Title: The Blind Beggar Dies
Air date: April 17, 1938
Plot summary: "Singing Jim" is a homeless blind man who literally sings for his supper on the city's streets. One night two hoodlums, Spike and Marty, come up to Jim and demand a "protection" payout. Jim says that he has no money and begs for mercy, but the two thugs beat him with a blackjack. They were actually only trying to beat him into submission, but Singing Jim dies.
Enter Lamont Cranston. It turns out that Singing Jim was a fixture in the downtown neighborhood and was known to both Lamont and his loyal companion Margo Lane. Before he dies in the hospital Singing Jim tells Lamont about how he was beaten because he wouldn't pay a dollar a week in protection. The Shadow springs into action, promising the community of beggars and street people that he will help them and punish the crooks that are victimizing them.
The Shadow tells the street people to leave signs if they are being victimized by Marty and Spike. It turns out, however, that Marty was there at the gathering of homeless folks, in disguise. The two crooks, forewarned that The Shadow is after them, kidnap one of the street people in order to lure The Shadow into a trap.
Tropes:
- Disposable Vagrant: The vagrants themselves believe this, thinking that there's no way the police will ever help them. That's why they're happy when The Shadow offers his assistance.
- Extra! Extra! Read All About It!: In this episode it's used for the Product Placement! "Extra, extra, this weekend car crashes in skidding accident!", followed by Orson Welles in character saying "The Shadow knows" how scary it is for a car to slide on the road, followed by the announcer recommending Goodrich tires.
- Misfit Mobilization Moment: The Shadow, having found Spike and Marty hiding out in the pool hall, dispatches all the homeless after them. Spike and Marty were able to intimidate the beggars one at a time, but with thirty of them hammering at the doors "and more comin' every minute," Spike and Marty surrender.
- Narrating the Obvious: After Spike shoots out the lights, Marty feels the need to tell Spike that he shot out the lights.
- Protection Racket: Two criminals, Spike and Marty, run a particularly cruel protection racket in which they extort petty cash from homeless beggars.
- Psychic Powers: This is one of the episodes where The Shadow uses his power to read minds. He is able to sense that there is a spy among the gathering of homeless people that are talking about the protection racket.
- Street Performer: Singing Jim, who ekes out a meager living singing on the street for rich folks. He is murdered by Spike and Marty.
- Ventriloquism: How The Shadow gets the better of the bad guys. They kidnap Apple Mary and barricade themselves in a room with only one door, reasoning that when The Shadow opens that door, they can start shooting, even if they don't see him. The Shadow's voice is heard at the door and they open fire. What they don't know is that The Shadow was already in the room with them, having uses his power of invisibility to follow Marty right in. He throws his voice to make it seem as if he's at the door, and Spike empties his machine gun. Then The Shadow follows them to their hideout.
- Villain Opening Scene: One of many Shadow episodes to start off with the bad guy doing something bad. In this case it's two thugs beating a beggar to death.
