The “Butcher of Lhasa” is also known as Yinko, played by Alec Baldwin, he is a ruthless opium drug dealer who practiced taking the opium fields of others and killing anyone who crossed his path. One night, Yinko is kidnapped from his property and taken to a Chinese temple. Once there, he meets a priest who knows Yinko’s real name, Lamont Crankston. This priest teaches Lamont to conquer the evil in his own heart and to fight crime and cloud the minds of men, thus becoming “The Shadow”.

New York City, early 1900s. Lamont Crankston, also known as “The Shadow,” just rescued a New York University professor from a group of thugs who were about to throw him over the city bridge. New York. La Sombra and Professor Tam go by taxi and La Sombra recruits Professor Tam as one of her fellow “contacts”. Professor Tam gets out of the taxi at his house. The taxi driver, played by Peter Boyle, is actually another of Lamont / The Shadow’s close friends and close friends. The Shadow tells the taxi driver to take him to the Cobalt Club as he transforms back into Lamont Crankston.

Once at the Cobalt Club, Lamont meets his uncle, played by Jonathan Winter, who is also the chief of police. As they talk, Margo Lane, played by Penelope Ann Miller, enters the club. Lamont is easily attracted to her and invites her to dinner at a Chinese restaurant. She accepts. As they both enjoy dinner, Lamont realizes that Margo has the gift of reading people’s thoughts, for the simple reason that she read his. Lamont takes Margo home.

In a museum, Shiwan Khan, the last descendant of Genghis Khan, is hidden in the crypt of his ancestor. He escapes from the museum and recruits Mongol warriors as followers. He visits Lamont and Shiwan tells him that he too was lectured by the Chinese priest. Shiwan asks Lamont to join him in his world takeover as Yinko, his former self. Lamont refuses.

Shiwan hypnotizes the father of Margo Lane, a prominent scientist, played by Ian McKellen, to build an atomic bomb. Tim Curry, who played Father Lane’s assistant, also helped out of his own free will. Knowing that Lamont is the shadow, Shiwan hypnotizes Margo into killing him. Margo arrives at Lamont’s house and with a failed assassination attempt, Lamont breaks the spell on Margo. She realizes that Lamont is also The Shadow, but promises to keep her secret between the two of them. Margo asks Lamont for help because her father has disappeared. Together they find the whereabouts of Margo and Shiwan Khan’s father in a Monolith Hotel. This hotel was hidden in a flat place because Shiwan cast a spell over the entire city to NOT see it. The Shadow attacks the Monolith Hotel, defeating Shiwan’s warriors until only Shiwan remains. Meanwhile, Margo and her father try to stop the time sequence of the atomic bomb; they triumphed. The Shadow and Shiwan have a mental battle in a room full of mirrors. The Shadow caused a part of the mirror to hit Shiwan’s brain, defeating him. Shiwan ends up in an asylum, where one of the doctors is friends with The Shadow. The doctor tells Shiwan that a part of his brain had to be removed, the part that is used for telepathy. Shiwan is left indignant in a room of the asylum. Lamont and Margo kiss and then part ways.