Death from the Deep, June 12, 1938

Another long opening. When I saw long, it's comparative, of course. This opening lasts almost a full minute of a program that's less than a half-hour long.

Goodrich Safety Silvertown Tires ad is next. This takes us to about 2 minutes and 8 seconds of a program that is 28 min., 50 sec. long.

The episode opens with a boat on calm waters. There's a sound from the engine room. There's a torpedo coming at the boat; it hits and there's the sound of an explosion. The men try to escape on rowboats, but a submarine surfaces, uses a machine gun and kills the survivors of the sinking.

The steamship agency starts getting cancellation calls. The Maritime Commission holds a meeting and says 18 ships have been sunk, and they have been from all major powers. It's been going on for three months.

Margo and Lamont are having a meal together. The ships that have been sunk have been owned by companies in different countries. Lamont think's it's the act of a pirate who owns a submarine.

The pirate has been after all types of ships. Lamont can't figure out why the pirate is sinking the ships, especially since he doesn't take anything from the sunken ships.

The Shadow is going to “pay a call” on a disgraced designer. The story then moves to a couple of guys having some drinks together. One guy warns the other that he “has to pull himself together.” The guy is upset the ships being sunk; he's the designer of the submarine. The guy talking to him is the one who owns the submarine.

The crook threatens the designer with death. He leaves, and the designer is alone, he thinks, but then he hears the voice of the Shadow. The Shadow wants to know the guy's secret that he shares with the crook, Vinton. Vinton is a millionaire sportsman. The designer had built a racing boat, then a submarine.

Vinton said he wanted the sub for a new thrill. Vinton wants to shoot people. The designer does not know where the sub is. The designer plans to kill himself and kills himself with a gun.

At 13 min. plus 20 seconds or so, there's another ad, again using the voice of the Shadow.

Then it's back to the episode. The Shadow and Margo are driving. They are going to go to the place where the submarine was built. They get out of the car and see that the shipyard is surrounded by a tall wall. The Shadow has talked to the Coast Guard; Margo will remain behind and run the radio which will be used to get a message to the Coast Guard once the Shadow finds the sub.

Inside the shipyard, torpedoes are being loaded into the submarine. Some of the guys are wondering if they will ever get out of the shipyard. A couple of them want to leave but Vinton tells them not to. He tells them one guy had tried to leave and was shot.

The guys hear the Shadow's voice that says he can help the guys get out. He tells the guys they are at the mercy of a madman. He will give them their freedom if they answer his questions. They tell him the sub is underneath them, and also tells him when it will sail and where.

The Shadow calls Margo on his radio.

Later, the submarine is on its way. Vinton looks through the periscope and sees a boat, possibly a steamer. (Vinton is seriously insane.) The ship moves to a position to fire torpedoes.

He fires a torpedo and it should have hit the ship, but it doesn't explode. The second torpedo is launched; then Vinton hears the sound of the Shadow, who tells him the torpedo is another dud.

He tells them all of the torpedoes are duds. Vinton says his mind is cleverer than the Shadow. Vinton takes the sub up to the surface; he plans to use the deck guns on the ship.

The guns are jammed; the Shadow made them useless. Vinton says that the submarine will ram the ship. The sub's prow has a ramming device.

The Shadow laughs. He tells Vinton the liner is deserted and is filled with explosives. The ship has the Coast Guard on it; Vinton goes inside the sub and plans to control the sub himself.

The Shadow is still in the sub, telling Vinton not to bother trying to dive. Vinton fires several shots at where he thinks the Shadow is, then fires more shots. The Coast Guard men get their way into the sub and capture Vinton.

Return to main index page

Return to Shadow index page