COLLECTOR’S NOTES:
On the evening of July 31, 1929, a sinister voice, created by script writer Harry Engman Charlot, premiered as the narrator of a new radio show, The Detective Story Hour. The show was sponsored by Street and Smith's weekly Detective Story magazine. It was planned that each weekly radio show would dramatize a story from the current issue. The radio program served well as a promotional medium for the magazine.
The narrator of the program opened with the statement, "The Shadow knows all." None of the other characteristics that most of us remember as being a part of the show were present in this beginning. The Shadow's character, his clothing, his invisibiliy, his assistant Margot Lane, and other aspects were yet to be developed. It only took the sinister voice of Jack LaCurto to intrigue listeners. Street and Smith were delighted, and they enhanced this image of The Shadow by saying he broadasted his stories while wearing a mask and robe in a sealed room.
The Detective Story Hour dropped from the airwaves after a short time because parents complained that their children insisted on staying up late to listen to the program and when they did, they had nightmares. Street and Smith were afraid that their image would be tarnished, and their sales would diminish if they continued with the program..
So, in early 1931 they copyrighted the character and put him into a magazine format. They already produced Astounding Stories and Doc Savage. The Shadow would add to their stable of pulp fiction characters. It was through Shadow Magazine that much of the Shadow's character developed. Written by Walter B. Gibson under the pen name of Maxwell Grant, The Shadow became a crime-fighter. His sharp features, hawk-like nose, and penetrating eyes were framed by a black, soft, broad-brimmed hat and a cloak that, in cover illustrations, often covered the lower portion of his face. The magazine steadily grew in popularity.
In the fall of 1931, the Shadow was back on the air waves as narrator for the Blue Coal Radio Hour. Then in January 1932, the Shadow was given his own radio program on CBS, but it lasted for only five episodes. It returned in October on NBC, Wednesday nights, with a less sinister sounding narrator, Frank Readick, who warned listeners that "Crime does not pay." Resdick enjoyed wearing a black cloak and hat while doing the broadcasts. Street and Smith continued to blend the show with the sales of the magazine by providing clues on the radio that only the magazine readers could decipher.
In the fall of 1934, the show moved to 6:30 on Monday and Wednesday nights on CBS. Scripts were primarily written by Prentice Winchell and Theodore Tinsley (who later wrote Shadow novels).
After two years, the show left the air again when the Blue Coal sponsors refused to let Street and Smith change the format to give the Shadow a more central role in the stories. Blue Coal believed a successful format should not be changed.
Smith and Street brought the Shadow back in the fall of 1937 in a central role. The new format was heard on Mutual on September 26, 1937. Titled The Death House Rescue, the program had the Shadow save an innocent man from the electric chair. For the first time the Shadow appeared to be "invisible" as he drew his cloak around him. This program was so famous that it was rebroadcast each year for two decades.
One reason why this program was electrifying to listeners is that a new voice was given to the Shadow—the voice of a 22-year-old Orson Wells. Wells asks with his great voice, "Who knows. . .what evil. . .llllurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" This openning, accompanied by the rising background theme, Glooms of Fate, and the ending lines, "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. Crime does not pay. The Shadow knows", heightened the drama of the program and gave listeners a great new image.
The last radio program, Murder by the Sea, aired on December 26, 1954.
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