The Shadow radio drama

[Unlucky Berman]

I have heard much of it but to my shame I must confess that I never heard one of the shows itself. Does someone know a source where to get some of them, maybe download them, especially the ones with Orson Welles? Would be nice to listen a bit to them.

 

[Kid Mac]

A few Shadow programs can be downloaded from this site:

(Sorry -- we can't link to download sites -- copyright reasons!)

Welles was the voice of The Shadow from September '37 to October '38.

Cheers,

Mac

 

[LizzieMaine]

Because "The Shadow" is still under copyright under US Law, the Lounge can't provide links to download sites. But there are a number of excellent CD issues of this series, which have the added advantage of offering far better audio quality than any of the mp3s floating around the net. One good place to start is this set.

(Full disclosure -- I also write booklets and liner notes for Radio Spirits, but did not work on this particular set, and do not benefit from its sale.)

Ebay is a good place to find out-of-print CDs, LPs, and cassettes of "Shadow" programs as well. I especially recommend the Murray Hill LP sets from the '70s, which offered a good cross section of Welles episodes.

 

[Kid Mac]

My mistake. Since all radio shows created before January 1, 1978 fall under the Copyright Act of 1909, I'd assumed The Shadow programs were in public domain. Thanks for deleting the link.

Best,
Mac

 

[LizzieMaine]

Actually, most radio shows were considered "unpublished works" under the 1978 copyright law, and therefore received full statutory copyright protection when the new act came into effect. Audio recordings are a whole separate thing, explained in the Copyright sticky, but the short version is that nearly all audio recordings made in the US are copyrighted until 2067. The only exception are utterances of the President, and recordings specifically deeded to "the people of the United States," such as the Edison archives.

The Shadow, meanwhile, is owned and controlled, lock stock and .45, by Conde-Nast Publications, which has been rather aggressive about enforcing its copyrights in the past.

 

[Flivver]

"The Shadow" was my Mom's favorite radio program when she was a kid in the 1930s. She spoke of it often.

 

[conrad5157]

There was an online radio site where I was able to listen to The Shadow and Sherlock Holmes among others but I just can't remember the name. You may be able to find a listing if you follow the link below. If not, some of these shows still look interesting.

http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?genre=old%20time%20radio

 

[DanielJones]

If you have XM Radio you can check out Radio Classics on channel 164. They play The Shadow series regularly. Sometime you can even catch Orson Welles (Sept. 1937 to Oct. 1938) as the Shadow & Agnes Moorhead (yes, Endora from Bewitched) as Margo Lane. The second Shadow after Welles was Bill Johnstone for five years. Bret Morrison had the longest stint as The Shadow though, a whopping 10 year run. There were others like John Archer & Steve Courtleigh to round out the voice actors that played the famed crime fighter.

Of course there are other radio shows there too that just snare you in & then you find a new addiction. Go figure.

"The weed of crime bears bitter fruit!"

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Lily Powers]

I don't believe you can download from this site so it should be ok to post the link, but you can listen to the old radio shows here: http://www.radiolovers.com/

They don't have The Shadow, but there are other mysteries, big band, comedies, etc.

 

[dhermann1]

Once you've heard a few episodes, you can check out the film from a few years ago with Alec Baldwin. Much fun movie.

 

[Vornholt]

I've listened to a great many OTR programs, from detective to comedy to scifi, but I have to admit that The Shadow is not my favorite.

I write audio drama myself, and I've given the series considerable thought to find out what I don't like, or what just doesn't work. I should admit that I've read a VERY large number of the original pulp novels (before they were pulled from various download sites) and the radio show doesn't hold a candle to them.

I think the concept is simply too visual a thing to work on radio. Unlike such series as Philip Marlowe, or Dragnet, or Jack Benny, the whole Shadow premise as done on radio needs to be seen, not heard. The radio version invented the "cloud men's minds bit, which is absent from the pulps, yet was incapable of reproducing it. Bret Morrison on a filter mike just doesn't cut it.

The stories themselves aren't bad, if often a bit "out there"

 

[dhermann1]

But it probably has the best opening line in all radio" "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! Mwaaahaahahahahahaaaaaa!!!"

 

[Vornholt]

True, one heck of a line, but try the opening for Philip Marlowe, while you're at it.

 

[Shangas]

Dear Berman,

I have sent you a PM regarding The Shadow. I hope that its contents provide a nice answer to what you're after.

Interesting note - the creepy organ music that plays at the start of each episode of "The Shadow", was performed by Rosa Rio, an organist who started as a silent-film organist in the 1920s, who moved to radio in the 1930s, who moved to television in the 1950s.

She is still alive today, at well over 100 years old.

Watch this YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um2whr-1VO0&feature=channel_page

A few minutes in, she plays the famous theme-music as a request to the interviewer! How sweet! Unfortunately the interviewer doesn't get the famous opening lines of the show quoted quite right.

 

[Pilgrim]

Very nice story! A combination of Scott Simon on NPR (if I recognized the voice correctly) and a local TV report.

Most people would like to be able to do in their 70's what she's doing at age 106!

 

[Vornholt]

The music is a part of "Omphale's Spinning Wheel" by Camille Saint-Saens, but really creeped-out for the program.

 

[Shangas]

True, one heck of a line, but try the opening for Philip Marlowe, while you're at it.

Is that the one that goes: "From the pen of Raymond Chandler, celebrated writer of mystery and suspense, comes crime's greatest enemy!" or something to that effect?

 

[Vornholt]

I had the real intro in mind:

"Get this, and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road, and those who follow it wind up in the gutter, the prison, or the grave. There's no other end, but they never learn."

Delivered in true hard-boiled vocal style, of course.

 

[docneg]

I should admit that I've read a VERY large number of the original pulp novels (before they were pulled from various download sites) and the radio show doesn't hold a candle to them.

There's an enjoyable biography of the creator of The Shadow, called (I think) "Walter Gibson and The Shadow". Read it a few years back and it was as fun as reading the novels.

 

[Shangas]

I had the real intro in mind:

"Get this, and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road, and those who follow it wind up in the gutter, the prison, or the grave. There's no other end, but they never learn."

Delivered in true hard-boiled vocal style, of course.

Oh yes I remember that one!! That was an awesome radio intro. Those monologue intros can be great sometimes. Reminds of the intro to "Broadway - My Beat".