''The Shadow of the Eagle'' (a.k.a. ''Shadow of the Eagle'') is a 1932 American

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

Mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

12 episode

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 ...

, directed by

Ford Beebe Ford Beebe (November 26, 1888 – November 26, 1978) was a screenwriter and director. He entered the film business as a writer around 1916 and over the next 60 years wrote and/or directed almost 200 films. He specialized in B-movies – mostly ...

and B. Reeves Eason and produced by

Nat Levine Nat Levine (July 26, 1899 – August 6, 1989), was an American film producer. He produced 105 films between 1921 and 1946. He was personal secretary to Marcus Loew, formed Mascot Pictures in 1927, and merged Mascot with Herbert Yates's Re ...

.Farmer 1984, p. 325. The film stars John Wayne in his first serial role. He would go on to star in two other serials for Mascot, ''

The Hurricane Express ''The Hurricane Express'' is a 1932 American Pre-Code 12-chapter Mascot Pictures film serial. Written by Colbert Clark, Barney Sarecky, Wyndham Gittens, George Morgan, and J.P. McGowan, the serial was directed by Armand Schaeffer and J.P. M ...

'' (1932) and ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight ...

'' (1933). ''The Shadow of the Eagle'' is now in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

Plot

Colonel Nathan B. "Skipper" Gregory, a former

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 ...

ace pilot, is the owner of a travelling carnival that has fallen on hard times. Only the money brought in by Craig McCoy, the carnival stunt pilot, keeps the carnival from closing. Jean Gregory, Colonel Gregory's daughter, works with Craig as a wing walker and parachutist. A mysterious pilot, the legendary "Eagle", thought to have been shot down by accident by his own squadron and killed in the war, attempts to sabotage the Evans Aero Co., a large corporation. He sends threatening messages to the company's five directors by

skywriting Skywriting is the process of using one or more small aircraft, able to expel special smoke during flight, to fly in certain patterns that create writing readable from the ground. These messages can be advertisements, general messages of celebrat ...

the date that the "Eagle" was shot down: May 23, 1918. Gregory is thought to be the Eagle because he has a grudge against Evans Aero, which stole his plans for a radio-piloted aircraft. Suspicion also falls on McCoy, who is also skilled in skywriting, and had left the message about the "Eagle" after being paid by an anonymous source. Craig suspects that the "Eagle" is Mr. Green, a director of the corporation, a pilot who flew in the same squadron as the "Eagle", and the likely culprit who stole the plans to Gregory's invention. When confronted, Green escapes and teams up with two compatriots, Tim Moore and Boyle, but Craig grabs the plans and rushes back to the carnival to show Jean. Gregory, who is confined to a wheelchair, tries to hide from the authorities. Someone steels Craig's aircraft and tries to burn down the carnival. Hoping to prove her father's innocence, the pair then learn of Gregory's disappearance, captured by the henchmen of the "Eagle". A murder occurs at the corporation and Gregory is again implicated. Jean still thinks that her father is innocent and with Craig, escapes death on many occasions, fighting with gang members, as they go after the real "Eagle". Craig enlist the aid of the carnival's midget, strongman, and ventriloquist to track down the criminal. Craig unmasks the evildoer (Green) and brings the ordeal to an end.

Cast

* John Wayne as Craig McCoy * Edward Hearn as Colonel Nathan B. Gregory *

Dorothy Gulliver Dorothy Kathleen Gulliver (September 6, 1908 – May 23, 1997) was an American silent film actress, and one of the few to make a successful transition when films began using sound. Biography The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Gulliver, she wa ...

as Jean Gregory, Colonel Gregory's daughter *

Richard Tucker Richard Tucker (August 28, 1913January 8, 1975) was an American operatic tenor and cantor. Long associated with the Metropolitan Opera, Tucker's career was primarily centered in the United States. Early life Tucker was born Rivn (Rubin) Ticke ...

as Major Evans, company owner *

Ivan Linow Ivan Linow (born Jānis Linaus; November 21, 1888 – November 11, 1940), also known as Jack Linow, was a Latvian-born American wrestler, who became a character actor in American films during the silent and early sound film eras. Biography Born ...

as Heinie, the carnival

strongman In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. Thes ...

James Bradbury Jr. James Bradbury Jr. (October 5, 1894 – January 21, 1936) was an American character actor in supporting roles in films of the 1920s and 1930s. Biography The son of veteran character actor James Bradbury (1857–1940), New York-born Bradbury Jr ...

as Henry, the carnival

ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ve ...

