THE SHADOW Episode 5: The Circle of Death
This episode is a high-stakes urban thriller that finds the Shadow tackling a modern terror: a serial bomber. It is one of the surviving recordings from the legendary first season.
Episode Overview
- Title: "The Circle of Death"
- First Aired: November 28, 1937
- Network: Mutual Broadcasting System
- Sponsor: Blue Coal
Cast & Voice Actors
- The Shadow / Lamont Cranston: Orson Welles
- Margot Lane: Agnes Moorehead
- Commissioner Weston: Traditionally played by Dwight Weist or Ray Collins during this era.
- Announcer: Ken Roberts
Episode Summary
The city is gripped by a wave of terror as a madman begins setting off a series of devastating explosions in crowded public spaces. After each blast, the killer leaves a chilling note with the simple, nihilistic motive: "I hate crowds."
With fifteen citizens dead in the most recent blast, the public is in a frenzy and the police are powerless. Commissioner Weston, under immense political pressure, is forced to entertain a suggestion from Margot Lane: calling upon the mysterious Shadow. The Shadow accepts the challenge and engages in a psychological duel with The Masked Killer. Using his invisible presence to infiltrate the bomber’s lair, the Shadow must race against time to stop the next explosion before the "Circle of Death" widens to claim more lives.
Trivia & Fun Facts
- Predicting "War of the Worlds": This episode utilizes news bulletins that interrupt the narrative to report on the bombings. This immersive technique was a precursor to the style Orson Welles would use to cause a national panic with his War of the Worlds broadcast just eleven months later.
- The 10th Episode: This was the tenth episode of the new format where the Shadow was the hero. By this point, the chemistry between Welles and Moorehead was perfected, and the show had become a Sunday night ritual for millions.
- Pulp vs. Radio: A Shadow pulp magazine story titled "The Circle of Death" was published in 1934, but the plots are entirely different. The radio show often borrowed titles from the magazines while crafting original scripts better suited for audio.
- Creepy Performance: Historians often note that Welles’s performance in this specific episode is particularly brutal and creepy, as he drops the socialite charm of Cranston to become a truly menacing force when confronting the bomber.
Credits
- Host and Producer Gizelle Erickson
- Executive Producer Jon Hagadorn
- Music: Thanks to Sound Gallery By Dmitry Taras "Scary Horror Music"
- The Shadow sourced by AcousticMonster on Internet Archive
