Last time we learned that the world was caught in a time loop, to repeat New Year’s Day for all time, due to the sinsistent machinations of mad scientist Willard Hughes and his time machine.
But we also learned that there was a method to his madness: Hughes was dying, though his time machine would enable him to live forever!
That it enabled him to torture his well-to-do cousin as well was icing on the cake.
But Hughes didn’t count on the Shadow in this, the penultimate chapter of The Man Who Murdered Time!
Sorry about the delay in getting this out. I had actually written this post last week, but the WordPress mobile app ate it.
Luckily I wrote a rough draft (on paper!), so I didn’t start from scratch.
The time machine, created by Willard Hughes in Part 1, is activated and its insidious purpose is made known as New Year’s Day repeats, seemingly in perpetuity.
No one but Lamont Cranston–who’s secretly the Shadow, the scourge of evil and those that commit it– is immune for to its effects due to his superior will and his training by yogis.
His trusted assistant, Margo Lane, has none of his immunity, though as long as he’s in physical contact with her she too is able to resist the machine’s sinister effects.
Though someone has to stop the infernal machinations of Willard Hughes, and that person isn’t Lamont Cranston, but the Shadow.
The Shadow was created by Walter B. Gibson, and long before he appeared in movies and television, he was a staple of radio. HIs first appearance was in the 1930’s, and he’s had a huge influence on heroes (and villains) to follow.
For instance, the origin of Marvel Comics’ Iron Fist and Doctor Strange are remarkably similar to the Shadow’s, as is the that of Batman (from the Christopher Nolan movies) though the way he’s often depicted in the comics is very much in line with the Shadow as well.
The Shadow was Lamont Cranston (and Ken Allard, depending upon whether we’re talking about radio, television or novels. This idea of identities within identities is very similar to how Marvel’s Moon Knight has been portrayed), young wealthy man about town though having spend time in mysterious Asia gained the ability to cloud men’s minds.
Yet, can even the Shadow and all his mysterious powers stop a man with the ability to control Time?
Hugh Morgan is dead, which why an inquest to determine how he came to be was assembled.
Suspects were plentiful, as were motives but no one had considered was the possibility that the killer was something no one had seen before. Something powerful. Something feral…something deadly…
The Damned Thing Ep.185 is based in a story by Ambrose Bierce, and originally aired on the CBS Radio Mystery Theater December 10, 1974.
“Killing Time is the essence of Comedy, just as the essense of Tragedy is the killing of Eternity.”
Today is the first post from The Mind’s Eye, a new weekly feature on SCREENPHILES.
Growing up I watched as much television as any young person, though with the added benefit of being a voracious reader. This meant that I was well-equipped to supplement the fabulous worlds of Gerry Anderson and comics with those of my imagination.
I also had the benefit of growing up across the street from Central Park in Manhattan, 26 miles of parkland who fucunity was almost as great as the imagination of a child that seemingly ran wild there.
In my mind rock formations were transformed into the bridge of a starship and bushes hid perils only the young could imagine (or safely navigate).
My imagination was like a furnace, and it required constant stoking, which was why one of my favorite pastimes was reading and listening to old time radio and serials like The Shadow, The Mysterious Traveller, The Whistler and CBS Radio Mystery Theater, among many others.
And speaking of the latter, that’s where today’s adventure originates but before we begin, a little history on The CBS Radio Mystery Theater.
It was created by Himan Brown and ran for a remarkable 1399 episodes from 1974 to 1982. The bulk were hosted by E.G. Marshall, though he was replaced in the last year by Tammy Grimes.
Here’s Episode 1290: Nickels And Dimes, where an honest cop is given a chance to get whatever he wants, all he has to do is betray all that he is.
Last time we learned that the world was caught in a time loop, to repeat New Year’s Day for all time, due to the sinsistent machinations of mad scientist Willard Hughes and his time machine.
