The Later Lamont Cranston
Dave
Mystery" (Tollin #12)/
I'd been reading a lot of early to mid-30s SHADOWs -- stuff that pre-
dated the radio show. And then, with "Magigals" in 1949, we get
basically the radio Lamont Cranston. Not the languid man on the edge
of the ocnversation who either had nothing to say, or a single
insightful question -- the pulp Lamont.
Instead we get the radio Cranston -- busybody, conversaionalist, man
with a wide circle of aquaintences. "MAGIGALS" actually would be much
improved by theintroduction of Margo Lane
dave
zeni...@gmail.com
i think the last 5 Shadows by Gibson had lost the feel for the
Shadow. The drive and motivation are long gone. I prefer Jade Dragon
by far for these last 5. Reign of Terror by Bruce Elliot is an
excellent novel, and it would have really been interesting to see him
follow up with more Shadow stories in this flavor. Unfortunately for
the Shadow at this time, the radio showed was by far more popular then
the pulp magazine.
Dr Hermes
I haven't read the Shadow stories by Bruce Elliot in <mumble> years, but
the semi-serious theory a lot of fans used to have was that the actual
Shadow had vanished for a while. This was supposed to be Lamont Cranston
himself in those stories, solving mysteries with some of the knowledge
he had picked up over his time with the mysterious crimefighter. I
should read some of those later books again with that interpretation in
mind.
Considering how Doc Savage and the Shadow were toned down and made more
realistic and less superhuman during the postwar years, it'd be
interesting to see what would have happened if the Spider had kept
publishing until 1948. I can see Richard Wentworth as a tough but
sophisticated freelance detective shooting it out with regular
gangsters. Might be some good stories.
http://community.webtv.net/drhermes/DRHERMESREVIEWSHome/
http://dr-hermes.livejournal.com/
Opry phantom
> I haven't read the Shadow stories by Bruce Elliot in <mumble> years, but
> the semi-serious theory a lot of fans used to have was that the actual
> Shadow had vanished for a while. This was supposed to be Lamont Cranston
> himself in those stories, solving mysteries with some of the knowledge
> he had picked up over his time with the mysterious crimefighter. I
> should read some of those later books again with that interpretation in
> mind.
>
> Considering how Doc Savage and the Shadow were toned down and made more
> realistic and less superhuman during the postwar years, it'd be
> interesting to see what would have happened if the Spider had kept
> publishing until 1948. I can see Richard Wentworth as a tough but
> sophisticated freelance detective shooting it out with regular
> gangsters. Might be some good stories.
>
Sheesh, I picture Wentworth and Race W. in a Home For Retired Crime
Fighters; one with plenty of padding. "Yuh old lunatic, you shoulda
tangled with the Flame, you woulda known what a *real* woman was like!"
zeni...@gmail.com
Reign of Terror is an excellent Shadow by Elliot because it has the
Shadow in it as a driving force and character vs. his Lamont Cranston
driven stories.
The Shadow more realistic in the last 4 novels, I think magician is
more like it. I think it would have been interesting to have seen
Page write a Spider after doing all of those government reports. I
can see Wentworth being a violinist in the New York Philharmonic
venting his frustrations about big band surpassing classical music.
He could hunt down some big band leaders and have doc savage do a few
lobotomies and have classic musical become the rage again.
Look at this headline from 1948 which would make a great little bloody
rampage,
Time Magazine editor Whittaker Chambers tell the House Committee on Un-
American Activities that he tried to war FDR about Communists in top
government jobs. FDR did nothing. He even claims Alger Hiss, a
poster boy for the New Deal and high official in the State Department,
is a Communist
Just think about it.
ilia