Customer Reviews

Man in the Shadow [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Good performances highlight this film. Jeff Chandler once again gives an excellent portrayal as the stoic, strong silent type as he upholds the law in this modern day western. Orson Welles turns in another convincing performance as the powerful rancher, a similar patriarchal role that he perfected in several of his latter films. Jeff Chandler was a rugged, virile leading man characterized by his steel gray wavy hair, high cheekbones and a muscular physique. He starred in action films from the late 1940s into the early 60s, often as American Indians, hoodlums and cavalrymen. Not an obliging star, Chandler often rebelled against Universal's mediocre action projects he was often relegated to and was suspended on several occasions. Chandler deserved better roles than he was given in the likes of "SIGN OF THE PAGAN" and "YANKEE PASHA." In his best roles Chandler was the introverted enigmatic and stoic leading man of high uncompromising character as this film demonstrates. This quality can also be seen in his performances in "AWAY ALL BOATS," "FOXFIRE," "RAW WIND IN EDEN," "THE JAYHAWKERS," "RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE" and "MERRILL'S MARAUDERS." He left us much too early at age 42.

This 1957 black and white film focuses on a murder committed in 1956. The plot and subplots appear in dozens of other movies. Orson Wells is a very prosperous ranch owner with a ranch as large as half dozen European counties. He has about 500 Mexicans working his land and handling his cattle along with Anglos. He doesn't know the exact number of Mexican because he has no respect for them. He has a beautiful daughter who is bored with ranch life. She goes ridding with a young handsome Mexican employee. Wells is appalled. He tells his foreman, an Anglo, to take another Anglo worker with him and beat up the Mexican youth, to persuade him to stay away from his daughter, who doesn't listen to all he says. Overzealous, the foreman kills the youth. I never intended you to kill him, Orson complains. But you are involved as much as me, says the foreman.

Another Mexican sees the murder and reports it to Jeff Chandler, the sheriff. Everyone tells Jeff to forget the matter, after all the man was just a Mexican. Orson tells the town council to warn Jeff to drop the matter, to threaten him that he will lose his job, and to tell him that Orson will take his business away from the town that depends on him. They do so, but Jeff refuses. Jeff gets a search warrant, goes to the scene of the crime and finds blood. The ranch hands tamper with his car before he leaves and the car crashes, leaving Jeff hurt but not dead. Orson's daughter finds out what happened to the Mexican boy and tells Orson that she is disgusted with him and hates him.

It's always good to see a performance by Orson Welles and/or Jeff Chandler, so therefore "Man in the Shadows" (1957) has some merit on those grounds.

Welles (1915-85) gets second billing, which shows how far he fell by the mid 1950s. Had he only made "Citizen Kane" (1941) he would still be a legend, and had he merely produced the 1938 radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds" his name would still be up there in the pantheon of performers. He did both these things and more. But his flamboyant personality, his inability to finish projects on time and under budget, and his anti-authoritarian attitudes doomed him to scrounging for money for his projects and moving to Europe where he was more likely to get backing and where production costs were cheaper.

Welles returned to the U.S. in the mid 50s, started doing TV and, backed by his good friend Desi Arnez, returned to films. "Man" was his first film back, a mere vehicle for making money while he worked on "Touch of Evil" which appeared the next year. Welles play a large land owner whose business dominates the small town.

The film's star is Jeff Chandler (1918-61). Silver haired with sharp chiseled features, Chandler makes a great hero, which is the role he often played in films like "Sword in the Desert" (1948), "Red Ball Express" (1952) and "Merrill's Marauders" (1961). Interestingly enough he made a niche playing Indians, beginning with his award winning portrayal of Cochise in "Broken Arrow" (1950) and continuing in "Battle of Apache Pass" (1952), and "Son of Cochise" (1954). He made 50 films before his untimely death at 42. Chandler plays a small town sheriff investigating the death of a Mexican farm worker.

