Review "Syndicate of Death" (The Shadow)
John Olsen
issue of The Shadow Magazine. Death threatens the life of an eccentric
inventor. The Shadow will be forced to use every ounce of his strength
to thwart the powers of evil that hover around his amazing new invention.
By Shadow standards, this tale is a bit of a yawner... a big tedious. Of
course, it did come from 1944, when the pulp adventures were sagging a
bit. But even by 1944 standards, this story is just lacking. It's
lacking anything to make it unique, although it gives a half-hearted
try. But it fails, and we are left with a most unmemorable story.
An actor on Broadway, a bit crazy as they all seemed to be in these type
of stories, is plotting murder on a fellow Thespian. Jan Kranda plays
the part of Heinrich, the mad assassin, in "The Impostor." And Rex Troy,
the leading man, has got to go. So Kranda switches a loaded gun for the
prop gun. How often have we seen this?
So Rex Troy dies, or so we are led to believe. Of course, it later turns
out that he didn't die and there's a lot of switching around which
really just makes the reader fatigued. Anyway, Kranda believes Troy is
dead, so he is motivated to go into hiding. And what better way to go
into hiding than disguised as Professor Bartlett, an inventor?
Professor Lucien Bartlett has an amazing new invention, an amplified
x-ray machine called a cathodoscope. It can see through walls. With this
device, it would be possible to look through a vault door and see the
combination. It's a device which criminals could put to definite use,
and have decided to acquire regardless of whatever stands in their way.
Greedy investors are seeing dollar signs. This invention, once proven,
will be worth millions. Of course, if the invention is proven to be a
fraud, the investors will drop out. And whoever is left, will own the
whole worthless thing. But what if it's not worthless? What if the
investors are tricked into thinking it is a fake, but in reality it works?
Some sinister mastermind figures this all out. Fool his fellow investors
that the cathodoscope is worthless and they will sell their shares for
pennies on the dollar... to him! And then he will be the sole owner and
will become rich... rich... rich! And how does he go about convincing
them that this device is a fraud?
First he has to convince the actor Jan Kranda that he has killed fellow
actor Rex Troy. Then Kranda will seek a way to hide from the law, and
will easily agree to masquerade as Professor Bartlett. And as the
inventor Bartlett, he will make it appear he is trying to swindle his
investors who will then sell their shares and the mysterious Mr. Big
will be sole owner of this valuable new invention.
Is your brain hurting yet? All this scheming, plot and counterplot,
convoluted conniving seems to be the long way around, just to achieve
such a simple end. It's so unnecessarily confusing! But anyway, to
continue...
Professor Bartlett is abducted from his lad to be replaced by Jan Kranda
who masquerades as the real professor. Bartlett's investors are treated
to a sham performance, intended to be clearly revealed as fake, and
convince the investors that the invention is a fraud. That way, the real
working invention can reside safely in the hands of crime!
Luckily, we have The Shadow! And luckily, his alter-ego, Lamont
Cranston, is one of the investors in the cathodoscope. He's there, when
the demonstration takes place. Only The Shadow suspects that the real
Professor Bartlett has been replaced by a duplicate. Only The Shadow
suspects that the invention being demonstrated is not the real
cathodoscope, but a clever fake.
Only The Shadow can whisk the professor's young daughter Elaine out of
harm's way. Only The Shadow can find the secret hiding place where old
Professor Bartlett is being forced to complete the work on his
invention. And only The Shadow can unmask the master villain behind the
entire scheme.
This story comes from 1944, and by this late in the series, changes were
taking place. Most notably, the issue of two Cranstons is dropped. In
most Shadow novels, The Shadow often takes on the guise of Lamont
Cranston when the real Cranston is absent. In this story, there is only
one Lamont Cranston, and he's also The Shadow. There is no attempt to
explain that there is another, real, Cranston.
Another change is that the dual identity of Cranston and The Shadow is
no longer a secret even to his agents. In this story, Lamont Cranston
tells Margo that he is The Shadow. "Professor Bartlett needs the special
protection that I can best give him as The Shadow." He even changes into
The Shadow in the presence of Harry Vincent and Margo Lane. This would
never have happened earlier in the series. In earlier years, his agents
occasionally suspected some connection between the Cranston and The
Shadow. Usually they contemplated that he might be another agent for The
Shadow, like they were. But not here. Cranston is The Shadow, and he
doesn't seem to care if his agents know it!
