Line #99 Film/TheShadow


1	[[quoteright:216:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MV5BMTQyOTM1NTg4M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNzE3MTQyMQ__V1__SX216_SY324__5736.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:216:The Shadow knows... HAHAHAHAHA!]]
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4	A 1994 Creator/{{Universal}} live-action film directed by Russell Mulcahy and based off the pulp hero ''Radio/TheShadow'', the movie follows the adventures of Lamont Cranston (Creator/AlecBaldwin), who uses his psychic powers as the Shadow to hunt criminals in New York City to make up for the atrocities he committed in the past. But all is not well in the Big Apple - Shiwan Khan (Creator/JohnLone), the last descendant of UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan and fellow psychic, has come to finish his great-grandscestor's work, and he's not about to let anyone stand in his way. Margo Lane, Lamont's love interest, was played by Creator/PenelopeAnnMiller, while her father, physicist Reinhardt Lane, was played by Creator/IanMcKellen.
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6	There was a novelization by James Luceno that valiantly tries to tie the movie into the pulps and radio series. The makers were hoping to start an entire new superhero film franchise but the film performed poorly at the box office and [[StillbornFranchise the franchise was stillborn.]]
7
8	No relation to the Creator/HansChristianAndersen [[Literature/TheShadow story of the same name]].
9
10	----
11	!!This film provides examples of:
12
13	* NinetyPercentOfYourBrain: When Shiwan Khan [[spoiler:awakes from the surgery that removes his powers]], he is told that the surgeons removed a part of the brain that no one ever uses.
14	-->"Unless you believe in telepathy!"
15	* AbsentMindedProfessor: Margo's father, Dr. Reinhardt Lane, is brilliant but is either color blind or can't quite keep what is red or green straight. He also can't pay proper attention to conversations.
16	-->'''Margo:''' I'm afraid I'll never see him again and that makes me deeply and utterly depressed.\
17	'''Reinhardt:''' ''[puttering with an experiment]'' Well that's nice, dear.
18	* ActorAllusion: Creator/PeterBoyle as a Film/TaxiDriver.
19	* AdaptationalSuperpowerChange: While the radio and pulp Shadow's power was a simple PerceptionFilter ("clouding men's minds so that they cannot see him"), this version has a larger arsenal of PsychicPowers at his disposal. Lamont conceals his real face with an illusory one, [[DreamingOfThingsToCome has prophetic dreams]], can [[MindControl control people with hypnosis]], can [[{{Telepathy}} telepathically communicate]] with other active or latent telepaths, and eventually achieves control over the phurba. In the finale, [[spoiler:[[EleventhHourSuperpower he graduates to telekinesis]], shattering dozens of mirrors and then driving a dagger-sized shard of glass into Shiwan's head]].
20	* ArrestedForHeroism: This is averted early on in the film, when Lamont's uncle, the Police Commissioner, tells him that he intends to put a task force on The Shadow for "meddling in police affairs". Lamont hypnotises him into dismissing the issue.
21	* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Alec Baldwin doesn't speak Chinese but it doesn't stop him from ordering a Peking duck.
22	* TheAtoner: Lamont's work as the Shadow is so he can atone for the suffering he caused as the ruthless drug lord Ying Ko.
23	* BadassBoast: Numerous. As an example, Lamont whispering from the shadows at some mobsters about to murder a witness:
24	-->'''The Shadow:''' Did you really think you would get away with it? Did you really think that ''I'' wouldn't know?
25	* BadassCreed: Shiwan Khan does this during his LargeHam announcement of his right to rule.
26	-->'''Shiwan:''' The [[UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan Kha-Khan]], the [[TheScourgeOfGod Power of God on Earth]], [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership Emperor of Mankind]]!
27	* BadassInANiceSuit: Both Lamont and Khan although Khan's is a little too small for him, showing his lack of familiarity with Western culture.
28	* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: One of Shiwan's guards willingly falls to his death rather than be captured by The Shadow.
29	* BigApplesauce: Justified in that Shiwan is also there to test himself against Lamont, or even better, persuade him to change sides.
