THE SHADOW LAUGHS


US, 1933, 67 minutes, Black-and-white.
Hal Skelly, Rose Hobart, Harry T.Morley, Walter Fenner, Robert Keith, Geoffrey Bryant, Cesar Romero.
Directed by Arthur Hoerl.


While it is an enjoyable occupation to go back to the 1930s and 1940s, especially via You tube, to watch the small budget supporting features of the period – and there are many very good ones – this is not one of them.

There were later films with the character The Shadow, but this is not clear here. There is a central character, a newspaper man, who does laugh a lot. However, while there are a number of murders, there are probably too many suspicious characters, cluttered interactions and the plotline is not always clear at all.

Of historical interest, character actor, Robert Keith, makes an early appearance in his career, as does Cesar Romero.

Not one to hunt down.