The Missing Lady

The Missing Lady (1946)

** (out of 4)

The third and final film in Monogram's The Shadow series has Lamont Cranston (Kane Richmond) being hired to try and track down the title item, not an actual person but instead a stolen jade statuette. If you read the review in Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide you'll see that this here actually got a fairly glowing review but I personally didn't think the film was all that good. Yes, it's about on pace with many of the mystery/crime pictures from its era but that doesn't mean it's a good movie. I think, once again, the biggest problem is that it was clear this film (and the series) was produced to cash in on the countless other studios who all owned their own crime fighters. The screenplay here is one that I'll at least give a little credit to because it does show that they were at least trying to do something that wasn't 100% routine like the previous film in the series. This one here at least tried to add a little more mystery and I do think they the producers went for more a film noir type of film rather than just your cut and dry mystery solver. I thought the screenplay did allow for a couple interesting characters and there was also some nice twists along the way. Another good thing the film has going for it is the supporting cast of players who actually make for some lively and fun character. Even Richmond has more life and energy than in the previous movie, although I'd still say he made for one of the least interesting heroes of his type. With a little style added in, there's no question that this is a step up from BEHIND THE MASK but it's still short of the best from the genre.