30	* TheBigRottenApple: The narration over the TimeSkip ends with "Thus armed, Cranston returned to his homeland, that most wretched lair of villainy we know as... New York City". We see that this statement rings true as the Shadow intervenes on some gangsters.
31	* BilingualBonus: In the first scene where Li Peng takes Wu as a hostage, the joke is not subtitled or translated. In Thai, Ying Ko says "But too much like my father."
32	* BlackAndGrayMorality: Lamont ''knows'' he's a bad person and struggles with his dark side, which he channels when he becomes The Shadow, who does bad things for good reasons. This is a foil to Shiwan Khan who is a brutal megalomaniac [[TakeOverTheWorld bent on total world domination]].
33	* BlandNameProduct: Llama cigarettes, an obvious parody of Camel right down to a period-appropriate slogan - "I'D WALK A MILE FOR A CAMEL" becomes;
34	-->I'D CLIMB A MOUNTAIN FOR A LLAMA
35	* BookEnds:
36	** Margo's early frustration with her father's forgetfulness with red or green comes to a head when [[spoiler:disarming the atomic bomb.]]
37	--->'''Margo:''' This is ''green''. ''That's'' red!\
38	'''Reinhardt:''' I've gotta try to remember that!
39	** Lamont is asked a couple of times how he will know where to find someone:
40	--->'''Lamont:''' ''[knowing smile]'' I'll know.
41	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: When Margo goes to her father's lab to find him, Shiwan puts her in a trance and sends her after Lamont. When he later confronts him about it, he tells him that he sent Margo to be killed, which would set Lamont back on the road to evil.
42	* BrickJoke:
43	** Lamont gives Shiwan the name of a psychiatrist. Guess who takes custody of Shiwan in the end?
44	** Lamont gives Shiwan the name of his tailor. Later Shiwan is wearing a nice suit.
45	--->'''Lamont:''' Nice tie.
46	* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler:Shiwan]] is subjected to this trope when [[spoiler:the Shadow drives a glass shard into his brain and then has the doctor who saves Shiwan's life (who is actually one of his agents) complete the lobotomy, removing his psychic powers]].
47	* TheButcher: Ying Ko, The Butcher of Lhasa. Lamont spends the rest of his days atoning for this identity.
48	* CanonWelding: The novelization by James Luceno attempts to reconcile the differences between the pulps and the radio series while placing the film in continuity with both series.
49	* CatapultNightmare: Lamont goes through this twice as he gets a premonition of a coming rival psychic and a reminder of the darkness that lays underneath him.
50	* CementShoes: The Shadow saves a science professor from gangsters who were going to dump him in a river for accidentally witnessing a crime.
51	* ChekhovsGunman: The Shadow saves Dr. Tam from mobsters at the start of the film (after the prologue) in his EstablishingCharacterMoment. Later in the film, Lamont shows up at Tam's house to make use of his knowledge to discover that Khan is building the world's first atomic bomb.
52	* ChekhovsSkill:
53	** More like Chekhov's Disability. Dr. Lane's red-green colorblindness [[spoiler:leads to him nearly cutting the wrong wire in a WireDilemma purely by accident]].
54	** Lamont can be invisible, but he can't hide his Shadow, which lets his enemies know where he is. So when he goes to fight Claymore who does have knowledge of that weakness, he uses his clouding ability to make multiple false shadows giving Claymore the impression that he overcame that weakness.
55	* ColorBlindConfusion: This leads Dr. Lane to [[spoiler:[[WireDilemma cut the wrong wire]] on the nuclear bomb]], making the timer go to warp speed. By the time he's reconnected that wire to fix it, he's gone from having hours to having about two minutes.
56	* CompellingVoice:
57	** Lamont Cranston in Shadow mode has a deep and slightly echoing voice.
58	** Shiwan Khan has a similar voice when he puts people under his control.
59	* CoolCar: A slightly understated instance. The Shadow has no special vehicle but is driven about in Shrevvy's cab, a ''real'' 1936 Cord 810, the toy version of which received a full arsenal of weapons.
60	* CopKiller: The gangster Duke murdered a policeman in front of Dr. Tam. His attempt to silence the witness draws the attention of The Shadow.
