THE SHADOW was a radio crime-melodrama aired July 1930 until March 1935 and then a long run from September 1937 through December 1954 on CBS, NBC, and the Mutual networks.
Even if you never had the thrill of listening to the program on a regular basis, you are probably aware of the tagphrase that was always said in a deep, deep, deliberate voice, “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! Ha, ha, ha.”
The Shadow’s sinister opening line and eerie organ theme was once familiar to over 15 million faithful listeners - and that's back when 15 million represented a HUGE portion of the population. The program's overwhelming influence on subsequent crime dramas and adventure stories is still felt to this day.
The Shadow first premiered in 1930 as a small radio venture by the Street and Smith Company, publishers of pulp fiction and various dime novels. Hoping to boost circulation the firm created a weekly radio-drama to highlight upcoming stories in their monthly publication, Detective Story. Almost as an afterthought program creator, Walther Gibson, devised a mysterious character known as “The Shadow” to host the show, narrating each week’s tale and gently directing audiences towards newsstands for more issues of Detective Story.
Listener response to the program was very positive, but instead of asking for issues of Detective Story, audiences demanded to know where they could find magazines about The Shadow! The Street and Smith Company was more than happy to comply with the waiting public and assigned Gibson the task of writing monthly, and later bi-monthly, novels about the mysterious Shadow.
The Shadow soon became the character, Lamont Cranston, a thin dashing man of mystery and wealth, student of science, and master of the human mind, hypnotism, and the metaphysical. Using “advanced methods that may ultimately become available to law enforcement agencies” Cranston devotes his life to protecting the innocent, writing wrongs, and punishing the guilty. With his assistant and love interest, Margo Lane, The Shadow tracks down dangerous (and extremely bizarre) villains with his amazing abilities of “clouding men’s minds” and rendering himself invisible.
But for many years radio’s version of the Shadow remained a passive character, simply narrating various tales of crime. The show’s sponsor, Blue Coal, had long resisted the active crime-fighting Shadow of the dime novels. In 1937 the sponsor relented and allowed The Shadow to become the hero on a trial basis. A young Orson Welles was picked to play the part of The Shadow.
The new character Margo Lane was also introduced -played by actress Agnes Moorhead. Immediately after these changes, the radio show became a tremendous hit with Shadow fan clubs springing up across the country. Welles became a sensation, but it's interesting to note that the studio was not pleased with his sinister laugh, and retained recordings of earlier Shadow, Frank Readick, for the show’s intro and conclusion.
Lead actors (and sponsors) would change over the years, though the best-known Shadow voices remained Welles, Bill Johnstone, and Bret Morrison. The program remained extremely popular throughout its 25-year run, its spooky and sinister themes proving irresistible to young and old alike. Author John Dunning draws from his personal experiences with the program to comment…
”It is difficult to overstate the impact that this program had on the children of the 1940’s. This writer vividly remembers an episode when the Shadow tracked down a murdering scarecrow. When the killer’s coat was ripped off, revealing nothing but straw, the implications were so terrifying that the young writer-to–be could not sleep in an unlighted room for weeks.” The Shadow translated into Comic Books, magazine articles, books and television. My Dad, who is now 71, can still hear Lamont Cranston's erie laugh and "What evil lurks in the hearts of man? The Shadowwwww knows!" Interesting that this philosophy enforces the depravity if man, his sin nature, separation from God and need for reconciliation. Anyway, that's what Dad says... and he was the minister for 40 years.
The Shadow (along with Fibber McGee, and the Lone Ranger) has been long considered by fans as the very essence of “Old Time Radio.” -Chris Plunkett
WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR AN ORIGINAL PROGRAM OR TWO? WE'VE GATHERED
SEVEN HALF-HOUR "SHADOW" PROGRAMS FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE IN THE SECTION ABOVE THIS ARTICLE. HOPE YOU WILL TAKE TIME TO HEAR ONE OR TWO.
WHEN YOU CLICK THE PROGRAMS LISTED ABOVE IT WILL START AUTOMATICALLY. YOU TREN CAN GO BACK TO THE RAMBLIN PAGE OR WORK ON WHATEVER YOU WANT ON YOUR COMPUTER AS YOU LISTEN. ENJOY!