* Ernie Adams as Frederick "Pat" Kelly, the carnival barker *

Billy West William Richard Werstine (born April 16, 1952), known professionally as Billy West, is an American voice actor. His voice roles include Bugs Bunny in the 1996 film ''Space Jam'' and several subsequent projects, the title characters of ''Doug'' ...

as Bob the Clown *

Lloyd Whitlock Lloyd Whitlock (January 2, 1891 – January 8, 1966) was a prolific American actor who began working during Hollywood's silent era. Born in 1891, he appeared in nearly 200 films between 1916 and 1949. Distinguished by his height and stature, he ...

as Green, a director * Walter Miller as Danby, a director *

Edmund Burns Edmund Burns (September 27, 1892 – April 2, 1980 ) was an American actor. He was best known for his films of the silent 1920s, particularly ''The Princess from Hoboken'' (1927), '' Made for Love'' (1926), and ''After the Fog'' (1929), althoug ...

as Clark, a director * Pat O'Malley as Ames, a director *

Kenneth Harlan Kenneth Daniel Harlan (July 26, 1895 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor of the silent film era, playing mostly romantic leads or adventurer types. Early life Harlan was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of George W. Harlan and ac ...

as Ward, a director *

"Little Billy" Rhodes Clarence Herbert Bliss professionally billed as "Little Billy" Rhodes, was an American stage and film character actor with dwarfism who was active in Hollywood from the 1920s through the 1960s. Over the course of his career, he appeared in notew ...

as the Midget *

Roy D'Arcy Roy D'Arcy (born Roy Francis Giusti; February 10, 1894 – November 15, 1969) was an American film actor of the silent film and early sound period of the 1930s noted for his portrayal of flamboyant villains. He appeared in 50 different films ...

as Gardner *

Bud Osborne Leonard Miles "Bud" Osborne (July 20, 1884 – February 2, 1964) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 600 films and television programs between 1912 and 1963. Biography Osborne was born Miles Osborne in Knox County, Texas ...

as Tim Moore *

Yakima Canutt Enos Edward "Yakima" Canutt (November 29, 1895 – May 24, 1986) was an American champion rodeo rider, actor, stuntman, and action director. He developed many stunts for films and the techniques and technology to protect stuntmen in performing t ...

as Boyle *

Monte Montague Monte Montague (April 23, 1891 – April 6, 1959) was the stage name for Walter H. Montague, an American film actor. He appeared in more than 190 films between 1920 and 1954. He was born in Somerset, Kentucky, and died in Burbank, Californi ...

as Policeman Callahan * Murdock MacQuarrie as Frank the Watchman (uncredited)

Chapter titles

# The Carnival Mystery # Pinholes # The Eagle Strikes # The Man of a Million Voices # The Telephone Cipher # The Code of the Carnival # Eagle or Vulture? # On the Spot # When Thieves Fall Out # The Man Who Knew # The Eagle's Wings # The Shadow Unmasked _Source: The Shadow of the Eagle 1932

Production

During the 1930s, after starring in ''

The Big Trail ''The Big Trail'' is a 1930 American pre-Code Western early widescreen film shot on location across the American West starring 23-year-old John Wayne in his first leading role and directed by Raoul Walsh. In 2006, the United States Libra ...

'' (1930), its subsequent commercial failure meant that Wayne was relegated to minor roles in A-pictures, or starring, with his name over the title, in many low-budget

Poverty Row Poverty Row is a slang term used to refer to Hollywood films produced from the 1920s to the 1950s by small (and mostly short-lived) B movie studios. Although many of them were based on (or near) today's Gower Street in Hollywood, the term did ...

Westerns, mostly at Monogram Pictures and serials for

Mascot Pictures Corporation Mascot Pictures Corporation was an American film company of the 1920s and 1930s best known for producing and distributing film serials and Western (genre), B-westerns. Mascot was formed in 1927 by film producer Nat Levine. In 1936 it merged wit ...

, such as ''The Shadow of the Eagle''. ''The Shadow of the Eagle'' was cheaply staged and relied heavily on studio sets for interior sequences, although much of the carnival scenes are shot outdoors. Although one of the "poverty row" studios, Mascot was important to Wayne's career and he went on to make two more serials for the studio. In ''The Shadow of the Eagle'', Wayne does most of his own stunt work, which solidified him as a bona fide action star. As the carnival stunt pilot, a

Travel Air 2000 The Travel Air 2000/3000/4000 (originally, the Model A, Model B and Model BH were open-cockpit biplane aircraft produced in the United States in the late 1920s by the Travel Air Manufacturing Company. During the period from 1924–1929, Tra ...

, commonly known as the "Wichita Fokker", was a popular aircraft used in Hollywood features.

Reception

Although concentrating on the aviation aspects of the production, aviation film historian James M. Farmer in ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'' (1984), characterized ''The Shadow of the Eagle'' as a lightweight formula melodrama. Like many other serials, ''The Shadow of the Eagle'' was re-edited into a feature film version when it was released in home video form. The chapter screen titles were eliminated to create a more continuous flow."Miscellaneous notes: 'The Shadow of the Eagle' (1932)."
''TCM'', 2019. Retrieved: July 8, 2019.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Cline, William C. "Filmography"., ''In the Nick of Time''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1984, . * Clooney, Nick. ''The Movies That Changed Us: Reflections on the Screen''. New York: Atria Books, 2002. . * Farmer, James H. ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'' (1st ed.). Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: TAB Books 1984. . * Rainey, Buck. ''Serials and Series: A World Filmography, 1912–1956''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2010. . * Weiss, Ken and Ed Goodgold. ''To be Continued ...: A Complete Guide to Motion Picture Serials''. New York: Bonanza Books, 1973. .

External links

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Download or view online

Full serial on Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shadow of the Eagle 1932 films American aviation films American black-and-white films American detective films 1930s English-language films Mascot Pictures film serials Films directed by B. Reeves Eason Films directed by Ford Beebe Films produced by Nat Levine 1930s American films