61	* TheCowl: Definitely. If anything, this version of the Shadow plays this trope DarkerAndEdgier than other versions, considering Cranston's history as Ying Ko, drug lord and the "Butcher of Lhasa".
62	* CruelMercy: [[spoiler:This is Shiwan Khan's ultimate fate-he survives the final confrontation with Lamont, but is left without his powers in a place where nobody recognizes his supposed greatness, which is absolute hell for an egomaniac like him.]]
63	%%* DeadpanSnarker: Margo, Moe, Khan and occasionally Lamont.
64	* CurseCutShort: Duke roars "You don't scare me! You son of a-" before The Shadow, still laughing, gives him another round of punches to the face.
65	* DeceptiveDisciple: The Tulku tried to save Shiwan like he did with Lamont, but ended up getting killed for his troubles.
66	* DieselPunk: Of the Diesel Noir sub-genre with its Art Deco stylings, heightened technology and grimy noir detective story.
67	* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Farley]] gets hypnotized by [[spoiler:the Shadow]] into jumping through a window to his demise.
68	* DontThinkFeel: During his training with the Tulku, Lamont was never able to gain mastery over the Phurba. According to Shiwan, he always tried to make it submit to brute force rather than controlling it as an extension of himself. [[spoiler:The turning point in the final confrontation between the Shadow and Khan comes when he finally masters it and turns it against Khan.]]
69	* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Lamont as Ying Ko dreams of the Tulku before he gets abducted to his temple, and later has a nightmare about Shiwan.
70	-->'''Margo:''' Oh, God I dreamed.\
71	'''Lamont:''' So did I. What did you dream?\
72	'''Margo:''' I was lying naked on a beach in the South Seas. The tide was coming up to my toes. The sun was beating down. My skin hot and cool at the same time. It was wonderful. What was yours?\
73	'''Lamont:''' [[BodyHorror I dreamed I tore all the skin off my face and was somebody else underneath]].\
74	'''Margo:''' You have problems.\
75	'''Lamont:''' I'm aware of that.
76	* TheDriver: Moe Shrevnitz is one of Lamont's most trusted associates and is a speed freak behind the wheel of his cab. [[DrivesLikeCrazy His customers are glad to be out of the cab.]]
77	* DrowningPit: Farley shoots the Shadow, locks him in a pressure testing chamber at his lab and starts filling it with water.
78	* {{Eagleland}}: Shiwan Khan makes it clear that his view of the USA is 'Murica the Boorish:
79	-->'''Shiwan Khan:''' You Americans are so arrogant. You think your meaningless, decadent country is the new cradle of civilisation, but let me tell you something...
80	** That said, he does admire its fashion, and has a taste for bourbon.
81	* EmpathicWeapon: The Phurba is a dagger with a face and sharp teeth in its handle. It responds to the will and commands of a single strong master.
82	* EnlightenmentSuperpowers: The Shadow received his powers while training to be redeemed. Shiwan Khan also received his powers this way but he was not at all redeemed.
83	* EvilCounterpart: [[EvilCounterpart/{{Film}} Shiwan Khan serves as this to The Shadow]] by having the same source of powers and skill set as The Shadow but is unrepentent to his power-mad ways.
84	* EvilLaugh: It wouldn’t quite be a film about the Shadow if he didn’t do any evil laughing, would it?
85	** Naturally, Khan has one that he brings out occasionally as well.
86	* EvilSorcerer: Technically a ''duel'' between Evil Sorcerers, as [[ByronicHero the Shadow himself]] would be the first to admit he's a piece of work. But Shiwan Khan -- [[SingleLineOfDescent the last descendant of Genghis Khan]], who was taught by the same teacher (whom Shiwan then killed) as Lamont -- actually makes it his ambition to ''top'' him. [[spoiler:In the end, Lamont proves himself more than a match for Shiwan and has a surgeon friend remove Shiwan's PsychicPowers through brain surgery]].
87	* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: Shiwan Khan's first words to Lamont, formerly Ying Ko, The Butcher of Lhasa, are "I saw you as taller."
88	* ExtraExtraReadAllAboutIt: A paperboy shouts this on a street corner.
89	-->'''Paperboy:''' Madman threatens to blow the city sky-high!
