic formats, but I'd like to point out that this collection has one episode which is virtually impossible to find anywhere else, in any format (casette, CD, MP3) -- "Preview of Terror." If you are a truly crazed "Shadow" fan, this collection is probably worth getting for that reason alone. I'm buying this because I only own one of the 18 listed episodes, and I'm always looking to add a few Shadows to the collection. And he wasn't above taunting his opponents even after they were beaten. In "The Silent Avenger" he actually taunts Joey Brecker as he is being taken to his execution. In some ways he reminds me of a combination of James Bond, Batman, and Sherlock Holmes, all in one. To hell with shades of gray: the bad guys here were not merely bad, they were awful, literally bubbling over with villainy. Now, the actual lineup on this package, at least the one I got, is:The Death House Rescue (Welles -- this is the first ever "Shadow" episode)The Circle of Death (Welles)The Death Triangle (Welles)The Society of the Living Dead (Welles)The Plot Murder (Welles)The White Legion (Welles)The Hypnotized Audience (Welles)Message From Tthe Hills (Welles)Traffic in Death (Johnstone)Night Without End (Johnstone)Appointment With Death (Johnstone)Can the Dead Talk.
It wasn't long before I landed my first tape, an episode called "Death from the Deep" about a rich psychopath who trolls the seas in a custom-built submarine, sinking passenger liners and machine-gunning their crews. (Johnstone)Mansion of Madness (Johnstone)The Shadow Returns (Johnstone)The Sandhog Murders (Johnstone)The Voice of Death (Johnstone)Joey's Christmas Story (Johnstone)The Shadow Challenged (Johnstone)The Chess Club Murders (Johnstone)The Ghost Walks Again (Johnstone)The Case of the Three Frightened Policemen (Johnstone)The Right of Light (Johnstone)The Wailing Corpse (Johnstone)The Gibbering Things (Morrison)Death to the Shadow (Morrison)Gang Doctor (Morrison)The Devil Takes a Wife (Morrison)The Scent of Death (Morrison)Spider Boy (Morrison)The Phantom of the Lighthouse (Morrison) The Curse of the Gypsies (Morrison) Murder and the Medium (Morrison) The Chill of Death (Morrison) Bones of the Dragon (Morrison) Death and the Black Fedora (Morrison) One Dead and Two to Go (Morrison) Preview of Terror (Morrison) Like I said, tapes are no longer widely available, even on Amazon, and CDs are expensive and have a weak storage capacity; MP3s seem to be the wave of the present. Besides the frantic organ music and Margo's tendency to get kidnapped, it fell very heavily into the eye for an eye school of justice. It was a public service to kill them, although in fairness to the Shadow, he usually tricked his enemies into killing each other, climbing into booby-trapped boats, or blundering into 20 trigger happy policemen led by the bumbling Commissioner Weston. In 1938, Orson was doing full-time on Broadway, sometimes two or three shows a day, and actually hired a private ambulance to drive him, sirens blaring, from 42nd street to the studio so he could make it to Radio City for airtime without getting pulled over. But this is a very respectable collection to have no matter how you get ahold of it.
the shadow is truly a great institution. many people will tell you that orson welles was the best shadow. well orson was the first who took an active part playing lamont cranston so let's give him some points for that. my older sister who loved dance music every other night (and hogged our only radio), was right there with us when 'his nibs, came a calling. did margo ever get her man - without a shadow of a doubt. had he rehearsed like a true professional he would have been better.
and along with a truly great adventure every episode you have agnes moorehead, grace mathews, and the other great talents who have played the lovely margo lane. many people will also tell you that ice cream is best after it's been left in the car overnight in the middle of july. whether it's welles, johnstone, or my personal favourite brett morrison you are in for a treat. better yes, best, not on his best night. his best night was 'war of the worlds - but that as they say is another story.i used to listen to the shadow with my dad. just think a crime fighter linked up with the same femme fatale for 40 years.
but who really knows - the shadow knows.lloyd davidson
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