By 1944, The Shadow radio shows was starting to have it's effect on the
pulp stories, and in this one it shows. In a nod to the radio show,
mention is made of the "weed that bears bitter fruit." The line is spoke
by Shrevvy, who was also in the radio version. The dialogue seems a bit
artificial, as though it was intentionally forced into the story even
though it didn't naturally fit.
Cranston gets to practice some hypnotism, in this tale. Too bad we don't
actually get to see The Shadow hypnotize his victim. But alas, we are
only told about it in retrospect, and even then only rather vaguely:
"Cranston had thrown a hypnotic grip on Troy from the moment that the
meeting began... which had first clouded Troy's mind as to his visit to
Kranda." Notice that the ability to hypnotize is specifically referred
to as "clouding" men's minds. Another obvious nod to the radio series
which used that phrasing in it's opening signature.
And it also alludes to The Shadow's radio ability to achieve
invisibility: "All that remained of The Shadow was his laugh! The thing
was incredible. It made a literal fact out of The Shadow's famed
invisibility." Of course, in the pulp series, The Shadow had no powers
of invisibility. He couldn't cloud men's minds, so they could not see
him. But now and then it was casually mentioned that criminals
mistakenly believed him capable of that feat. All, apparently, in an
effort to tie the radio and pulp series closer together.
Recurring characters in this story include Margo Lane, Clyde Burke,
Hawkeye and Harry Vincent. Hackie Moe Shrevnitz is only referred to as
Shrevvy. Another nod to the radio series. Contact man Burbank is
mentioned, but doesn't actually appear. As for the New York police
force, there's no sign of Commissioner Weston. Joe Cardona appears at
the end to help mop up the gangsters in the climax.
One thing I've always found interesting about the stories from the 1940s
is that more and more often The Shadow was accused of being a criminal.
In the earlier years, the law recognized he was a power for good,
assisting them. But in the 1940s, occasionally the law would ignore his
years of service, and accuse him of switching to the side of
lawlessness. Even Joe Cardona, who had been saved by The Shadow many
times and should have known better, wasn't immune from this suspicion.
In this story, Joe muses, "Well, the wise birds always said he'd go
crooked himself some day, so this must be it." Where's that loyalty, Joe?
In this mystery, we see that Shrevvy has a bit of a potty-mouth.
"Shrevvy cut off with a string of expletives." It's not often that we
see him swear, but he does so here.
The original title of this story was "Eyes of Death." I think that's
much more appropriate, interpreting "Eyes" to mean the machine that can
see through walls. But the editors at Street & Smith decided to change
it to "Syndicate of Death" even though the only syndicate is the group
of investors. The connection is tenuous at best.
In looking back at this story, there's not much to make it stand out.
It's a routine Shadow adventure, but doesn't really have anything
special to offer. The amazing invention isn't used to full effect; it's
just the motivation for everyone's actions. I would have loved to see
more of the x-ray machine in action.
There was one scene that sticks in my memory. The Shadow is climbing up
through the trap door in the ceiling of an elevator, when the cables are
cut. The elevator plummets six or seven stories to the basement. Inside
is found a mangled body. Could it be The Shadow? Did he die? Well, of
course not. But it was fun to try to figure out how he escaped, and who
the body belonged to. And all was finally explained, it was a pretty
satisfying explanation.
But one memorable scene can't save this story. It's really pretty
ordinary. This one doesn't get my recommendation, unless you just want
to say you've read them all.
John
--
"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"
The wonderful old pulp mystery stories are all reviewed at:
http://www.spaceports.com/~deshadow/
Anim8rFSK
John Olsen <jro...@teleport.com> wrote:
> Notice that the ability to hypnotize is specifically referred
> to as "clouding" men's minds. Another obvious nod to the radio series
> which used that phrasing in it's opening signature.
>
> And it also alludes to The Shadow's radio ability to achieve
> invisibility: "All that remained of The Shadow was his laugh! The thing
> was incredible. It made a literal fact out of The Shadow's famed
> invisibility." Of course, in the pulp series, The Shadow had no powers
> of invisibility. He couldn't cloud men's minds, so they could not see
> him.
