Shadow in the Sky

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.

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.

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.

**SPOILERS** During the fighting in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Theater of War Burt,Ralph Meeker,suffered wounds far greater then any Japanese bullet or navel bombardment could ever inflict on him.

Pinned down by Japanese gunfire in the rain-soaked Guadalcancal jungle Brut carried his fellow marine , and future brother-in-law, Lou Hopke, James Whitmore,a half mile to safety thus saving his life. Suffering from a sever case of "jungle Rap" Burt was diagnosed as being unable to blend in with society and sent to a US military hospital for shell-shocked servicemen back in the states. It's now some seven years later and Burt is deemed well enough, by his military doctor Edward Frenz, to be sent home but the only home he knows is that of his friend and brother-in-law Paul Hopke and the problem is will Paul as well as Burt's sister Betty, Nancy Davis, take him in?

Much like Marlon Brando's "The Men" the film "Shadow in the Sky" tells of the horrors of war that stays with those who fought in it for the rest of their lives and how they fight to cope and overcome them. Burt knows what his in-laws and sister think of him and doesn't want to burden them with his presence but it's that very reason, to be accepted and not be feared by them, thats the only cure to his crippling psychosis.

Finally agreeing to have Burt stay the Hopke's fear that he'll flip out whenever it starts to rain, which touches off his "Jungle Rap" paranoia, and may not only hurt himself but them, the Hopke's, and their two young children Chris & Nina, Dennis Ross & Nadine Ashdown, as well.

The movie shows how hard it is to get over experiences suffered in a war zone and Ralph Meeker is at his best as the mentally broken war vet who knows that he'll have to go through a hell almost as bad, if not worse, as being in a war itself to overcome them. The Hopke's grudgingly take Burt into their home, after the insistence of his civilian volunteer nurse Stella Murphy (Jean Hagen),has him doing his best to fit in. The fact that he's, as well as Lou & Betty, terrified of a normal rainy day or night makes things very difficult and sooner or later Burt and the Hopke's know that "The Rains Will come" and with them Burt's worst fears about himself and what he may do to those around him.

Very moving story with a hard edge to it in how a man overcomes his worse fears by not running but confronting them head on which turns out to be the best medicine and treatment that he could have.

Burt's fears of rain, it not only reminds him of Guadalcanal but the blood dripping all over him as he carried the badly injured Lou to safety, was also overcome by telling Lou the truth, about the guilt he felt; about him wanting Lou to die so he would no longer have to carry him.

Lou in return sets Burt straight by telling him he has a sense of guilt too; he didn't want to invite Burt to stay with him and his family, thus having him stay alone and unwanted in the military hospital. It was only because Stella insisted that Lou realized that he couldn't leave Burt alone in the world to die, or never recover from his mental illness, when Burt risked his life to save his own back then in the hell that was called Guadalcanal.

Ralph Meeker plays a Marine veteran of the famous battle for Gualdalcanal. The experience left him with PTSD. His condition arises from the memory of carrying a wounded Marine (James Whitmore, who plays Meeker's brother-in-law married to Meeker's sister played by Nancy Davis (Reagan) to safety during a rainstorm as the battle raged on. While Hollywood made the fierce fight for Guadalcanal famous, this pic attempts to illustrate the longterm fallout of the battle on one Marine's psyche. It's pretty good, though it leaves you wondering why Meeker is so traumatized since he actually rescued his future bro-in-law rather than letting him die. If he had done that he might have really been traumatized by crippling guilt. But since he actually rescued him and only feels guilty about considering the possibility of just leaving him in the mud, the whole PTSD premise seems a little far-fetched. In any event, the acting is great between Meeker, Whitmore, Davis, and Jean Hagen, who is in love with Meeker. The weather forecast plays a pivotal role, especially if there's a chance of rain.