The Vanishing Shadow - Vintage Science Fiction Film

Ada Ince - The Vanishing Shadow
Originally uploaded by F. Sigorski - Part Two

Screenstill out of the movie The Vanishing Shadow a 12-episode serial directed by Lew Landers, Universal Picture Company Inc. 1934.

An electrical engineer, Stanley Stanfield, brings his newest invention to the famous electrical wizard, Carl Van Dorn -- a vest-like apparatus that enables the wearer to vanish, leaving only a shadow. Van Dorn is vastly impressed and, with the aid of the machine, the pair set out to bring about the downfall of power-crazed, money-mad Wade Barnett and his crony Dorgan, whose political-group activities, through a vicious smear campaign, had hounded Stanfield's father to death. Stanfield's efforts are complicated by the fact that his girlfriend, known to him as Gloria Grant is really Barnett's daughter, who has rejected her father and goes by an alias.

Books Tagged with "The Vanishing Shadow":

Up from the Vault - Rare Thrillers of the 1920s and 1930s
By John T. Soister, published by McFarland, 2004, ISBN 0786417455, 9780786417452, 234 pages

"A number of thrillers made in the 1920s and 1930s have become available again thanks to new technology. There are a few, however, that remain elusive to most, if not all, movie buffs. This book covers 21 thrillers from those decades that are well-regarded and eagerly sought, but difficult to find-The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu (1923), The Unknown Purple (1923), The Sorrows of Satan (1926), While London Sleeps (1926), The Monkey Talks (1927), The Chinese Parrot (1927), Stark Mad (1929), The Unholy Night (1929), High Treason (1929), The Spider (1931), Eran Trece (1931), The Monkey's Paw (1933), Trick for Trick (1933), Deluge (1933), The Vanishing Shadow (1934), The Witching Hour (1934), Double Door (1934), Black Moon (1934), Le Golem (1936), The Scarab Murder Case (1937), and Sh! The Octopus (1937). For each film, the author provides such details as the production company, running time, release date(s), cast and production credits, a synopsis, and commentary." Source: Google Books

Kenneth Strickfaden, Dr. Frankenstein's electrician
By Harry Goldman and contributor Ed Angell, published by McFarland, 2005, ISBN 0786420642, 9780786420643,
214 pages

Kenneth Strickfaden, innovative genius of illusionary special effects from silent films to the age of television, set the standard for Hollywood's mad scientists. Strickfaden created the science fiction apparatus in more than 100 motion picture films and television programs, from 1931's Frankenstein to the Wizard of Oz and The Mask of Fu Manchu to television's The Munsters. The skilled technician, known around Hollywood's back lots as ?Mr. Electric, ? once doubled for Boris Karloff in a dangerous scene and was nearly electrocuted. From his birth in 1896 to his death in 1984, Strickfaden's life was filled with adventure. He spent his early years working the amusement parks on both coasts, served overseas as a Marine during World War I, took a 1919 cross-country trip in a dilapidated Model T, and favored risky pursuits like automobile and speedboat racing. He worked as an aeronautical mechanic, constructing airplanes for an historic around-the-world flight. A science teacher at heart, he gave 1,500 traveling science demonstration lectures across the U.S. and Canada. Besides covering Strickfaden's entire personal and professional life, this book discusses how later films show his influence. It reveals the fate of his collection of equipment, and is richly illustrated with numerous rare and previously unpublished photographs. Appendices provide a selection of notes, doodles, and scribbles from Strickfaden's notebooks, informal sketches, correspondence, documents, a chronology of his film and television contributions, a bibliography, a film index, and a complete subject index. Source: Google Books

Vintage Science Fiction Films, 1896-1949
By Michael Benson, published by McFarland, 2000, original from the University of Michigan, digitized Feb 27, 2008
ISBN 0786409363, 9780786409365, 231 pages

Time has not faded the sparkle of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, King Kong, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and The Invisible Man. These gems and 370 more are included in this comprehensive catalog of the genre's silent films, sound films, and serials from the first half of the 20th century. Along with biographical material on the stars, the filmmakers, and the technicians responsible for cinema's first special effects, this volume has plot summaries of all the films, production anecdotes, notes about literary origins and a comprehensive alphabetical filmography of cast and production credits. Source: Google Books

(Research on Art, New-Amateurism and Pro-Ams.)

Martha Stewart - Queen Of The Domestic Arts

Martha Stewart - The Vanishing Shadow
Originally uploaded by F. Sigorski - Part Two

Image: Martha Stewart founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Copyright: Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. All rights reserved. The Image reminds me of an image / screenstill out of the movie The Vanishing Shadow a 12-episode serial Directed by Lew Landers, Universal Picture Company Inc. 1934.

Martha Stewart is an American business magnate, author, editor, homemaking advocate, former stockbroker and fashion model. Over the last two decades Stewart has held a prominent position in the American publishing industry; as the author of several books, hundreds of articles on the domestic arts, editor of a national homekeeping magazine, host for two popular daytime television programs, and commercial spokeswoman for K-Mart. In 2004 she was convicted of lying to investigators about her sale of "ImClone Systems" stock in late 2001. Source: Wikipedia, CNNMoney 2004

(Research on Art, New-Amateurism and Pro-Ams)