The Worst Film Ever

As Good As It Gets

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Man in the Shadow is directed by Jack Arnold and written by Gene L. Coon. it stars Jeff Chandler, Orson Welles, Colleen Miller, Ben Alexander, John Larch and Barbara Lawrence. Uncredited music is by Hans J. Salter and Herman Stein, and cinematography by Arthur E. Arling.The cattle town of Spurline is ruled by Virgil Renchler (Welles), one man refuses to bow to his despotic rule - Sheriff Ben Sadler (Chandler).Obreos No Son Permitidos A Traves De Esta Cerca.The above statement means that field hands are not permitted beyond this fence, it's an opening salvo that greets viewers of this atmospheric and relevant CinemaScope picture, and it's something that perfectly sets up the unseemly tone of the story.The story is simple enough, a town is run by an unsavoury business man who thinks he and his cronies are above the law, the townsfolk think he is as well and tow the line, even in view of the overt racism and treatment to those of other ethnicity. When a murder is committed it brings in the upright and loyal to the law Sheriff, who as you might guess will have to stand alone against tyranny."Now you're shocked? All you decent people were shocked? For god's sake why? Because my name's Ben Sadler instead of Juan Martine, cuz I'm a tax payer instead of a drifter?"With mood established, both in narrative thrust and monochrome magic, film is more concerned with political bile, the abuse of power and troubled consciousness than being an action piece. You may well know how this is all going to end, but it's told and performed in such a gripping fashion that it holds court from first frame till last. A number of striking images would grace many a film noir, the night shots of the town, a dastardly crime perpetrated in the shadow of a swinging lamp, the ominous lighting of the Renchler Ranch, and then there's the potency of the criminal acts, which are admirably constructed. Both Arnold and Arling proving to have keen eyes for visual impact.Welles doesn't have to stretch himself but makes a telling mark as the big bad, while Larch does a nice line in snarly henchmen villainy. Sadly where Miller is concerned, as Renchler's daughter it's a token role that any gal could have played, the role seemingly only serving to have her strip to her undies and be annoyed with her dad. Head and shoulders above everyone is Chandler, there are those who call him wooden (amongst over things), not a bit of it. The right role, such as this, showcases his worth, his subtleties, his physicality and a calming grace that makes one lament his too short career and life.Thematically this sort of piece has been done much better elsewhere, but this is laudable stuff all told and well worth discovering for potential first time viewers. 7/10

