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.

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 a 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 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, 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 shotgun, tosses aside his badge and, with help from cropper Aiken Clay, goes after Renchler and his men, defeating them with the help of the townspeople, who then return Sadler's badge to him.

Cast

The movie was originally called Pay the Devil. It was Jeff Chandler's last film under his exclusive deal with Universal.
Albert Zugsmith says the budget was $600,000 much of which was overheard - $375,000 got on screen.
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.
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.