90	* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath:
91	** The sailor who Shiwan hypnotizes into jumping off the Empire State Building. Even though we only see the jump from a long distance, we also clearly see him ''hit part of the building'' on the way down.
92	** At the end of the film, [[spoiler:Farley dies when the Shadow hypnotically influences him to jump through a window]].
93	* FamousAncestor: Shiwan Khan claims to be the last descendant of Genghis Khan. Being ''a'' descendant is likely, being the ''last'' descendant is not[[note]]Genghis was said to have bedded or raped thousands of women throughout his lifetime, and a 2003 study speculated that as many as one in 200 men may be able to trace their lineage back to him. Not one in 200 men of Asian descent - one in 200 men ''on Earth''[[/note]].
94	* FateWorseThanDeath: What the Shadow gives [[spoiler:Shiwan Khan]] at the end. [[spoiler:He destroys the villain's psychic abilities and then has him committed to an asylum by one of his minions]] which for someone as pompous as Khan would be Hell.
95	* FauxAffablyEvil: Shiwan Khan appears polite and civil at first, trading compliments and drinks with even his enemies, but this is all a facade: he's ready to drop it at a moment's notice when someone annoys him - and he's quite easy to annoy.
96	* FiveSecondForeshadowing: If you keep an eye on the background characters hands, you can see the ring on their hands and realize they are an agent of Shadow before it is revealed minutes later.
97	* {{Foreshadowing}}: The Tulku's ability to hide his temple in the prologue clearly sets up [[spoiler:Shiwan Khan's use of his powers to hide the building that he's using as his headquarters]].
98	* FriendlyLocalChinatown: Lamont follows one of Shiwan's men into a restaurant within Chinatown.
99	* GlamourFailure: The Shadow "clouds men's minds", making them unable to see him. However, he still leaves signs of a physical presence. This is used against him twice, both times ending with him getting shot.
100	* GlassShatteringSound: Shiwan Khan does this twice, firstly to blast out a window so that he can safely jump out of it (avoiding SuperWindowJump), and then inadvertently when he's wounded and screams out in pain, shattering every window around him. Although it's more likely the sound just coincides with him unleashing his telekinesis, rather than shattering it with sonic force.
101	* AGodAmI: Khan believes this fervently and his plans are nothing short of ruling the world.
102	* GunsAkimbo: While the Shadow doesn't use his twin pistols very much, when he does use them he always draws both at the same time.
103	* HallOfMirrors: The Shadow chases Shiwan into a storage area full of mirrors, and ultimately uses his powers to shatter them.
104	* HandCannon: The Shadow wields a pair of customized [=M1911A1=] pistols with an extended barrel and slide.
105	* HistoricalInJoke: Lamont coins the phrase for the bomb years ahead of schedule.
106	-->'''Dr. Tam:''' I suppose you'd call it an [[ExpospeakGag implosive-explosive sub-molecular device]].\
107	'''Lamont:''' Or an ''[[AtomicHate Atomic bomb]].''\
108	'''Dr. Tam:''' Hey, that's catchy.
109	* HypnoticEyes: Lamont and Shiwan have these, invoked with contact lenses, and changes in the lighting. The Shadow has [[BlackAndGreyMorality metallic gray]] eyes while Shiwan's are [[DarkIsEvil black]].
110	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: A non fatal comical one: Lamont spends his first meeting with Margo wooing her using his telepathy to find her likes. Only to find out she is telepathic as well. So he tries to spend the remainder of the movie avoiding her so she doesn't find out he is The Shadow.
111	* IHaveAFamily: Dr. Tam tries this on his would-be murderers. The leader just scoffs.
112	-->'''Mob Boss:''' They'll get over it.
113	* IfIWantedYouDead: Shiwan Khan (initially) has this attitude towards Lamont.
114	-->'''Shiwan:''' Kill you? ''[chuckles]'' If I wanted you dead, Ying Ko, I would have your liver on a pole right now.\
115	\
116	'''Shiwan:''' I would sooner destroy a Creator/{{Rembrandt\|VanRijn}} than kill you.
117	* InnocentInnuendo: Margo and Lamont have some fun banter.