Intriguing and thrilling semi-Western about a honest marshal called Sadler has to confront a vicious land baron and his hoodlums . He is Virgil Ranchler whose ranch is bigger than five European countries . Violence and fear gripped in a land of the lawless but there appears marshal Ben Sandler (Jeff Chandler) as the only man in the country willing to stand up to powerful Virgil Ranchler (Orson Welles who rewrote sections of the script) . When his ruthless henchmen (John Larch , Leo Gordon) go to far and kill one of his migrant workmen , earnest Ben Sadler suspects Ranchler is behind the cruel death . As the sheriff goes after him even if it means his job and everyone else's . However , Sadler gets not support from townsfolk when he attempts to find justice .Offbeat semi-Western about an upright marshal taking on a wealthy rancher responsible for immigrant's brutal death . The film packs violence , suspense , drama , thrills , moving set pieces and results to be quite entertaining . It's a medium-low budget film with good actors , technicians , production values and pleasing results . However , some reviewers and journalists told that producer Albert Zugsmith's low budget didn't allow for a single cow to be shown . A good almost-Western of the kind that was already close in the then changing climate of Hollywood , what follows result to be Westerns in which stand out the twilight style , typical of the sixties . There is plenty of intrigue and thriller in the movie ; it continues to thicken to the inevitable final showdown . It's a stirring thriller with breathtaking confrontation between leading roles , Jeff Chandler and Orson Welles . Jeff Chandler interprets efficiently a marshal responsible for law and order in a cattle town . Orson Welles is terrific as Virgil Renchler , a wealthy man who owns most of the town providing a thriving economy . The role of Virgil Renchler was originally supposed to be played by Robert Middleton ; however the casting agency instead suggested Orson Welles, who badly needed money to pay tax . Orson Welles interpreted for getting financing to shoot his pictures , as he played several peculiar as well as exotic characters such as ¨The Tartari¨ , ¨Saul¨ , ¨Cagliostro¨ , ¨Cesare Borgia¨ and ¨Black rose¨ . Support cast is pretty good such as John Larch , Colleen Miller , Ben Alexander , James Gleason , William Schallert , Royal Dano , Paul Fix and a wasted Barbara Lawrence as wife . Special mention for Leo Gordon , he chomps his way through role of despicable villain , his ordinary character as a cruelly baddie , as he is pretty well , and bears a two-fisted and mocking aspect , subsequently he would play similar characters . Enjoyable and thrilling musical score by Joseph Gershenson . Evocative cinematography in Black and White Cinemascope by Arthur E Arling . This ¨Enemy in the shadow¨ also titled ¨Pay the devil¨or ¨Seeds of wrath¨ was expertly staged by Jack Arnold who carried out an exciting climax of the picture . Being compellingly directed and resulting to be one of his best forays into the thriller genre . Arnold makes a nice camera work with clever choreography on the showdown , fighting , moving confrontations and suspenseful set pieces . He reigns supreme as one of the greatest filmmakers of 50s science , achieving an important cult popularity with classics as "The Creature from the Black Lagoon," and its follow-up titled "Revenge of the Creature" that was a nice sequel . "Tarantula" was likewise a lot of amusement and of course "The Incredible Shrinking Man" attained his greatest enduring cult popularity , it's a thought-provoking and impressive classic that's lost none of its power throughout the years . Arnold's final two genre entries were the interesting "Monster on the Campus" and the outlandish "The Space Children¨ . In addition to his film work, Arnold also directed episodes of such TV shows .

I'm going to make no apologies for this: I am an Orson Welles fiend. I've seen everything he's directed, and have moved onto chasing down all the little cameos he did to finance his other pictures. I can't explain it, its just a thing. So bear that in mind when you read the following. For people who sit through all kinds of trash hoping to catch a glimpse of Orson Welles, this movie is a 8/10. Its one of the better ones. It has value. He is a main role, a sort of villain type. He is in more than a few scenes. Feels like half of the picture. The value here is that the movie is a fun schlocky noir movie, and that Orson appears with little makeup, just one of his noses by the look of it. Highly recommended for my kind of people.Now, for people who don't care about Orson Welles, this movie is also not bad. Its a pretty fun B-movie. I'd say only a 5/10 though. For balance, therefore...7/10.

Orson Welles owns a ranch that as he puts it, "is larger than a lot of countries in Europe." He also has the dumbest cowboys in Texas working for him. The film opens with two of them beating, Juan, one of the ranch's Mexican cow-hands to death. They were supposed to simply beat-up Juan, so that he would stop hanging out with Orson's daughter. The crime is witnessed by one of Juan's friends who reports it to the Sheriff played by Jeff Chandler. Chandler's deputy tells him not to even bother investigating the matter, but Chandler is determined to follow through on the case. Had the dumb cowboys simply gone out in the middle of Orson's enormous ranch and buried Juan it would have been difficult for even the conscientious Chandler to probe the alleged murder without a body. But one of the dumb cowboys brings in Juan's body claiming he accidentally ran over him in his truck. As Chandler digs into the case nobody in town gives him any support except for the guy who cuts his hair. In the one scene where we meet Chandler's wife even she says he should just forget it because it is not good for the town. The cowboys continue to commit a series of stupid acts making it pretty obvious that they are guilty of murder. After each stupid act is reported to Orson, he seems to show a little exasperation for being saddled in such a ridiculous story. Overall he seems rather indifferent to the movie. Chandler gives a lot of agonizing line readings, and his stunt double is thoroughly abused by the conclusion of the picture.