Shadow in the Sky

Earnest little movie that's almost a sleeper, thanks to a solid cast, good production values, and an affecting story. Ex-Marine Burt (Meeker) is in a VA hospital suffering from periodic bouts of battle shock, especially when it rains. Meanwhile, his solid citizen sister Betty (Davis) and her husband Lou (Whitmore) live close by. Burt wants to get out of the confinement and move in with them. But Betty and Lou have two kids and are wary that the unpredictable Burt may prove a live-in hazard. The predicament is compounded by the fact that Burt saved Lou's life during the war, thus Lou has an obligation. So how these various threads get resolved forms the core of the plot.

Hats off to glamorous MGM for foregoing the usual glitz with location filming and a sturdy, if non-glamorous cast. Whatever her politics, Davis-Reagan was a fine actress, excelling at everyday roles, while Meeker at this stage was a Brando-type, though here he calibrates in non-emoting fashion. Of course, Whitmore is Whitmore, looking like an everyday guy as the role requires. Together, they make this story of post-war wounds both affecting and believable, even if in a Hollywood manner. I especially like the rapport between Burt and Lou, which ultimately relies on the male bonding so common among men in battle. Understandably, there were a number of these war trauma films made during this period. However, this obscure little B-film can hold its own even among the bigger boys.

A Completely Forgotten Little Film that is quite Good and quite Different. A Number of Film-Noirs took on the PTSD of Returning WWII Veterans and most of them are Well Known and most of them are Fine Films. This one is Unique in that it is Virtually Unknown.

It has a Very Strange Feel to it and is a Serious and Surreal, at Times, Study that is more than Competently Directed and Acted. The Children are Central to the Plot and the Little Ones are Refreshingly Restrained from Stereotype.

Some of the Dialog is Succinct and Stringent. After a Tense Set-Up the Mentally Disturbed Ralph Meeker, at His Best, Confronts the Parents about the Kids and Tersely Taunts..."What did you think I'd do, chop them up into little pieces and put them in a suitcase?"

Tough Stuff for the Era and Reflects the Tone of the Movie. It is a Suspenseful and Fittingly Bizarre Film that Deserves more Attention.

Strange little domestic drama concerning ex-soldier Ralph Meeker's attempts to readjust to civilian life many years after the war. Generally happy and normal, he can't handle rain, as it serves as a frightening reminder of the rain-soaked conditions he was constantly exposed to during one particularly brutal war time stint.

An extremely handsome looking movie, I was surprised at how the director, Fred Wilcox, composed so many of his shots in such a glistening, almost immaculate way. There always seems to be a lot going on inside the frame. It's visually exciting, almost experimental at times, a novel choice for this subject matter. There's one almost David Lynch-ian scene where Meeker is making an important phone call, and the little daughter is playing in the background, wandering through the house with a bag over her head saying "Give me some eyes. Give me some eyes". Filmed in a dream-like, consciously artistic way, it's quite odd.

All the performances are fine, especially James Whitmore's. He nails the big scene at the end, even though the important revelation about Meeker is sort of a dud. The film is also noteworthy in that it contains two well written women's roles. Nancy Davis plays a loving housewife and mother, but she's complicated and rounded out in a way that most women in these sorts of films around this time weren't allowed to be. And Jean Hagen plays a difficult, rather confounding mental hospital nurse who falls in love with Meeker. Frankly, their whole relationship felt a little confused and hurried but at least Hagen was not the typical angelic girlfriend.

This is a pretty intelligent, realistic and sensitively handled examination of mental illness. And it achieves the somewhat remarkable effect (almost as if it were a horror film) of portraying the simple event of rainfall as something sinister and threatening - its occurrence to be feared not just by Meeker's character but by all those who care about him as well.

"Shadow in the Sky" is a fascinating film because it talks about something practically no film talked about at that time--Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Back then, the only other film that I can think of that dealt with it at all was "The Men"--but this was much more about the physical difficulties injured men face after the war. Here, while Ralph Meeker looks normal, he isn't. And in situations that remind him of the hell he lived through in the Pacific, he becomes a nervous bowl of goo. But, to make this much more interesting, the film focuses much of its energy on his family--a sister (Nancy Davis) and brother-in-law (James Whitmore) who are uncomfortable and cowardly when it comes to accepting him into their home after his very lengthy stay in the hospital. In fact, you really dislike the pair--especially the sister, as her own fears seem much stronger than her love for her brother. A fascinating and VERY unique film I can't recommend strongly enough. My only reservation, and it's a small one, is that sometimes the characters behave a bit strangely--in particular, Meeker's nephew--who is just plain bizarre!

They didn't call it post traumatic stress or PTSD back in those days, the term was shell shocked. But that is what Ralph Meeker is in this film Shadow In The Sky from MGM's B picture unit.

Meeker is a former Marine who served in the Pacific where his sergeant was James Whitmore who happened to marry his sister Nancy Reagan. Meeker has been in an out of veteran's hospital since the end of World War 2. He has a phobia about rain and the presence of Whitmore who was his sergeant during the war, but received a million dollar wound and went home acts as a kind of security blanket for Meeker.

We never really learn what his issues are and they certainly are a lot more complex than Shadow In The Sky lets on. But that was the way with most Hollywood films that dealt with psychological issues back in the day.

It's a good cast ensemble MGM gathered for this film which also includes Jean Hagen who works at the VA and might like to get something going with Meeker once he straightens himself out.

A good film for Veteran's Day.