''Luring Shadows'' is a silent 1920 American religious mystery film directed by

Joseph Levering Joseph Levering (1874–1943) was an American actor, screenwriter and film director.Pitts p.82 He was married to the actress Marian Swayne. Selected filmography Director * ''The Little American'' (1917) * '' Little Miss Fortune'' (1917) * '' T ...

and written by Oscar E. Goebel and Condé B. Pallen. It was produced by the now defunct Catholic Art Association (not to be mistaken for the current

Catholic Art Association The Catholic Art Association (CAA) was founded in 1937 by Sister Esther Newport as an organization of artists, art educators and others interested in Catholic art and its philosophy. The CAA published the '' Catholic Art Quarterly'', sponsored an ...

) and Inter-Ocean Film Corporation, and stars Aida Horton. The film was the Catholic Art Association's fifth and second-to-last cinematic production.

Plot

J.H. Wareing, a New York City financier, is found murdered in his library after the robbery of several

securities A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...

and a necklace. Suspicion points to the butler, Jason, to whom Wareing had shown the necklace the night before. Wareing's daughter, Florence, is also a suspect and therefore denied her father's estate. Over the course of the investigation, Wareing's daughter Florence works with a little girl named Mary (Aida Horton) who lives with a professional burglar named Bill, another suspect. Dr. Barton, the family's physician, arranges a

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spea ...

to identify the murderer. When Barton sees the ghost of Wareing, he betrays his own guild and is arrested. The Wareing estate is returned to Florence, who marries Stanley Carter, an attorney at her father's bank.

Release

''Luring Shadow'' was released in October 1921. After an initial theatrical release, the film was shown at various Catholic churches as an examination of the legitimacy of

spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and Mind-body dualism, dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (w ...

Reception

The ''Edwardsville'' llinois''Intelligencer'' applauded the film's attempts to disprove spiritualism, which had a growing following the carnage of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The paper's wrote that:

People the world over are duped and deceived by spiritualists, who pretend to possess the secret of obtaining communication with the spirits of the dead. ''Luring Shadows'' gives inside information on the nature and identity of these so-called spirits; it shows how people are deceived. Some people pay fancy sums to learn from personal experience how deceitful Spiritualism is. You can save the fancy sum and learn the lesson just as well by seeing the ''Luring Shadows''...

The ''Dunkirk'' ew York''Evening Observer'' called the film a "masterpiece" featuring "Perfect photography, superb acting, ndbeautiful settings." It recommended the film to viewers of all ages.

References

{{reflist 1920 films 1920s English-language films Silent mystery films American mystery films