6.8 /10 1 Votes
66% Rotten Tomatoes Cinematography Arthur E. Arling Initial release 9 May 1957 Box office 1.53 million USD | 6.9/10 IMDb Produced by Albert Zugsmith Edited by Edward Curtiss Director Jack Arnold | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Written by Gene L. Coon
Orson Welles Starring Jeff Chandler
Orson Welles
Colleen Miller
Ben Alexander
Barbara Lawrence Music by Hans J. Salter
Herman Stein Screenplay Orson Welles, Gene L. Coon Music director Herman Stein, Hans J. Salter Cast Orson Welles, Jeff Chandler, Colleen Miller, Barbara Lawrence, Ben Alexander Similar Directed by Jack Arnold, Jeff Chandler movies, Westerns | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Man in the Shadow is a 1958 CinemaScope Western crime film directed by Jack Arnold starring Jeff Chandler, Orson Welles, Colleen Miller, Ben Alexander and Barbara Lawrence.
Contents
Plot
The cow town of Spurline is effectively ruled by Virgil Renchler (Welles), owner of the Golden Empire ranch.
One night, some of Renchler's hands beat a young laborer, Juan MartÃn, to death. The newly elected sheriff of Spurline, Ben Sadler (Chandler), decides to investigate the murder, but must contend with Renchler's henchmen and the fierce opposition of the townspeople, who fear 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 hit Martin accidentally with a car. Renchler's daughter, Skippy (Miller), 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 gets a rifle, tosses aside his badge and, with help from town drunk Ab Begley (Alexander), goes after Renchler and his men, defeating them with the help of the townspeople, who then return Sadler's badge to him.
Cast
Production
The movie was originally called Pay the Devil. It was Jeff Chandler's last film under his exclusive deal with Universal.
The part of Virgil Renchler was originally going to be played by Robert Middleton but agents from the William Morris Agency suggested Orson Welles, who badly needed the money to pay back taxes. It was his first Western. During the course of making the film, Welles rewrote sections of the script. He also formed a relationship with Albert Zugsmith who produced Welles' next movie as director, Touch of Evil (1958).
Filming started October 1956.
Director Jack Arnold says he had one incident with Orson Welles on Welles' first day of shooting but after that he was "wonderful" to work with and full of good ideas.