LeonLouisRicci Less Metaphorical, than the Director's Sci-Fi of the Decade, and more to an Obvious Observation in an Eisenhower Era of Overlooked and Unspoken Racism. The Post-War Spoils enjoyed by Americans of the White-Bread variety were not readily Available to People of Color and Non-Christians.This type of Social Criticism was usually not spoken of in "Polite" Company or around the Dinner Table in White-Picket Fence Suburbia. It was "Left" to the Fringe Elements like B-Movies and Lurid Faced Paperbacks.Socially Conscious Director Jack Arnold, considered one of the Best B-Movie Auteurs teams up with a "Behemoth" of Filmland Orson Welles, who by the Mid-Fifties was fighting for His Life in Hollywood. Out of Favor, Wells was forever Financing His Pictures with "Work for Hire" Acting Gigs, and this was one of them.He brings to the Movie a Larger than Life Character who literally Dominates the Frame with that Booming Voice and Big Stature. Jeff Chandler is meekly dwarfed by Orson in every Scene as the Sheriff with a Moral Compass Standing Alone among the Cowering Townspeople completely Corrupted by Capitalism represented as the "Golden Empire" Ranch, clouding Their Vision with little effort.Film-Noir's Edgy influence is present here, but by this Time in Hollywood moved more often from the City to the Country or Suburban Landscapes where Americans were trying to Escape Urban Squalor becoming more Populated with "Sub-Humans", only to find, at least in the Southwest, "Wetbacks" who weren't even Citizens, let alone Caucasian.Overall, far from being Subtle, this In-Your-Face look at "Trouble in Paradise", combines Genres as it made its "Liberal" Talking Points, and now could be Considered a "Voice in the Wilderness" for the Population that at least Tried to be a Guiding Light to a New Era of Concern yet to be Fulfilled, Sadly, to this Day.

dougdoepke Seems like shapely actress Colleen Miller appears outside her regular clothes about as often as in them, as in nightgown and underwear. But then, the movie posters had to have something provocative to promote.The premise itself has been around the block more than a few times—a reluctant lawman stands up to local tyrant despite opposition from frightened townspeople. Still, the movie works pretty well up to two points where the screenplay buckles—the rope dragging and the town turn-around. Neither of these is very believable within context. But then, the film is on a budget and does have to motivate a wrap-up.I gather producer Zugsmith helped finance Welles' next feature Touch of Evil (1957) in return for appearing here. The part is relatively small, and Welles underplays without the needed malevolence. Seems almost like he's walking through. Nonetheless, it's a solid cast of supporting players, familiar faces from thuggish Leo Gordon to Dragnet's Ben Alexander taking a break from the LAPD. The support works well to provide more color than usual. Rather sad to see that earnest actor Jeff Chandler again, knowing he died unnecessarily at 42 as result of medical malpractice (a foreign object left inside following an operation, as I recall). He's quite good here as the conflicted sheriff struggling to do his duty. All in all, it's a decent enough programmer, better than Zugsmith's usual quickie fare, thanks in large part (I expect) to under-rated director Jack Arnold.

bkoganbing With the debate over illegal immigration and the concern that it is mostly coming from south of the American border, Man in the Shadow is a film that has assumed a serious relevance for us today.Jeff Chandler is the sheriff of a small southwestern town and a Mexican migrant worker, Martin Garralaga, has brought news of a homicide committed by white ranch hands on the property of his employer Orson Welles. It seems that a young Mexican was paying to much attention to Welles's daughter, Colleen Miller, and Welles wanted to teach him the error of his ways. Of course Leo Gordon and John Larch go too far and now a murder has to be covered up.It becomes two murders when witness Garralaga also turns up dead. Though Welles and his Golden Empire Ranch have a stranglehold on the local economy and the town's leading citizens beg Chandler not to pursue the case, Chandler doggedly goes ahead anyway. He's the sheriff and it's his duty.Chandler in this modern western is a standup straight arrow sheriff in the mold of Gary Cooper or John Wayne. He takes his oath of office quite seriously. And what happens to him during the course of the investigation makes the townspeople want to re-examine just how much they want to kowtow to Welles and his hired thugs.Mario Siletti, the town barber and one of the few who backs Chandler without reservation, puts it best in that his father fled from a guy who was running Italy in the Twenties the same way Welles was running this corner of the USA. Orson Welles just by his appearance in what is a B picture lent enormous prestige to it. This was one of those acting jobs he did trying to earn money to finance his own projects. But Welles never gave less than 100% of himself in anything he did. His portrait of a malevolent Ben Cartwright is a great piece of work.Man in the Shadow played the bottom of double features in the Fifties, but those who saw it were not disappointed.

dinky-4 In a bit of a departure for its time, this movie begins with a brief pre-credits sequence, and it delays some of its credits till the very end. (During these closing credits, music is played which was also used in "It Came from Outer Space.")Aside from these minor touches, however, "Man in the Shadow" is a traditional, straightforward effort which would have once fitted unobtrusively into the bottom half of a double-bill. By 1957, however, these "B" movies were rapidly being replaced by TV programming and "Man in the Shadow" could easily have been converted into a one-hour television drama. The script might have been edited down by eliminating the role of Orson Welles' teenage daughter who only figures tangentially into the plot and who does not provide any "romantic interest" for Jeff Chandler since his character is already happily married.The plot is one of those "politically correct" affairs about the small-town lawman standing up against a powerful citizen in defense of a racial-minority member. The lawman's urged by his family and friends to leave well enough alone but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. You might expect here one of Orson Welles' flamboyant (a.k.a. "hammy") performances but he's surprisingly restrained due, one suspects, simply to lack of interest in such a minor project. Jeff Chandler, amazingly enough, seems more compelling, and in the movie's most memorable moment he's dragged by his wrists down Main Street, sometimes on his belly, behind a pick-up truck. Jack Arnold directed this movie competently but without distinctive touches in a series of standard expository scenes. It pales in comparison to his other 1957 movie, "The Incredible Shrinking Man."