Shadow on the Land

"Shadow on the Land" was the first made-for-TV movie produced and broadcast on ABC and includes in its cast Jackie Cooper, John Forsythe, Gene Hackman, and Carol Lynley. Its producer, Matthew Rapf, produced series like Ben Casey and Kojak. Its screenwriter, Nedrick Young, won an Oscar as co-writer of The Defiant Ones.

I was 16 when I saw it and its portrait of the United States devolved into a fascist dictatorship made an indelible impression on me. It's one of the most important films in the library of liberty ever made, and it deserves to be revived and seen by every lover of freedom who weeps that the United States is well down the path to tyranny shown in this movie.

But this film also shows seeds of hope, in its portrayal of an underground called the Society of Man.

Watch this! It has more power than a dozen tracts on economics and politics, or political campaigns.

This is a 1968 made for TV movie which was aired only a few times. It is an excellent science fiction- future history movie with the premise that America has descended into a dictatorship because Americans have voluntarily given up their freeedoms in the face of an outside threat. Now that threat has been eliminated, the people in power seek to keep their power... They are opposed by a secret underground called The Sons of Liberty.

I wish this was available to buy in DVD!

A rarely seen gem that hasn't been broadcast in Los Angeles since 1987!! Luckily I grabbed a VHS copy. The plot follows a group of freedom fighters called the Society of Man in their struggle against a fascist government that takes control of the U.S. Fine acting from all the principles, including a young Gene Hackman. It asks a lot of questions about political laziness and expediency. Note: the airport scene at LAX; it almost mirrors the chaos that goes on now with the TSA and their security! Remember this was filmed in 1968! Also the scene at the concentration camp with the freedom fighters and the American Flag is awe inspiring. I wish this film would be released on DVD.

This movie is a great movie for those people who love alternate history. The acting is well done, but many of the sets look as if it were filmed on a closed factory. I hope that someday it will appear on video. If you do like this type of movie then you must read "The Devils Advocate" by Taylor Caldwell it too is about a military dictatorship in the 1960's US.

I saw this movie on the ABC network movie on Friday night. I was just out of high school. I had always been interested in becoming futurist. Read many books and articles on how our futures will be if we are not mindful. This movie was so in time with the times. Even now if it were should it would makes us so aware of our freedoms and how much we take them as a matter of fact. It had a documentary feel to it. Marc Strange had a troubled feel of a man doing a job that it hated and saw it as being wrong. The powers that be had cut the links that make it answerable to it's citizens. I statement from the "Killers Elite:There is no government any where in the world that gives a damn about the people that it is suppose to service" This movie written before big government got married to high tech is a look into where we are on our way. It was a warning that I have never fail to me mindful of. I highly recommend, hippies where not just trouble makes they saw something that others didn't. If you get a chance rent it, study it, compare it to now, and remember always be mindful.