118	-->'''Lamont:''' Psychically, I'm very well endowed.\
119	'''Margo:''' ''[looking down]'' I'll bet you are.
120	* InsultBackfire: Lamont never really gets under Shiwan's skin.
121	-->'''Lamont:''' You, sir, are a barbarian.\
122	'''Shiwan:''' Thank you. We both are.
123	* JabbaTableManners: Shiwan messily eats with his hands in the Chinese restaurant.
124	* JediMindTrick: One of the Shadow's powers is to psychically convince people to take unwelcome actions such as surrendering their guns.
125	* KilledMidSentence: The cab driver who drove Shiwan Khan after his arrival in New York [[PsychicAssistedSuicide drives straight into a fuel truck.]]
126	-->'''Cab driver:''' This must be my lucky-
127	* LargeHam:
128	** Taylor Dayne's "Original Sin (Theme From ''The Shadow'')" over the end credits - "Produced, Written And Arranged By Music/JimSteinman." It is not a subtle piece.[[note]]Just three years later, it became Graf von Krolock's leitmotif in Theatre/TanzDerVampire![[/note]]
129	** Lamont as the Shadow gives out epic laughter and withering one liners.
130	** Khan gives similar [[EvilLaugh evil laughs]], squeals with delight over his foe's misfortunes and shouts and proclaims more than speaks.
131	** Farley after his mental breakdown is turned into a raving and frothing mess. Then again, he is played by Tim Curry, making it inevitable he'd be this.
132	* LaughingMad:
133	** For Farley Claymore, the "mad" part is quite literal. By the time the Shadow finishes with him, Claymore doesn't have a shred of sanity left, and pretty much all he can do is laugh. And drool.
134	** Subverted with the Shadow himself: his laughter is just as mad-sounding as Claymore's, but as with his radio counterpart, it's just an act intended to fool and frighten his opponents.
135	* LicensedPinballTable: [[Pinball/TheShadow Click here for details.]]
136	* LiteralMinded: Reinhardt Lane demonstrates this in one scene.
137	-->'''Farley:''' The world could be our oyster!\
138	'''Reinhardt:''' I'm allergic to oysters.
139	* {{Lobotomy}}: At the end [[spoiler:Shiwan is lobotomized in such a way that all he has lost is his psychic powers.]]
140	* MaleGaze: In-universe. Farley Claymore can't seem to tear his eyes off Margo Lane's "clever neckline".
141	* ManOfWealthAndTaste: Both Lamont and Shiwan Khan are wealthy and classy. Khan admires Lamont so much he even buys the same brand of suit and tie.
142	* MasterOfIllusion: Both Shiwan and the Shadow, but Shiwan is such a master that [[spoiler:he clouds the minds of ''everyone in New York at the same time''. Specifically, he hides a hundred-story five-star hotel -- smack-dab in the middle of the city -- just to have a luxurious lair for himself]].
143	* MrFanservice: Lamont is quite dapper in his expensive suits and well-attended hair.
144	* MsFanservice: Penelope Ann Miller as Margo, especially in her glamorous white dress.
145	* MythologyGag:
146	** Shiwan asking where Lamont got his tie is a spoof of the product placement used in the radio show.
147	** Mrs. Tam thinks The Shadow was made up to make people listen to the radio more. Well, it was a radio show...
148	* NeverRecycleABuilding: Inverted - Shiwan made everyone believe that the building got torn down, though no one can remember when. [[spoiler:Or ''if''.]]
149	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Shiwan Khan is so confident of his final victory, and so contemptuous of his opponent, that he tells Lamont the secret to controlling the phurba. In their final confrontation, Lamont [[spoiler:uses that knowledge to master the phurba and turn it against Shiwan]].
150	* NightmareSequence: The first time is a warning about Shiwan's arrival, the second time is a nightmare about him pulling his face off, revealing Shiwan underneath, and the third time is a FlashbackNightmare of his time as Ying Ko.
151	* NoSell: [[spoiler: At the end, Shiwan Khan tries to mind-control a doctor at the hospital where he wakes up in restraints. It ''seems'' to work for a few seconds, only for the doctor - one of Cranston's civilian contacts, and the guy who surgically erased Khan's psychic powers while treating his head injury - to ''burst out laughing'' at the attempt.]]
