The Shadow is a 1994 American superhero film from Universal Pictures, produced by Martin Bregman, Willi Bear, and Michael Scott Bregman, and directed by Russell Mulcahy. It stars Alec Baldwin, supported by John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller, Peter Boyle, Ian McKellen, Jonathan Winters, and Tim Curry. The film is based on the pulp fiction character of the same name created in 1931 by Walter B. Gibson.
The film was released to theaters on July 1, 1994, received mixed reviews, and was a commercial failure.
Plot
Following the First World War, Lamont Cranston sets himself up as a drug kingpin and warlord in Tibet. The Tulku, 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's Phurba, a mystical flying dagger. Ultimately, Cranston becomes the Tulku's student and learns how to hypnotize others and bend their perceptions so that he becomes invisible, save for his shadow.
Cranston returns to New York City seven 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 meeting Margo Lane, a socialite who is also telepathic.
Shiwan Khan, a powerful rogue protégé of the Tulku, arrives in New York inside Genghis Khan's sarcophagus. 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 the War Department—has become uncharacteristically reclusive and aloof. Cranston deduces that Khan has compelled Reinhardt to create an atomic 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 his frontal 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. Cranston and Margo begin a relationship and join forces to fight the criminal underworld.
Cast
Alec Baldwin as Lamont Cranston / The Shadow, a wealthy playboy and former Tibetan drug kingpin who operates as a vigilante. John Lone as Shiwan Khan, the last descendant of Genghis Khan. Penelope Ann Miller as Margo Lane, a socialite who befriends Cranston. Peter Boyle as Moses "Moe" Shrevnitz, a taxi cab driver, allied with the Shadow. Ian McKellen as Dr. Reinhardt Lane, a scientist, the father of Margo. Tim Curry as Farley Claymore, a scientist and former assistant to Dr. Lane, allied with Shiwan Khan. Jonathan Winters as Wainwright Barth, Lamont’s uncle, and Police Commissioner. Sab Shimono as Dr. Roy Tam, a Chinese scientist rescued by the Shadow and helping him. Andre Gregory as Burbank, an ally of the Shadow who runs his spy network. James Hong as Li Peng, a servant of the Tulku. Joseph Maher as Isaac Newboldt, curator of the New York museum. Max Wright as Berger, assistant curator of the museum. Ethan Phillips as Nelson, a guard at the museum. Abraham Benrubi and Steve Hytner as Marines guarding Dr. Lane's laboratory. Kate McGregor Stewart as Mrs. Shrevnitz Frank Welker as the voice of Phurba, a mystical dagger. Barry Dennen as the voice of Tulku (uncredited)