Okay, I'm confused. If he couldn't cloud your mind or become invisible,
what *could* he do?
--
Stargate Universe SGU: It puts the "U" in "SUCKS"!
It's the show 'Defiling Gravity' would be if DG had more regulars,
fewer abortions, worse writers, and no budget for lighting.
Remember, you can't spell "disgust" without SGU!
John Olsen
>
> Okay, I'm confused. If he couldn't cloud your mind or become invisible,
> what *could* he do?
>
Pretty much what you or I could do... only better. Think of another
pulp hero, The Spider, from a competing publishing house. No special
super powers, just a crimefighter with stamina, reflexes and
intelligence honed to an exceptional degree. That's The Shadow of the
pulps.
Anim8rFSK
John Olsen <jro...@teleport.com> wrote:
> Anim8rFSK wrote:
> >
> > Okay, I'm confused. If he couldn't cloud your mind or become invisible,
> > what *could* he do?
> >
>
>
> Pretty much what you or I could do... only better. Think of another
> pulp hero, The Spider, from a competing publishing house. No special
> super powers, just a crimefighter with stamina, reflexes and
> intelligence honed to an exceptional degree. That's The Shadow of the
> pulps.
>
> John
So I shouldn't be taking the Baldwin movie to heart then? :)
Joe Pfeiffer
> In article <hfahqb$24i$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
> John Olsen <jro...@teleport.com> wrote:
>
>> Notice that the ability to hypnotize is specifically referred
>> to as "clouding" men's minds. Another obvious nod to the radio series
>> which used that phrasing in it's opening signature.
>>
>> And it also alludes to The Shadow's radio ability to achieve
>> invisibility: "All that remained of The Shadow was his laugh! The thing
>> was incredible. It made a literal fact out of The Shadow's famed
>> invisibility." Of course, in the pulp series, The Shadow had no powers
>> of invisibility. He couldn't cloud men's minds, so they could not see
>> him.
>
> Okay, I'm confused. If he couldn't cloud your mind or become invisible,
> what *could* he do?
He had extraordinary makeup abilities, so he was able to pass for
anyone. He was a deadly accurate shot with his .45s. He had a crack
team of operatives getting information for him.
And, while "power to cloud men's minds" and invisibility were never
mentioned, his ability to blend in with his surroundings and not be
noticed can only be explained in those terms.
--
As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should
be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours;
and this we should do freely and generously. (Benjamin Franklin)
P. Lozito
> Anim8rFSK <ANIM8R...@cox.net> writes:
> > In article <hfahqb$24...@news.eternal-september.org>,
>
> - Show quoted text -
I never liked the radio Shadow much compared to the pulp one. Then I
heard the speculation that Cranston was an agent of the real Shadow
Kent Allard with the mutant ability to turn invisible (after all,
Allard resembled Cranston and often masqueraded as him).
Now it becomes interesting. The radio Shadow is Cranston having his
own adventures. However, in rank he has no more pull than other agents
Harry and Mann etc. don't appear. They are busy working for Allard.
You can take the Baldwin movie as an adventure of the invisible
Cranston.
Anim8rFSK
Joe Pfeiffer <pfei...@cs.nmsu.edu> wrote:
> Anim8rFSK <ANIM...@cox.net> writes:
>
> > In article <hfahqb$24i$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
> > John Olsen <jro...@teleport.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Notice that the ability to hypnotize is specifically referred
> >> to as "clouding" men's minds. Another obvious nod to the radio series
> >> which used that phrasing in it's opening signature.
> >>
> >> And it also alludes to The Shadow's radio ability to achieve
> >> invisibility: "All that remained of The Shadow was his laugh! The thing
> >> was incredible. It made a literal fact out of The Shadow's famed
> >> invisibility." Of course, in the pulp series, The Shadow had no powers
> >> of invisibility. He couldn't cloud men's minds, so they could not see
> >> him.
> >
> > Okay, I'm confused. If he couldn't cloud your mind or become invisible,
> > what *could* he do?
>
> He had extraordinary makeup abilities, so he was able to pass for
> anyone. He was a deadly accurate shot with his .45s. He had a crack
> team of operatives getting information for him.
>
> And, while "power to cloud men's minds" and invisibility were never
> mentioned, his ability to blend in with his surroundings and not be
> noticed can only be explained in those terms.
Thanks!