Shadow Strikes, The

1991. THE SHADOW STRIKES (1937-USA). With ROD LA ROCQUE. A neatly turned me featuring the popular radio mystery hero known as “The Shadow.” His alter ego is dapper lawyer and amateur criminologist Lamont Cranston (who is known as “Cranston” in the various other Shadow shows). Cranston’s late father was a famed crime buster who was feared by every hoodlum in the country, and was felled by an assassin’s bullet. The lawyer-criminologist reveres the memory of his father and feels it is his duty to do all he can to live up to the elder Cranston’s memory. Garbed in a black cloak and hat in his guise as “The Shadow,” Cranston goes into action and foils any and all criminal activity. The sole individual who is aware that Cranston and “The Shadow” are one and the same is Henry, his manservant. As the story opens, circumstances force Cranston /ÒThe Shadow” into impersonating lawyer Chester Randall. As Randall, he comes into contact with a wealthy, justifiably paranoid gentleman who immediately becomes a murder victim. There’s no shortage of suspects in the crime, from the deceased’s heirs to various racketeers and gamblers. Somehow, a middle age “Shadow” with thinning hair and no mask looks better in the mind of the listener, where he was usually found on radio. Cranston will have to use all of his guile as he spins a web that is certain to trap the guilty party. 62 minutes. Crime Mystery Suspense