The Shadow

Plot synopsis:
In Tibet, following the First World War, an American named Lamont Cranston (Alec Baldwin), succumbing to his dark instincts, sets himself up as a warlord and opium kingpin under the alias of Yin-Ko (Mandarin Chinese for "Dark Eagle"). He is abducted by servants of the Tulku (Brady Tsurutani, voiced by Barry Dennen), a holy man who exhibits otherworldly powers and knows Cranston's identity. He offers Cranston a chance to redeem himself and become a force for good. Cranston refuses but is silenced by the Phurba (Frank Welker), a mystical sentient flying dagger. Ultimately, Cranston remains under the tutelage of the Tulku for seven years. In addition to undergoing rigorous physical training, he learns how to hypnotize others, read their minds, and bend their perceptions so that he cannot be seen—except, of course, for his shadow.
Returning to New York City, Cranston resumes his former life as a wealthy playboy. He secretly operates as The Shadow, a vigilante who terrorizes the city's underworld. He recruits some of the people he saves from criminals to act as his agents, providing him with information and specialist knowledge. Cranston's secret identity is endangered upon meeting Margo Lane (Penelope Ann Miller), a socialite who is also telepathic.
Shiwan Khan (John Lone), the Tulku's rogue protégé and murderer whose powers apparently surpass Cranston's, wakes up while in a sarcophagus that once contained his ancestor - the Mongol Empire founder Genghis Khan. He uses hypnosis to make a security guard (Ethan Phillips) shoot himself in the head after the guard refuses to join Khan's army. Khan plans to fulfill his ancestor's goal of world domination. He offers Cranston an alliance, but Cranston refuses. Cranston acquires a rare coin from Khan and learns that it is made of a metal called "bronzium" (an impure form of uranium) that theoretically can generate an atomic explosion. He learns that Margo's father Reinhardt (Ian McKellen), a scientist who works on building an atomic device for the Department of War, has disappeared, and realizes that Khan needs Reinhardt and his invention to build an atomic bomb.
Shiwan Khan hypnotizes Margo and commands her to kill the Shadow. She goes to Cranston's home, but Cranston breaks his hold on her. She realizes that since she was ordered to kill the Shadow and she instinctively went to Cranston's home, that he is the Shadow. Cranston prepares to rescue Margo's father but is thwarted by Khan's henchmen, especially when Reinhardt's assistant Farley Claymore (Tim Curry) allies with Khan. The Shadow discovers the location of Khan's hideout, the luxurious Hotel Monolith, a building in the middle of the city that Khan has rendered invisible. Knowing Reinhardt has completed the bomb under Khan's hypnotic control, The Shadow enters the hotel for a final showdown with Khan.
The Shadow fights his way through the building, and hypnotically influences Claymore to jump from a balcony to his death to prevent him from building another bomb. He finds Khan, but is subdued by the Phurba. The Shadow realizes that only a peaceful mind can truly control the Phurba and he seizes command of the dagger. The Shadow launches it into Khan's torso, creating a lapse in Khan's hypnotic control that frees Reinhardt and restores the hotel's visibility. The Shadow pursues Khan into the bowels of the building, while Margo and Reinhardt disarm the bomb. The Shadow defeats Khan by telekinetically hurling a shard of mirror into a frontal lobe of Khan's skull.
A confused Khan wakes up in a padded cell in a mental hospital, discovering that his powers are now gone. One of the doctors — also an agent of The Shadow — tells Khan that they were able to save his life by removing a part of his brain "that nobody uses", which in reality controlled his psychic abilities. Cranston and Margo begin a serious relationship and join forces to fight crime.

Tags: murder

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