The Shadow(1994 film)

The Shadowis a 1994 Americansuperhero filmfromUniversal Pictures,produced byMartin Bregman,Willi Bear, and Michael Scott Bregman, and directed byRussell Mulcahy.It starsAlec Baldwin,supported byJohn Lone,Penelope Ann Miller,Peter Boyle,Ian McKellen,Jonathan Winters,andTim Curry.The film is based onthe pulp fiction character of the same namecreated in 1931 byWalter B. Gibson.

The Shadow
Theatrical release poster byMichael Kaluta
Directed by	Russell Mulcahy
Screenplay by	David Koepp
Based on	The Shadow byWalter B. Gibson
Produced by	Martin Bregman Willi Baer Michael S. Bregman
Starring	Alec Baldwin John Lone Penelope Ann Miller Peter Boyle Ian McKellen Jonathan Winters Tim Curry
Cinematography	Stephen H. Burum
Edited by	Peter Honess Beth Jochem Besterveld
Music by	Jerry Goldsmith
Production companies	Bregman/Baer Productions, inc.
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	July 1, 1994(1994-07-01)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$40 million
Box office	$48 million

The film was released to theaters on July 1, 1994, received mixed reviews, and was a commercial failure.

Plot

Following theFirst World War,Lamont Cranston sets himself up as a drug kingpin and warlord in Tibet. TheTulku,a holy man who exhibits otherworldly powers, abducts Cranston and offers him a chance to become a force for good. Cranston initially refuses and is attacked by the Tulku'sPhurba,a mystical flying dagger. Ultimately, Cranston becomes the Tulku's student and learns how tohypnotizeothers and bend their perceptions so that he becomes invisible, save for his shadow.

Cranston returns toNew York Cityseven years later and resumes his former life as a wealthy playboy, while secretly operating as The Shadow—a vigilante who terrorizes the city's underworld. He recruits some of those he saves from criminals to act as his agents, providing him with information and specialist knowledge. His identity is largely unknown, especially to his Uncle Wainwright, who happens to be the Police Commissioner of New York, who he has to regularly hypnotize in order to keep the police from interfering with him. Cranston's secret identity is endangered upon meetingMargo Lane,a socialite who is alsotelepathic.

Shiwan Khan, a powerful rogue protégé of the Tulku, arrives in New York insideGenghis Khan'ssarcophagus.As Khan's last descendant, Shiwan plans to fulfill his ancestor's ambitions of world domination. He proposes an alliance to Cranston, who refuses. After acquiring a rare coin from Khan, Cranston learns that it is made of bronzium, a metal that could be used for nuclear fission, and that Margo's father Reinhardt—a scientist working on energy research for theWar Department—has become uncharacteristically reclusive and aloof. Cranston deduces that Khan has compelled Reinhardt to create anatomic bomb.

Khan hypnotizes Margo and commands her to kill The Shadow. Cranston breaks Khan's hypnotic hold on her, but she learns his secret identity. Reinhardt's assistant Farley Claymore allies with Khan to produce a working bomb, which Khan uses to hold New York at ransom. The Shadow eventually discovers Khan's location: the luxurious Hotel Monolith, a building that Khan has rendered forgotten and invisible to the city's inhabitants. Entering the hotel for a showdown with Khan, The Shadow is subdued by the Phurba before he turns it against Khan, disrupting Khan's hypnotic control over Reinhardt and the city. While Margo and Reinhardt disarm the bomb, The Shadow pursues Khan through the hotel and defeats him by hurling a broken shard of glass into hisfrontal lobe.

Khan awakens in the padded cell of a mental hospital. One of the doctors tells Khan that they were able to save his life by removing a part of his brain, nullifying Khan's psychic abilities, before walking away and revealing a ring the Shadow gives to his agents. Cranston and Margo begin a relationship and join forces to fight the criminal underworld.

Cast

• Alec BaldwinasLamont Cranston / The Shadow,a wealthy playboy and former Tibetan drug kingpin who operates as a vigilante.
• John Loneas Shiwan Khan, the last descendant ofGenghis Khan.
• Penelope Ann MillerasMargo Lane,a socialite who befriends Cranston.
• Peter Boyleas Moses "Moe" Shrevnitz, a taxi cab driver, allied with the Shadow.
• Ian McKellenas Dr. Reinhardt Lane, a scientist, the father of Margo.
• Tim Curryas Farley Claymore,a scientist and former assistant to Dr. Lane, allied with Shiwan Khan.
• Jonathan Wintersas Wainwright Barth, Lamont’s uncle, and Police Commissioner.
• Sab Shimonoas Dr. Roy Tam, a Chinese scientist rescued by the Shadow and helping him.
• Andre Gregoryas Burbank, an ally of the Shadow who runs his spy network.
• James Hongas Li Peng, a servant of the Tulku.
• Joseph Maheras Isaac Newboldt, curator of the New York museum.
• Max Wrightas Berger, assistant curator of the museum.
• Ethan Phillipsas Nelson, a guard at the museum.
• Abraham BenrubiandSteve Hytneras Marines guarding Dr. Lane's laboratory.
• Kate McGregor Stewart as Mrs. Shrevnitz
• Frank Welkeras the voice ofPhurba,a mystical dagger.
• Barry Dennenas the voice of Tulku (uncredited)

Production

Producer Martin Bregman bought the rights toThe Shadowin 1982.Robert Zemeckishad been involved with a film adaptation in the 1980s, whileSam Raimi's pitch was ignored. Universal allowed Raimi to develop an original treatment inspired by The Shadow in 1987 with the development ofDarkman.David Koepphad listened to the radio serial ofThe Shadowas a child, whenCBSre-ran it on Sunday nights. Koepp was hired in 1990 to write a new draft, and was able to find the right tone that the studio liked.Bregman remembers, 'Some of them were light, some of them were darker, and others were supposedly funnier – which they weren't. It just didn’t work.'Koepp's script relied predominantly on the pulp novels while taking the overall tone from the radio show, with the actual plot originated by Koepp himself in consultation with Bregman.

