The Vanishing Shadow
About The Vanishing Shadow
Stanley Stanfield, played by Onslow Stevens, inherits bonds and a feud with Wade Barnett, the businessman who caused his father's death. Stanley builds a vanishing ray with the scientist Carl Van Dorn: a belt that leaves only the wearer's shadow. Gloria Grant, played by Ada Ince, is Barnett's estranged daughter, though Stanley does not want her hurt. Barnett's man Dorgan grabs them and then blackmails Barnett. At the ransom Barnett is shot. He dies after speaking to Gloria. Stanley and Gloria marry and take the Tribune, his father's paper.
Cast & crew
More about The Vanishing Shadow
Lew Landers directed. Henry MacRae produced. Universal released the 12 chapters starting 13 April 1934. Total running time 242 minutes. Richard Fryer photographed. Edward Ward wrote the music. James Durkin plays Van Dorn. Walter Miller plays Barnett. Richard Cramer plays Dorgan. The gadgets include the vanishing belt, a robot, a hand-held ray, and a destroying ray. The page on the serial says the hand-held ray is believed to be the first in a film apart from The Death Ray. Lee J. Cobb appears as a roadwork foreman in chapters 3 and 4, his first film role.
Themes
Making
Universal built the chapter play around a belt that erases the body and leaves the shadow, plus a robot and a ray, and cast Cobb in two early chapters as a foreman.
Look
Richard Fryer photographed the ray effects and the chapter cliffhangers.
Technique
The vanishing belt is a wearable device that leaves only a shadow. A separate hand-held ray appears in the chapters.
Music
Edward Ward composed the score.
Preservation
The serial survives. Chapter 1 is the file on Wikimedia Commons. A copy of the serial is on the Internet Archive.
Notes
- The chapters are Accused of Murder, The Destroying Ray, The Avalanche, Trapped, Hurled from the Sky, Chain Lightning, The Tragic Crash, The Shadow of Death, Blazing Bulkheads, The Iron Death, The Juggernaut, and Retribution.
- William Desmond plays the editor MacDonald. J. Frank Glendon plays the stockbroker John Cadwell.
- A Wikimedia Commons file holds chapter 1, not the whole serial.
Scenes
- Stanley puts on the belt and only his shadow remains.
- Dorgan turns the kidnapping into a blackmail of Barnett.
- Barnett is shot at the ransom and reconciles with Gloria before he dies.
Also available
- Internet Archive (the-vanishing-shadow)
- Wikimedia Commons (The Vanishing Shadow, Chapter 1.ogv)