''Shadow of Chinatown'' is both a 1936

film serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

and a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

edited from the serial made by

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers. Ea ...

Victory Pictures Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and Film director, director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including Serial film, serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and ...

Plot

consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for ...

of American businesses are disturbed by the loss of profits due to Chinese businesses located in

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

s in the United States. They hire a pair of Eurasians and their criminal organization to eliminate their competition.

Cast

Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...

... Victor Poten *

Herman Brix Bruce Bennett (born Harold Herman Brix, also credited Herman Brix; May 19, 1906February 24, 2007) was an American film and television actor who prior to his screen career was a highly successful college athlete in football and in both intercol ...

... Martin Andrews *

Joan Barclay Joan Barclay (born Mary Elizabeth Greear; August 31, 1914 – November 22, 2002) was an American film actress of the 1930s and 1940s, starring mostly in B-movies and cliffhangers, with her career starting during the silent film era. Biography ...

... Joan Whiting *

Luana Walters Luana Walters (July 22, 1912 – May 19, 1963) was an American motion picture actress from Los Angeles, California. Biography Walters was an expert horsewoman, which led to her discovery as an actress at a rodeo in Palm Springs, California. ...

... Sonya Rokoff, the

Dragon Lady Dragon Lady is usually a stereotype of certain East Asian and occasionally South Asian and/or Southeast Asian women as strong, deceitful, domineering, mysterious, and often sexually alluring. Inspired by the characters played by actress Anna Ma ...

* Charles King ... Grogan *

Forrest Taylor Edwin Forrest Taylor (December 29, 1883 – February 19, 1965) was an American character actor whose artistic career spanned six different decades, from silents through talkies to the advent of color films. Early years Taylor was born in Bl ...

... Police Captain Walters

Chapter Titles

The serial chapters are as follows: # The Arms of the Gods # The Crushing Walls # 13 Ferguson Alley # Death on the Wire # The Sinister Ray # The Sword Thrower # The Noose # Midnight # The Last Warning # The Bomb # Thundering Doom # Invisible Gas # The Brink of Disaster # The Fatal Trap # The Avenging Powers

Production

The serial was known originally as just ''Chinatown'' and was written with Lugosi in mind.

Release

A feature version of this serial was released simultaneously with the serial itself. It was also called "Shadow of Chinatown" and contained no new footage.

References

External links

* 1936 films 1936 crime films Film serials American black-and-white films Films directed by Robert F. Hill Films set in San Francisco Films produced by Sam Katzman American crime films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{1930s-crime-film-stub