Behind the Mask
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Phil Karlson
Kane Richmond
Barbara Reed
George Chandler
Dorothea Kent
Joseph Crehan
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When Daily Bulletin reporter Jeff Mann is killed in his office by a man dressed in a mask and cape, masked vigilante "The Shadow" is blamed. Jeff, who had been blackmailing city racketeers and threatening to expose them in the newspaper, included in his list Marty Greane. Greane runs a photograph racket at the Paradise Club in which he frames innocent people in compromising situations and offers to keep quiet for money. Also on the list is Mae Bishop, a bookie who runs a numbers racket at the Winter Garden nightclub in which bets are placed through a jukebox. The Shadow is really ex-fighter Lamont Cranston. Cranston swears to his fiancée, Margo Lane, that although he went out to "slug" someone the night Mann was killed, he did not kill him; rather, he believes someone is impersonating him. On Lamont and Margo's wedding day, police officer Daniels is found dead in an alley, and Lamont postpones his nuptials to solve the case. The coroner finds that both Mann and Daniels died of heart failure. Lamont then discovers that the paragraph found in Mann's typewriter, professing to reveal The Shadow's true identity, was not typed by him. Mann's secretary, Edie Merrill, offers Lamont the key to Mann's apartment, where he kept his personal files. Suspecting that Lamont is romantically interested in Edie, Margo creates a scene, and after she boards the elevator to leave, Edie is killed. Again the coroner attributes the death to heart failure. Margo then disguises herself as The Shadow and searches Mann's apartment, but is knocked out. When Lamont enters, he believes that she is The Shadow's impostor and knocks her out again, but after his nemesis, police inspector Cardona, arrives, Lamont helps Margo escape. Next, Lamont and his butler, Shrevvie, go undercover at the Paradise Club as naïve tourists, and Margo and Jennie, Shrevvie's girl friend, tail them dressed as loose women. At the Winter Garden, Shrevvie places bets through the jukebox while Lamont dons his Shadow outfit and slugs his way into Mae's back betting room. Mae reports that she knows The Shadow impostor was splitting Mann's take because he collected from her. Lamont then asks Cardona to meet him at the Bulletin office, where he explains that the three victims were killed with a hypodermic needle that sent an air bubble through their veins. After killing Mann, the murderer climbed through the fire escape to the office adjacent to Mann's and fled. In the adjacent office, Lamont finds Mann's "sucker" list and the disguise of the impostor Shadow. The office belongs to Bulletin reporter Brad Thomas, who was Mann's partner in extortion. Thomas killed Mann in order to increase his share of the blackmail money. After the case is solved, Lamont spanks Margo for her interference, and Shrevvie spanks Jennie.
Director
Phil Karlson
Cast
Kane Richmond
Barbara Reed
George Chandler
Dorothea Kent
Joseph Crehan
Pierre Watkin
Robert Shayne
June Clyde
James Cardwell
Marjorie Hoshelle
Joyce Compton
Ed Gargan
Lou Crosby
Bill Christy
Nancy Brinckman
Dewey Robinson
Jean Carlin
Laura Stevens
Ruth Cherrington
Ralph Brooks
James Nataro
Bill Ruhl
Marie Harmon
Lois Fields
Crew
William Beaudine
Lou Brock
George Callahan
Mario Castegnaro
William Clothier
Glenn Cook
Russell A. Cully
Lynn Dunn
Larry Glickman
Ace Herman
Arthur Hoerl
Theodore Joos
Joseph I. Kane
Joe Kaufman
Edward Kay
Charles Kerr
Tom Lambert
Ray Mercer
Dave Milton
George Mitchell
Earl B. Mounce
William Sickner
Al Simpson
James G. Stewart
Richard Van Hessen
Vernon L. Walker
William H. Wilmarth
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The title card on the viewed print reads: Monogram Pictures Corp. presents "The Shadow in Behind the Mask." The film's working title was The Shadow's Shadow. According to a Hollywood Reporter news item in late January 1946, William Beaudine substituted as director for Phil Karlson while he was out with ptomaine poisoning. Joyce Compton replaced January Wiley in the role of "Lulu," and Jean Carlin replaced Christine McIntyre in the role of "Cigarette girl." For additional information on "The Shadow" series, please see the entry below for The Shadow Returns and consult the Series Index.
