As for the new movie, this “force of nature” is also wrong. I am a big fan of the Pulps and Radio years. I personally feel the movie needs to pull from the pulps almost exclusively.

It’s more interesting to me when the character is not a mental giant that can “cloud men’s minds so they cannot see him.” That worked well on radio — because of the medium. But for the visual medium, I feel it’s much better to have his network of operatives that do most of the seen legwork with the Shadow pulling the strings, as the pulps described. He needs to be nebulous even in the movie, showing when needed, but never really a part of the story development.

The pulps followed his operatives. What we know of the Shadow is through them. The only time we got a glimpse into the man himself was when he was sorting out the facts in the dark office. It’s clear he’s directing the investigation, but he’s only seen when the action unfolds and the operatives themselves are in trouble or need his almost superhuman help, and when the climax is at hand.

My desire — scriptwriter should read at least 10 of the pulp novels and use them as a guide to design the movie. And the first novel, “The Living Shadow”, is a research must.

(And by the way, they were MAC-10s, not Uzis.)

http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Judgement-Howard-V-Chaykin/dp/0930289161

No no no. The Shadow is a lot like other properties left over from the radio age. Forgotten by many but save by a few. Remembered by those who know what it means to have sound effects that aren’t meaningless “drops”. There was a time when CGI didn’t mean shit because CGI didn’t exist. All you had was story and theater of the mind. I can only hope that Sam Raimi knows that imagination is an important part of the visual medium.

That sounds about right Al.

An unknown/C grade character is not a big matter. Presentation is. Even Blade was a supporting character from Marvel’s Tomb Of Dracula, and we got two out of three decent films and a short lived TV show. Let’s say someone finally got around to make a picture about the WWII comics adventures of Blackhawk. Not a big draw in awareness value, but not a lot of “baggage” either.
So I really don’t see the issue here.

In addition, due to Spider-Man and other films, (but mostly webhead) if Raimi does do this, that also helps awareness, regardless if he directs or produces.

“The Director of Spider-Man” and the producer of “The Dark Knight have combined forces…”

(Michael Uslan has been a co-exec producer on all the Batfilms,under Burton and Nolan)

There, you see? Not the biggest interest grabber in the universe as we know it, but you know and I know something like that will come to pass!

Now “kind of” the downside.

Unlike others here I was not a fan/liker of the Russell Mulcahy film from the mid-90’s In fact, I found the film rather hokey. Even for the mid-90’s, the FX was lame. The production design was more of a distraction than any character or action, and Tim Curry was over the top for no reason at all.

That, on the surface, would seem to be a reason for another version…but only if…well, it’s like The Phantom a few years after it; you see it once, it’s “alright” at best but nothing really great. It isn’t that enjoyable, the effort is appreciated, but when all is said and done, it’s just a novelty.

Or the radio play version who blundered into mad schemes as a millionaire playboy with his socialite plaything, Margot Lane…

Or the 60’s novels version, basically the Man From UNCLE is a cloak and hat…

Howard Chaykin’s 80’s version, swapping .45’s for Uzi’s in 1980s NYC…

Not to mention the Archie Comics version *shudder*

It’s difficult to know which is the ‘true’ Shadow to bring to screen. The Baldwin film tried to combine several versions and somehow turned two of the greatest of the pulp stories into something average…

But Al, I think you misunderstand the nature of the Shadow… he’s not a superhero, for one… Batman wouldn’t exist without him (the first Batman story is a straight rip-off of a Shadow story)…

The character could only be described as C level because it’s unknown in the 21st Century beyond existing fans. Nearly 400 books, 60+ years of comic book versions, all the radio plays (which were as popular in the 30s/40s as TV shows in the 50s/60s) and several movies… someone must have liked the character! Saying the Shadow is C level is like saying John Shaft is C level compared to James Bond. They’re different is all.