The Shielding Shadow is a 1916 American action film serial directed by Louis J. Gasnier and Donald MacKenzie and starring Grace Darmond and Ralph Kellard.

[1] The 15 chapter story involves the heroine being protected by a shadow with burning eyes.

There's also a cloak of invisibility, some hypnotism and a giant octopus added to the mix.

A French-American production, The Shielding Shadow was directly inspired by another silent movie serial, Judex - produced by Pathé Exchange's competitor Gaumont - whose first episode was titled The Mysterious Shadow.

Both films appear to have been inspirations for the American pulp character The Shadow, who wears a costume similar to Judex's and has a power of invisibility like The Shielding Shadow's protagonist.