152	* NotBrainwashed: Farley Claymore, who signed up with Khan in exchange for power.
153	* NotDistractedByTheSexy: Played for Laughs between Lamont and his uncle when they're discussing the well-dressed and stunningly beautiful Margot Lane, who is sitting at a nearby table in the Cobalt Club:
154	-->'''Wainwright''': What the hell do you see in her?\
155	'''Lamont''': Uncle Wainwright, are you sure you're not dead?
156	* NotSoDifferentRemark:
157	** Shiwan tells Lamont that this is the case between the two of them.
158	--->'''Shiwan:''' Accept the truth - there is no light without shadow, and you and I are that shadow.
159	** Lamont's dream, in which he rips his own face off like a mask to reveal Shiwan's underneath.
160	* {{Novelisation}}: Written by James Luceno. As mentioned above in CanonWelding, it contains allusions to the Shadow's other adventures from the pulps, while also revealing his original true identity of Kent Allard (where Lamont Cranston was only an alias) and naming all of the bit-part agents who appear (and many more who don't) as characters from the original stories. There is also a scene where Shiwan Khan taunts The Shadow by pointing out that his apparatus for fighting crime came from his opium and heroin wealth.
161	* PinnedToTheWall: The invisible hero is pounding the tar out of some Mongol Warriors in a lab. One of them grabs a flashlight, scans the room, and finds him. A few well-placed arrows stick the Shadow to the wall... until the fully three-dimensional Shadow emerges from out of his own shadow, GunsAkimbo.
162	* PragmaticHero: It's hard to say just where this version of the Shadow lands on the hero scale, but this seems closest. Cranston is definitely on the side of Good, but some of his methods are far from heroic. He works as a vigilante by night, runs a network of secret agents who were forced to work for him, works around the police instead of with them, freely uses his MindControl powers regardless of ethics, and doesn't hesitate to kill his enemies, sometimes in very brutal ways.
163	* PrettyInMink: Margo wears a white fox wrap to a club.
164	* ProductPlacement: In a nod to the product placement in the radio show.
165	-->'''Shiwan:''' That is a lovely tie, by the way! May I ask, where you acquire it?\
166	'''Lamont:''' ''[without missing a beat]'' Brooks Brothers.\
167	'''Shiwan:''' Is that midtown?\
168	'''Lamont:''' 45th and Madison.
169	* PsychicAssistedSuicide: Shiwan uses his powers to off a museum guard who saw him in Genghis's coffin, a cab driver who took him to his lair, and a marine who insulted his fashion sense. The Shadow later uses his powers to [[spoiler:make Farley Claymore jump through a third-story window.]]
170	* PsychicPowers: Primarily {{Telepathy}}, controlling others' actions, mind-induced invisibility, and the Shadow eventually manages to achieve MindOverMatter.
171	* RecycledSoundtrack: Despite the subtitle (and its lyrical suitability), Taylor Dayne's "Original Sin (Theme from 'The Shadow')" was originally written in the early '80s for the ultimately unsuccessful girl group attempt Pandora's Box- and then only a few years after this film, the melody became the leitmotif for ClassicalMovieVampire Graf von Krolock in ''Theatre/TanzDerVampire'', with new lyrics and a new title ("Gott ist tot"- "God Is Dead"). Since then, the melody seems to have become firmly property of ''Tanz'', barring the occasional cover.
172	* ReluctantMadScientist: Dr. Lane, helped along by Shiwan's mind control.
173	* SavedToEnslave: The Shadow saves Dr. Tam's life and enlists him as one of his agents. It's apparently how he recruits all his minions.
174	-->'''The Shadow:''' I've saved your life, Roy Tam - it now belongs to me!\
175	'''Dr. Tam:''' It does?
