In this B&W modern western from Universal-International, Jeff Chandler and Orson Welles do give great performances and thus show great acting skills in this tense drama which, as has been noted, is an a la "High Noon" western: Chandler is very much the answer to the marshal Gary Cooper did portray in the latter-mentioned allusion. In the movie the marshal is forced to stand alone against the wealthy crazed-bigot ranch owner (whom only the sheriff is willing to defy), the role portrayed by Welles. You can't keep from hating the ranch owner and his cohorts as well. The beautiful Colleen Miller does performs well the role of Welles' daughter. Barbara Lawrence, the "nut" Gertie Cummings in "Oklahoma!", is here a totally different person in the role as the sheriff's wife; here, she is a very serious, scared, yet staunch-looking lady. The movie hits hard at the matter of bigotry which is, to state it extremely mildly, politically incorrect. A Chicano is murdered and the sheriff must go after the killer responsible for it taking place. The climax is totally surprising, I feel. I have watched it more than once and the acting and tension sell it more than anything else connected with it. It is worth the time, basically for those reasons.
Review of Man in the Shadow
