Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1916
The Shielding Shadow
Buy The Shielding Shadow now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'The Shielding Shadow' is a 1916 American action film serial directed by Louis J. Gasnier and Donald MacKenzie and starring Grace Darmond and Ralph Kellard.
Plot
The 15 chapter story involves the heroine being protected by a shadow with burning eyes. There's also a cloak of invisibility, some hypnotism and a giant octopus added to the mix.
Cast
* Grace Darmond as Leontine
* Ralph Kellard as Jerry Carson
* Lon Bary as Sebastian Navarro
* Madlaine Traverse as Barbara
* Lionel Braham as The Bouncer
* Frankie Mann as The Cabaret Singer
* Leslie King as One Lump Louie
* Hallen Mostyn
* Madeline Francine
Notes
Most of the chapters of this serial are lost with only chapters 4, 10, 11, 14 and 15 still remaining according to 'Treasures from the Film Archives' by Ronald S. Magliozzi.
A French-American production, 'The Shielding Shadow' was directly inspired by another silent movie serial, 'Judex' - produced by Path Exchange's competitor Gaumont - whose first episode was titled 'The Mysterious Shadow'. As 'Judex's release was delayed because of World War I, 'The Shielding Shadow' was distributed in the United States before 'Judex'. The Gaumont production, however, managed to be released in France before 'The Shielding Shadow' (known in France as 'Ravengar'). Both films appear to have been inspirations for the American pulp character The Shadow, who wears a costume similar to Judex's and has a power of invisibility like The Shielding Shadow's protagonist.Xavier Fournier, 'Super-hros : une histoire franaise', Huginn Muninn, 2014, p. 70-73
References
Buy The Shielding Shadow now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1916