The Shadow, Blackmailing Murderer

There will be fog, a lot of fog.  Scotland yard will be stumped.  An old country manor well outside the city.  A group of assorted family members in which one of them is not who he or she appears. Today we have an English film from 1933 in the style of an Agatha Christie tale.  Atmospheric and ominous, the body count will be high, the damsel in distress will be sultry, and the suspects will be numerous.  Our feature today is "The Shadow, " directed by George A. Cooper.

A mysterious man, or woman, clad in dark garb and always behind the shadows, is blackmailing men of good standing.  Parliament officials, movie stars, or other wealthy upstanding members of the community.  The Shadow has always secured love letters these men have written to mistresses.  The gig is, you pay up or I publish these letters.  The men pay up, commit suicide, or are murdered. As the death count climbs, Scotland Yard is able to develop clues.  Uh oh, the detectives who develop clues are then murdered. Sir Richard (Felix Aylmar) leads Scotland Yard and is tired of seeing his detectives killed.  He takes the weekend and goes to visit his country estate where his weird family is gathered. Sir Richard's daughter, Sonia (Elizabeth Allan) is a babe.  We like her because she is a babe.  Strangely, we have indications that she knows of the identity of The Shadow.

Reggie (Henry Kendall) is also there.  He wants to marry Sonia, but she is promised to the hunk Beverly (James Raglan).  Reggie is a self-proclaimed criminologist and tells the cops and family members he can solve the case faster than they can.  Oops, two burglars arrive on a foggy night. The hunk Jim (Cyril Raymond) and his sultry evil wife Moya (Jeanne Stuart). They claim their car has broken down, but they actually intend on robbing the mansion. Enter The Shadow.  He's there.  When a detective arrives with the identity of The Shadow, he is murdered before he can tell Sir Richard. Now Sonia is in danger as she knows The Shadow's identity and also has proof.  As Moya and Jim begin robbing the place, The Shadow shoots more people, and Sonia nurses her fiancé, who has just been knocked out...The Shadow gets even more aggressive.

Why won't Sonia simply reveal the identity of the blackmailing fiend?  Is weird Reggie smarter than Scotland Yard?  Will there be a catfight between Sonia and Moya over some guy?  This is a campy and atmospheric murder mystery that proves to be quite vicious.  See "The Shadow," and enjoy a fine B movie from the era of the FDR Administration.