Line #15 Trivia/TheShadow


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2	!!Film:
3	* AwesomeDearBoy: One of the main reasons Creator/TimCurry signed on was to work with Creator/IanMcKellen.
4	* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget, $40 million. Box office, $48 million. Audiences just had [[Film/ForrestGump too]] [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 many]] [[Film/TheMask other]] [[Film/{{Speed}} better]] [[Film/TrueLies options]] that summer and weren't interested in a relatively obscure pulp hero movie.
5	* FakeAmerican: Creator/TimCurry as Farley Claymore.
6	* FollowTheLeader: Came out after the giant success of ''Film/Batman1989'', which inspired a wave of similar noir-esque styled, pulpy superhero adventure films. Ironic given that the character of Shadow was a source of inspiration for the creation of Batman himself and how Creator/AlecBaldwin had been considered for the other role.
7	* TheMerch: Like ''Batman'' before it, ''The Shadow'' had a Kenner toyline. Unique among the figurines were the mail-in premium "Electronic Bulletproof Shadow," which featured the Shadow's iconic laugh, and Dr. Mocquino, the Voodoo Master. Yes, that's right: ''[[ShownTheirWork Kenner resurrected an almost-unknown character from the pulps for their toyline.]]'' He got his own Batmobile (the Mirage SX-100) and Batcycle (the Nightmist Cycle), too.
8	* OneForTheMoneyOneForTheArt: This was one of the movies Sir Creator/IanMcKellen starred in to fund ''Film/RichardIII''.
9	* PlayingAgainstType:
10	** Creator/TimCurry, the mighty [[Film/{{Legend 1985}} Lord of Darkness]] and [[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow charismatic Sweet Transvestite]] playing an oily, sycophantic [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Grima Wormtongue]] character.
11	** Creator/JonathanWinters playing a serious character-- and with apparently ''no improvisation whatsoever!''
12	* PromotedFanboy: Creator/DavidKoepp had listened to the radio serial as a child, when Creator/{{CBS}} re-ran it on Sunday nights.
13	* PropRecycling: The Phurba is the same knife from ''Film/TheGoldenChild''. Replicas of the Phurba have been made as tie-ins to ''The Shadow.''
14	* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: The film rights were purchased by producer Martin Bregman in 1982. Creator/RobertZemeckis had been involved with a film adaptation in the 1980s, while Creator/SamRaimi's pitch was ignored. Creator/DavidKoepp was hired to write a draft in 1990 and was able to find the right tone that the studio liked.
15	* SimilarlyNamedWorks: Despite sharing the title, it has nothing to do with the [[Literature/TheShadowFairyTale story of the same name]] by Creator/HansChristianAndersen.
16	* StillbornFranchise: The film's failure at the box office canned any chance of a sequel.
17	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
18	** The shooting script had a longer chase scene in the HallOfMirrors, including flashbacks and banter. However, an earthquake destroyed some of the mirrors, making the full scene too expensive.
19	** Creator/SamRaimi wanted to follow up ''Film/EvilDead2'' with this but was unable to get the rights. Instead, he directed ''Film/{{Darkman}}'', using some of the ideas he had for his version of the story.
20	** Creator/ChowYunFat was considered for Shiwan Khan.
21	** A tie-in beat-em-up video game was planned for the SNES, but was never released. It would eventually be leaked online.
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23	!!Pinball:
24	* TheOtherDarrin: Tim Kitzrow provides the voice for Lamont Cranston/The Shadow, though Baldwin's speech from the film itself appears as well.
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26	!!Pulps and Radio:
27	* AccidentallyCorrectWriting: One episode had a DeathRay that worked by killing all the target's white blood cells, leading to massive infections. This is one of the ways radiation can kill you, although it still takes a while, rather than the minute it takes in the episode, and you're just as likely to die from the genetic damage.
28	* {{Defictionalization}}: The Shadow actually began as just the host character of a radio adaptation of the ''Detective Story'' magazine. When people kept asking for his nonexistent magazine, Street and Smith ended up creating one with Walter Gibson as the main writer.
29	* EnforcedMethodActing: Creator/OrsonWelles never read the scripts before recording, so whenever Lamont sounds surprised, you can be sure it's genuine.
30	* ExecutiveMeddling:
31	** Worried that the character was getting too powerful and too difficult to challenge, the writers were ordered to scale back the character's powers to just invisibility (and that they add in weaknesses to even that) and restrict Cranston to using invisibility only twice an episode (at the halfway mark and right at the end).
32	** John Nanovic, longtime editor for the magazine, handed down a number of edicts to Walter Gibson to help broaden the readership base of the magazine. Among the requests were an end to most EthnicScrappy villains, toning down Asian characters using YouNoTakeCandle and AsianSpeekeeEngrish, and including minority characters as heroes, such as Roy Tam and Jericho Druke.
33	* FollowTheLeader:
34	** A radio series called ''The Avenger'' was an obvious attempt to copy the success of the Shadow series, right down to the hero, Jim Brandon, being a mind-reader with the power to turn invisible, though he used electronic gadgets and chemicals rather than the Shadow's hypnotism and telepathy.
35	** The Franchise/{{Batman}} began as basically the Shadow in a bat suit before developing his own style; in particular, his 1939 debut "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate" bears a striking resemblance to a 1936 story from ''The Shadow'' magazine called "Partners of Peril".
36	** WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck is a more recent example of a homage (bordering on parody).
37	* FountainOfExpies: So, so many. ''Literature/TheAvenger'', ''Literature/DocSavage'', ''Literature/TheSpider'', and… [[Franchise/{{Batman}} some flash-in-the-pan costumed detective who dressed as a bat]]. Seriously, nearly every superhero in some way owes his or her creation to The Shadow.
38	* MissingEpisode: The radio dramas ran from 1937 until 1954 and totaled over 650 episodes. For various reasons, only about one-third of those episodes have survived and are still available, including several that only exist as incomplete recordings. Some of the surviving episodes also only exist as adaptations produced in Australia. Somewhat counterintuitively, the majority of the episodes that survive are earlier ones instead of the episodes from the late 40s and early 50s when recording mediums such as magnetic tape would've been more readily available. All but 11 episodes of Orson Welles' 52-episode run to begin the series are still intact, but every single episode from season 13 (1949-50) through to the series' conclusion in season 18 (1954) is gone forever, save one (Season 17's ''The Vengeance of Angela Nolan''). Why, you ask? The producers in the latter run saved money by simply recording over the same master tape every week.
39	* TheOtherDarrin: The radio Shadow was played by several different actors. Same with the radio Margo.

Context Trivia / TheShadow