Wednesday, March 13, 2019

The Chess Club Murders

     In this February 23, 1941 radio program of The Shadow characters at the chess club are killed by the villain, who then commits suicide once The Shadow corners him. 
     The Shadow was a collection of serialized dramas, originally in 1930s pulp novels and then in a wide variety of Shadow media. The Shadow has been featured on the radio, in a long-running pulp magazine series, in American comic books, comic strips, television, serials, video games, and at least five feature films. The radio drama included episodes voiced by Orson Welles. 
     The program debuted on July 31, 1930, as the mysterious narrator of the radio program Detective Story Hour, which was developed to boost sales of the monthly Detective Story Magazine. 
     The introduction was: "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!", spoken by actor Frank Readick Jr. and accompanied by an ominous laugh and a musical theme. 
     At the end of each episode The Shadow reminded listeners that, "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit! Crime does not pay... The Shadow knows!" Though not given the literal ability to become invisible, The Shadow was characterized as having "the power to cloud men's minds so they cannot see him.”

1 comment:

  1. The young Mikhail Tal also had the power to cloud men's minds. Coincidence? I don't think so!

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