The Vanishing Shadow (1934)

A 12-episode serial in which a son avenges the death of his father at the hands of corrupt politicians. He develops a wide variety of complex devices in his crusade . . . ray guns, robots ... See full summary »

Director:

Lew Landers

Writers:

Basil Dickey (screenplay), George Morgan (screenplay),

Stars:

Onslow Stevens, Ada Ince, Walter Miller

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Onslow Stevens	...	Stanley Stanfield
Ada Ince	...	Gloria Barnett, alias Gloria Grant
Walter Miller	...	Wade Barnett
James Durkin	...	Prof. Carl Van Dorn
Richard Cramer	...	Dorgan
William Desmond	...	Editor MacDonald
J. Frank Glendon	...	John Cadwell (as Frank Glendon)
Sidney Bracey	...	Denny
Monte Montague	...	Badger (as Monty Montague)
Edmund Cobb	...	Kent
Beulah Hutton	...	Sal (gal moll) [Chs.2,3]

Storyline

A 12-episode serial in which a son avenges the death of his father at the hands of corrupt politicians. He develops a wide variety of complex devices in his crusade . . . ray guns, robots and a 'vanishing belt.'

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Plot Keywords:

death | alias | corrupt politician | robot | serial | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 April 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Sombra Misteriosa

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

242 min 242 min (12 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chapter Titles:

• 1. Accused of Murder
• 2. The Destroying Ray
• 3. The Avalanche
• 4. Trapped
• 5. Hurled From the Sky
• 6. Chain Lightning
• 7. The Tragic Crash
• 8. The Shadow of Death
• 9. Blazing Bulkheads
• 10.The Iron Death
• 11.The Juggernaut
• 12.Retribution

User Reviews

Universal stretches the box on # 22

An electrical engineer, Stanley Stanfield (Onslow Stevens), brings his newest invention to the famous electrical wizard, Carl Van Dorn (James Durkins)--- a vest-like apparatus that enables the wearer to vanish, leaving only a shadow. Hey, back off...it's a good start.

Anyway, Van Dorn is vastly impressed and, with the aid of the machine, the pair set out to bring about the downfall of power-crazed Wade Barnett (Walter Miller) and his crony Dorgan (Dick Cramer), whose political-group activities, through a vicious smear campaign, had hounded Stanfield's father to death. Stanfield's efforts are complicated by the fact that his girlfriend, known to him as Gloria Grant (Ada Ince), is really Barnett's daughter, who has rejected her father and goes by an alias.

Wizard Van Dorn also stays busy inventing new gadgets to fight the gang with but, someway or another, he or Stanfield or Gloria always end up as the victim rather then Barnett, Dorgan or their henchies. Going back to the drawing board in chapter 10 (The Iron Death), Van Dorn comes up with a short-wave radio controlled robot and, in chapter 11 (The Juggernaut), he remotes it into a room to kill Barnett, but by mistake, the robot attacks Stanfield, who is tied helpless in a chair. Barnett was long gone.

They would have been better served by spending all their time and energy in trying to get rid of the shadow caused by the invisibility vest.

Toss in Ada Ince in the highest-budgeted film she ever made, and Edmund Cobb as a derby-hat wearing henchie (looking a lot like "Doiby" Dickles, the Green Lantern's cab-driving pal) and add Kenneth Strickfaden's art-deco lab and amazing electrical gadgets...and this becomes a Keeper.