In an attempt to differentiateThe Shadowfrom other superhero films of the time, Koepp 'focused on the copy line, 'Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?' and wondered how [the Shadow] knew what evil lurks in the hearts of men. And I decided that perhaps it was because he was uncomfortably familiar with the evil in his own heart.'For Koepp, the film then became 'a story of guilt and atonement'.He picked Shiwan Khan as the film’s villain because 'he was bold and he knew what he was doing – he wanted to conquer the world. That was very simple, maybe a little ambitious, but he knew exactly what he wanted.'He had always been a fan of Alec Baldwin and wrote the script with him in mind: 'He has the eyes and the voice; he had so much of what I pictured Cranston being.'Koepp also sat in on rehearsals and incorporated a lot of the actor’s humor into the script.

Stephen H. Burumserved as cinematographer.

The Shadowwas shot on theUniversal backlot in Hollywoodon five sound-stages over sixty days with a five-day mini-unit tour of location shooting, and a week lost when an earthquake destroyed theHall of Mirrorsset. Mulcahy said, 'There are a lot ofFXin this film, but it's not a FX film. It's a character/story-driven film. The FX are part of the story.'

The Shadowuses a mix of traditional practical and optical effects alongside computer-generated imagery.

Music

The original score forThe Shadowwas composed byJerry Goldsmith,who used his (at the time) signature music style for big orchestra, supported by a prominent percussion section, and musical effects with the help of instruments, especiallysynthesizers.Among theleitmotifsof his score are a romantically dark, yet lush heroic melodic mainthemefor the protagonist, which is accompanied by several secondary themes. For the antagonist, rather than a fully developed theme, Goldsmith used a musical effect in horns and synthesizers imitating a howling sound, a technique that would later echo in his scores forThe Ghost and the Darkness(1996) andThe Edge(1997).

For the album and end credits,Taylor Dayneperformed theJim Steinman-composed song "Original Sin". This had originally appeared onthe album of the same name,recorded by the female groupPandora's Box.Diane Warrenalso composed a period-style big-band piece, "Some Kind of Mystery", performed by Sinoa during the film's first nightclub scene.

TheArista Recordslabel released the soundtrack album in 1994. It featured selections from Goldsmith's score and the songs from the film, "Original Sin" appearing in two different versions.

In 2012,Intrada Recordsreleased a two-CD set that features the world premiere of the entire soundtrack composed by Goldsmith, and (among other bonus tracks) the complete original album cut on the second disc.

Merchandising

James Lucenowrote thenovelizationwhich elaborated further on the story presented in the film.

A video game version ofThe Shadowfor theSuper NESwas developed to tie in with the 1994 film,but was never released (despite being completed) due to the film's disappointing box-office gross.

Midway(under theBallylabel) released aShadow-themed pinball machinein 1994.Brian Eddy(ofAttack From MarsandMedieval Madnessfame) designed the game. It was his first pinball game design, and it was moderately successful.Dan Fordencomposed its original music.

Reception

Box office

The Shadowwas meant to be a summer blockbuster and the starting point for a new film franchise with toy, game, and clothing lines. It suffered from competition for its target audience with, among others,The Lion King(earlier during its run) andThe Mask(later on), and was ultimately a financial failure.The film started off strongly, debuting at No. 2, but failed to sustain any momentum,and grossed $32 million domestically, with a worldwide total of $48 millionagainst a budget of $40 million. The planned franchise never materialized.

Critical response

OnRotten Tomatoes,the film has an approval rating of 37%, based on reviews from 52 critics. The website's consensus states: 'Bringing a classic pulp character to the big screen,The Shadowfeatures impressive visual effects, but the story ultimately fails to strike a memorable chord.'OnMetacriticit has a score of 50% based on reviews from 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".Audiences surveyed byCinemaScoregave the film a grade "B" on scale of A to F.

Brian Lowry ofVarietywrote that, despite similarities, the Shadow "lacks the visceral appeal ofBatmanand won't strike the same chord. " Owen GleibermanofEntertainment Weeklygave the film a grade 'D', adding: 'The trouble with setting a special-effects fantasy in the low-tech ’20s is that unless the American-kitsch elements are injected with something approachingSteven Spielberg's speedy bravado, we become all too aware that the actors are simply standing around B-movie sets spouting cardboard dialogue.'(Entertainment Weeklywould later place the film on its list of the "21 Worst Comic-Book Movies Ever".)

Michael Wilmington, writing for theChicago Tribune,gave his take on the film: "The Shadowshows what can happen when you overdress pulp. You wind up with something gorgeous and suffocated, bejeweled trash floundering in its over-splendid stuffings. "Roger Ebert,writing for theChicago Sun-Timesgave the film 3 out of 4 stars, and said: 'If you respond to film noir, if you like dark streets and women with scarlet lips and big fast cars with running boards, the look of this movie will work some kind of magic.' Jack YeovilofEmpiregave it 3 out 5 and called it "A pleasant, eye-pleasing movie" he further praises the production design and effects, "but the plot never really gels, and for an action fantasy is rather cold".

External links

• The ShadowatIMDb
• The ShadowatBox Office Mojo