176	* SealedEvilInACan: Played with. A museum receives a silver sarcophagus from a mysterious source, with an inscription on it saying it's the coffin of Genghis Khan[[note]]Itself a bit of a joke: to this day (circa 2020), the resting place of Genghis Khan is unknown. A museum getting his coffin should either be heralded with a parade or suspicion, not bland interest[[/note]]. When the security guard is left alone with it the coffin starts to shake around and eventually opens up to reveal a man in the dress of a Mongol warrior, who telepathically forces the security guard to shoot himself. However, it turns out it's not actually Genghis Khan, but a modern-day descendant who smuggled himself into America by hiding inside it, and he unseals it himself from within.
177	* SexyBacklessOutfit: Margo has a lovely white dress that she wears to a fancy club and on her impromptu date with Lamont.
178	* TheShangriLa: This serves as the base of the Tulku who keeps its location secret by clouding men's minds.
179	* ShootTheBullet: Happens by accident when Khan and Lamont confront each other in the Chinese restaurant. They're both visibly stunned at what just happened.
180	* ShootTheHostage: This establishes Ying Ko's ruthlessness.
181	-->'''Li Peng:''' ''[having just taken Ying Ko's accountant hostage]'' Even your men are not marksman enough to shoot around him!\
182	'''Ying Ko:''' You're right. ''[to the accountant]'' Wu, you're a wonderful friend. You're like a father to me.\
183	'''Wu:''' Thank you, Ying Ko.\
184	'''Ying Ko:''' ''[to his marksmen]'' Shoot through him.
185	* ShownTheirWork: The crew was able to acquire a real [[CoolCar 1936 Cord 810 taxi]] for Moe, modified slightly for filming yet still keeping the front wheel drive.
186	* SilkHidingSteel: Margo Lane. She's gorgeous in her expensive evening dresses, but she's not soft or helpless. To begin with, she's a latent telepath. When she seeks out Lamont's help, it's not for herself, but for her father. She resists the Shadow's hypnotic powers, insists on working with him against Shiwan Khan, and [[spoiler:far from needing him to save her, when he is trapped in Claymore's lab, it's her who saves him]]. She's even the one who [[spoiler:disables the atomic bomb and saves the entire city.]]
187	* SingleLineOfDescent: Shiwan Khan is [[FridgeLogic somehow]] the "last descendant of Genghis Khan". Genghis Khan was [[ReallyGetsAround a prolific shagger]] with more wives than you can shake a stick at. The world is filled with his descendants (some estimates put 1 out of every 200 people on Earth today in his family tree), so Khan would presumably have to kill [[FridgeHorror millions of people around the world, even if we were only talking about]] [[LineageComesFromTheFather male lineage alone]]. Then again, in his arrogance, Khan might have just pretended he was the last [[RuleOfCool to sound cool]], or he may believe he's the only one who deserves the name. [[note]]The movie came out several years before science showed that Khan had so many descendants, furthermore it is set in the 1920s, so the filmmakers probably didn't know and the character (who was ''created'' in the 20s) was even less likely to, though it would be in-character for him either to be speaking metaphorically or just be ''that'' delusional either way.[[/note]]
188	* TheSociopath: Khan and indeed Lamont before his HeelFaceTurn.
189	* SourceMusic: During the scene where Ying Ko is brought in to meet the Tulku, the dramatic percussion music and chanting is coming from a host of monks lining the sides of the Tulku's hall.
190	* SuperWindowJump: Shiwan escapes the Chinese restaurant by jumping out a window after breaking the glass with his powers. Farley later dives through a glass mural, after the Shadow made him think it was an exit, [[DisneyVillainDeath with less pleasant results]].
191	* SycophanticServant: Farley Claymore sucks up to Khan at every turn and isn't even brainwashed.
192	* SpySpeak: The Shadow's agents use the code sign "The sun is shining, but the ice is slippery" whenever they meet to help establish that they’re working for him.
193	* SymbologyResearchFailure: In Tibetan Buddhism, a ''phurba'' is a dagger-shaped artifact intended for certain kinds of religious rituals, often involving the symbolic "stabbing" or "slaying" of an evil spirit. However, its role as a weapon is ''only'' symbolic. Its point and three edges are blunt - more like a tent stake than a fighting knife. Furthermore, Tibetan Buddhism is possibly [[ActualPacifist the most strictly pacifistic of all major Earthly religions]]. The idea of a phurba being made and used as an actual weapon goes against pretty much everything that Tibetan Buddhists believe.
