Man in the Shadow (1957 American film)

Man in the Shadow is a 1957 American CinemaScope crime Western film directed by Jack Arnold and starring Jeff Chandler, Orson Welles, Colleen Miller and Ben Alexander.

Man in the Shadow
Film poster by Reynold Brown
Directed byJack Arnold
Written byGene L. Coon
Produced byAlbert Zugsmith
StarringJeff Chandler
Orson Welles
Colleen Miller
Ben Alexander
CinematographyArthur E. Arling
Edited byEdward Curtiss
Color processBlack and white
Production
company
Universal Pictures
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
  • December 12, 1957 (1957-12-12) (Houston, San Antonio)
  • December 12, 1957 (1957-12-12) (Fort Worth Texas)
  • January 22, 1958 (1958-01-22) (United States)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$600,000[1]
Box office$1.53 million

Plot

The cow town of Spurline is effectively ruled by Virgil Renchler, owner of the Golden Empire ranch.

One night, some of Renchler's hands beat young laborer Juan Martín to death. The newly elected sheriff of Spurline, Ben Sadler, decides to investigate the murder, but must contend with Renchler's henchmen and the fierce opposition of the townspeople, who fear that Spurline would be ruined without the Golden Empire's business.

Ranch foreman Ed Yates admits to Renchler that he killed Martin, but employee Chet Huneker is persuaded to tell the law that he had hit Martin accidentally with a car. Renchler's daughter Skippy tells the sheriff what she remembers from the night of Martin's death.

Sadler is beaten by Yates and Huneker, then dragged through town, tied to the back of a truck. Sadler retrieves a shotgun, tosses aside his badge and, with help from cropper Aiken Clay, pursues Renchler and his men, defeating them with the help of the townspeople, who then return Sadler's badge to him.

Cast

Production

The film was originally titled Pay the Devil.[2] It was Jeff Chandler's last film under his exclusive deal with Universal.[3]

Albert Zugsmith claimed that the film's budget was $600,000, much of which was overhead.[1]

The part of Virgil Renchler was originally to be played by Robert Middleton, but agents from the William Morris Agency suggested Orson Welles, who badly needed the money ($60,000) to pay back taxes.[1] It was Welles' first Western role. While making the film, Welles rewrote sections of the script. He also formed a relationship with Zugsmith, who produced Welles' next film as director, Touch of Evil (1958).[4] Director Jack Arnold said that he experienced one incident with Welles on Welles' first day of shooting, but after that, Welles was "wonderful" to work with and offered many good ideas.[5]

Filming began in October 1956.[6]

See also

References
  1. Flynn, Charles; McCarthy, Todd (1975). "Albert Zugmsith". In Flynn, Charles; McCarthy, Todd (eds.). Kings of the Bs : working within the Hollywood system : an anthology of film history and criticism. E. P. Dutton. p. 418.
  2. "Orson Welles Is a Cowboy in His First Western" Hopper, Hedda. Chicago Daily Tribune 3 Oct 1956: b3.
  3. "SYMBOLIC DRAMA WILL BE A MOVIE: 'A Passenger to Bali,' Which Ran Here in 1940, Bought by Security Pictures" by THOMAS M. PRYOR Special to The New York Times.. New York Times 24 Sep 1956: 23.
  4. Jeff Stafford, 'Man in the Shadow', Turner Classic Movies accessed 28 July 2012
  5. Lawrence French, 'Interview with Jack Arnold', Welles.net accessed 28 July 2012
  6. "FOX NAMES STARS OF 'WAYWARD BUS': Widmark and Gene Tierney to Act in Movie Version of John Steinbeck Novel Welles to Co-Star" by THOMAS M. PRYOR Special to The New York Times.. New York Times 4 Oct 1956: 29.
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