The film has a good supporting cast, including Paul Fix, Ben Alexander, John Larch, and Leo Gordon, with very brief appearances from William Schallert, James Gleason and Royal Dano.

Paul Fix (1901-83) plays a city council member worried about the sheriff's investigation. Fix played in more than 200 films, many of them westerns, starting in the silent film era. He gave us such memorable roles as old man Maxwell in "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" (1973), and Joan Crawford's confidant Eddie in "Johnny Guitar" (1954). He was an acting coach for John Wayne and played with Wayne in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" (1949), "The Fighting Kentuckian" (1949), "Big Jim McLain" (1952), "Hondo" (1953)" and El Dorado" (1967). He's best remembered for his role as the Marshall in Sam Peckinpah's TV series "The Rifleman" (1958-65).

Ben Alexander (1911-69) plays a deputy who has mixed allegiance between Chandler and Welles. We know Alexander best as Frank Smith, Jack Webb's sidekick in the TV series "Dragnet", but in fact Alexander had a career that started in silent films and more than 50 motion pictures between 1916 and 1954.

John Larch (1914-2005) was equally at home in films and TV. He was a good friend of Clint Eastwood and appeared in several of his films, including "Play Misty for Me" (1971) and "Dirty Harry" (1971). He'd been a guest star on Dragnet along with Ben Alexander and appeared in TV's "Broken Arrow" based on the Chandler film. Larch plays a henchman.

Leo Gordon (1922-2000) plays another henchman. Gordon made a career playing heavies in more than 100 films and also on TV. He's best known for playing Crazy Mike Carnie in "Riot in Cell Block 11" (1954), and Gordon, in fact, had served time in San Quentin where this movie was filmed. Don Siegel, the film's director, called Gordon "the scariest man I ever met."

Bill Shallert (1922) is best known from his role as Martin Lane from "The Patty Duke Show" (1963-6) and for his guest role on Star Trek's "The Trouble with Tribbles" (1966).

James Gleason (1882-1959) plays a drunk in the first scene and then disappears. It's a shame. Gleason was a great actor and appeared in more than 100 films, my favorites being "The Last Hurrah" (1958) and "Meet John Doe" (1941).

Royal Dano's (1922-94) tall lean figure and his marvelous voice graced more than 100 films. He plays a poor white farmer. Dano is best known for his portrayals of Lincoln.

The film is directed by Jack Arnold (1916-92) who was best known for his sci fi flicks, including "It Came from Outer Space" (1953), "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954), and "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (1957). Shortly after making this film he turned to TV where he spent the rest of his career.

The problem with the film is the story, which is totally predictable, and the music, which is very intrusive. Pacing is similar to TV shows of the same period, and Arnold's move to TV seems all the more natural after watching this film. There is a backdrop of racial prejudice against Mexican farm workers, but this is only a subplot.

I've always considered MAN IN THE SHADOW to be Jack Arnold's companion piece to NO NAME ON THE BULLET (the Audie Murphy 'angel of death' cult western). Both were directed by Arnold, penned by STAR TREK's socially-minded Gene L. Coon, produced by Universal-International at around the same time, and shot in full CinemaScope. Which begs the inevitable question: Is this no-frills Universal Vault release letterboxed, or pan-and-scanned? It makes all the difference in the world to this potential customer. The fact that nothing is said one way or another in the product description doesn't bode well, but hopefully that's just an oversight. U couldn't possibly be crazy enough to insult vintage film collectors by offering flat versions of 'scope movies in this day and age... or could they? If so, my three-star review automatically transfigures into a zero-star indictment!

It is nice to see a slice of America back in the 50's, the clothing, trucks, people, before this country went to hell. And this is a good example of it. Now, a lot of you won't like it because it is black and white, but don't let that stop you. This will show you the ways things used to be before corporate greed, corrupt politicians, and media nonsense destroyed this country. And notice when Jeff has to take that blood sample he uses a slip joint pocket knife and not some made in RED China clip on knife like the dorks carry today.