194	* {{Unobtanium}}: Bronzium, believed by the Chinese to be what the universe was made of, and what Shiwan uses for his bomb. It may actually be enriched uranium or even plutonium, though how you would get the latter with 1920's technology boggles the mind.
195	* VileVillainLaughableLackey: For all his hamminess, Shiwan Khan is a competent, genuinely dangerous villain. However, the oily, smarmy, syncophantic Farley Claymore can't do anything right. His attempts to flirt with Margo fail completely. His interactions with Professor Lane, though intended to demonstrate his jealousy and hatred of the older man, are closer to PokeThePoodle than KickTheDog. Finally, he's a blatant coward, and the Shadow sends him LaughingMad with almost no effort at all. His only moment of competence - [[spoiler: when he traps and nearly kills the Shadow in his rapidly flooding lab]] - is so out of character that it feels like the scene was written for a different character, and given to him when that other character was cut.
196	* VillainBall: Shiwan sends Farley Claymore, a NonActionGuy and the only person who can build more atomic bombs for him, to fight the Shadow, whom he has no chance against.
197	* VillainousBreakdown: Farley Claymore has an excellent one. First he realizes that the Shadow, a man he thinks he left to die, is stalking him. Next he tries shooting at ... well, at the Shadow's shadow, apparently not realizing that shooting ''up'' at the huge shadow on the wall isn't going to hit a man who is standing on the same floor you are. All this time he's laughing, sweating and obviously scared out of his mind. Then he runs out of ammunition. He tries to boost his ego by demanding the Shadow come out of hiding and "fight like a man." Then the room goes dark, slowly, bit by bit... When the Shadow actually does appear, Claymore is reduced to a giggling, stuttering, drooling madman. [[spoiler:Fortunately, he doesn't [[MercyKill live long.]]]]
198	* VisibleInvisibility: The Shadow's body is invisible to the minds of his victims but his shadow is always visible along with wet footsteps and displaced water when he is standing knee deep in a water tank.
199	* VoiceOfTheLegion: The Tulku's commanding voice seems to come from everywhere at once.
200	* WeCanRuleTogether: Shiwan offers to make Ying Ko his partner.
201	** A slight subversion as Shiwan's idea of ruling is sharing half the world with Lamont so that they can go to war with one another [[ForTheEvulz for kicks.]]
202	* WickedCultured: Shiwan loves the finer things in life and is knowledgeable about fine art.
203	-->'''Shiwan:''' I would no sooner destroy you than I would destroy a Rembrandt.\
204	\
205	'''Shiwan:''' That is a lovely tie, by the way! May I ask, where you acquire it?
206	* WireDilemma: When Dr. Lane first tries to disarm the bomb, he accidentally makes the timer go to warp speed and fixing it leaves him with only two minutes. Finally, he decides that it's "usually green"... [[spoiler:and goes for the red wire.]]
207	-->'''Margo:''' ''[strained, nudging the green wire]'' ''This'' is green. ''[nudges the red wire]'' ''That's'' red.
208	* YellowPeril: Fortunately averted. While the villains are Mongols, Dr. Tam and the Tulku are also Asian. Inverted with Dr. Claymore, who is white, and Lamont, also white, before his redemption. As Ying Ko, Lamont was a drug-lord who was terrorizing Tibet and its people.
209	* YouHaveFailedMe: Shiwan kills one of his warriors hypnotized by Lamont.
210	-->'''Shiwan:''' ''[stabs the grunt]'' Weakling!
211	* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: In their second encounter, Shiwan and Lamont both fire guns at each other at near point-blank range...and the bullets collide in mid-air and fall to the ground, fused together. Both men can only stare in open-mouthed disbelief.
212	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: With Farley Claymore's assurance that he can make copies, Shiwan Khan leaves Dr Lane in the hotel to die with his own bomb.
213	* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Lamont feels this when Shiwan makes his WeCanRuleTogether offer.
214	-->'''Lamont:''' [[ThatManIsDead That's not my name anymore.]]\
215	'''Khan:''' But it is nevertheless still who you ''are'', isn't it?!

Context Film / TheShadow