The Shadow and Indiana Jones

I watched "The Shadow" with Alec Baldwin ("Is he still in this country?") the other night.

The movie owes its existance to the '30's serials which ran right up into the '50's. Indiana Jones its existance to the serials of the same period. There was not however a specific "Indiana Jones" serial. Indiana Jones is a synthesis of several.

The contrasts are interesting. I like The Shadow despite Alec Baldwin, but I knew its pacing was flawed. It really has a great '30's feel. The Shadow is slick, allpowerful and alknowing, while Indiana Jones is gritty and far more vulnerable. Jones fits todays audience better, the Spielberg-Lucas could pull it off since they were not bound by anyone's prior knowledge of the character since they simply invented him.

Lamont Cranston is a millionaire playboy adventurer a la Bruce Wayne. Indiana is a professor from a small college. Both have their secret identities.

The Shadow's romantic interest is spunky and runs around in a silk dress and reminds me of Marion. The Shadow has his sidekicks/operatives on a larger scale than Indiana.

Has anyone else seen "The Shadow?"

Broomhandle, you're back! Long time no see, my friend.

I hope you are well.

I haven't seen The Shadow. I have always wanted to see it, but I have never gotten around to doing so.

I must admit, this film looks great and I look forward to seeing it at some stage.

Who Knows What Evil Lurks in the Minds of Men?

Canyon said:

...I haven't seen The Shadow...

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But isn't that the point? You're not supposed to see the Shadow.

It is worth seeing the movie where at times you don't see the hero. It didn't get critical acclaim, but I enjoy it every time I see it. You can't truly be an expert on serials if you haven't.

"Who knows what evil lurks in the minds of men? The Shadow knows."

I love the shadow. It met its greatest success as a radio program (I own 242 episodes of it, they are very interesting). The Shadow is a pastiche of Indiana Jones in a similar way that Han Solo is a cousin of Indiana Jones.

intergamer said:

I love the shadow. It met its greatest success as a radio program (I own 242 episodes of it, they are very interesting). The Shadow is a pastiche of Indiana Jones in a similar way that Han Solo is a cousin of Indiana Jones.

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That's it, intergamer. I'm coming over and raiding your stash.

The Shadow, Doc Savage, the Spider, the Phantom, Flash Gordon...these characters are the progenitors of Indy. In my opinion, most of today's "heroes" pale in comparison.

Broomhandle Davis said:

I watched "The Shadow" with Alec Baldwin ("Is he still in this country?") the other night.

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Alec Baldwin is still in the country -- well if you consider Long, Island New York, USA part of the country. He's a fixture out there. I think he also has a place out west. Last week he finished doing some voicework for the 'Spongebob Squarepants' movie that Paramount is putting out this November.

. . . .and I too liked 'The Shadow' -- although there's parts that I would change but still a pretty solid movie. My two favorite Alec Baldwin performances are (1) his sociopath role in 'Miami Blues' and (2) his drunken ex-cop role in 'Heaven's Prisioners'.

More Noir

There is also more of a "noir" aspect to the Shadow. I think initially Spielberg-Lucas planned to give Indy an alcohol problem that would have cast him in more noir tones, but thought better of it.

The two sometime come together, noir and serials hero, but not that often.

Ah yes, The Shadow. I never thought about compairing Jones and Shadow, but that would make sense.
Both character's have their dark side, and their main enemy are just like them, but wholly consumed by that darkness. "A shadowy reflection of you".