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IMDbPro

Le Salaire du diable

Original title: Man in the Shadow
  • 1957
  • Tous publics
  • 1h 20m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
1.3K
YOUR RATING
Orson Welles, Jeff Chandler, and Colleen Miller in Le Salaire du diable (1957)
Contemporary WesternActionCrimeDramaWestern

Virgil Renchler owns most of the town, providing a thriving economy. After his men go too far and kill one of his migrant workmen, the sheriff goes after him, even if it means his job and ev... Read allVirgil Renchler owns most of the town, providing a thriving economy. After his men go too far and kill one of his migrant workmen, the sheriff goes after him, even if it means his job and everyone else's.Virgil Renchler owns most of the town, providing a thriving economy. After his men go too far and kill one of his migrant workmen, the sheriff goes after him, even if it means his job and everyone else's.

  • Director
    • Jack Arnold
  • Writer
    • Gene L. Coon
  • Stars
    • Jeff Chandler
    • Orson Welles
    • Colleen Miller
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.8/10
    1.3K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Jack Arnold
    • Writer
      • Gene L. Coon
    • Stars
      • Jeff Chandler
      • Orson Welles
      • Colleen Miller
    • 29User reviews
    • 26Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos34

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    Top cast30

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    Jeff Chandler
    Jeff Chandler
    • Ben Sadler
    Orson Welles
    Orson Welles
    • Virgil Renchler
    Colleen Miller
    Colleen Miller
    • Skippy Renchler
    Ben Alexander
    Ben Alexander
    • Ab Begley
    Barbara Lawrence
    Barbara Lawrence
    • Helen Sadler
    John Larch
    John Larch
    • Ed Yates
    James Gleason
    James Gleason
    • Hank James
    Royal Dano
    Royal Dano
    • Aiken Clay
    Paul Fix
    Paul Fix
    • Herb Parker
    Leo Gordon
    Leo Gordon
    • Chet Huneker
    Martin Garralaga
    Martin Garralaga
    • Jesus Cisneros
    Mario Siletti
    Mario Siletti
    • Tony Santoro
    Charles Horvath
    Charles Horvath
    • Len Bookman
    William Schallert
    William Schallert
    • Jim Shaney
    Joseph J. Greene
    • Harry Youngquist
    Forrest Lewis
    Forrest Lewis
    • Jake Kelley
    Harry Harvey
    Harry Harvey
    • Dr. Creighton
    • (as Harry Harvey Sr.)
    Joe Schneider
    • Juan Martin
    • Director
      • Jack Arnold
    • Writer
      • Gene L. Coon
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews29

    6.81.3K
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    Featured reviews

    7ulicknormanowen

    In the heat of the night.

    Jack Arnold 's follow-up to "the incredible shrinking man " ,by far his masterpiece , " man in the shadow" is a "modern" western ,with a very simple screenplay .

    Very simple ,but very efficient too,and from the first sequence on ,a violent beat up which causes the death of a bracero ranch hand : an old man,who considers the young victim his son,saw the whole scene .But does the life of a bracero matter when you deal with a tycoon ,who rules the nearby town ,can ruin it,can starve it by not selling his crops to them?

    Orson Welles is ideally cast as the tycoon ,but his character seems influenced by his hateful foreman ,his evil genius ,who also desires his daughter ( the key to the movie is "cherchez la femme" ); Jeff Chandler ,the marshall, is considered a pawn in their game (so you're the sheriff,you were elected and you can be fired if you do not follow the rules) ;but in spite of the danger ,he soldiers on ...

    He's alone in the whole town , where the inhabitants are too afraid of the wealthy owner's power; even his wife does not really support him .His situation looks like Gary Cooper's in "high noon" (1952)
    7Hey_Sweden

    A decent enough Western tale.

    Jeff Chandler gives a capable performance as Ben Sadler, the Sheriff of the small town of Spurline. The main business is an enormous ranch presided over by arrogant fat cat Virgil Renchler (Orson Welles). One night, two of his hands, Ed Yates (John Larch), and Chet Huneker (Leo Gordon), go too far and kill a young worker. Now, a witness (Martin Garralaga) sees this, and goes to tell the Sheriff. Ben still believes in things like justice, so he takes on all comers in order to discover the truth of the matter. This also means he must go against the entire town, who are far too eager to keep Renchler happy and to keep his business.

    Written by Gene L. Coon, and directed by Jack Arnold, this is overall a more routine and less interesting yarn than their previous Western, "No Name on the Bullet". Welles is awfully low-key as the antagonist; it seems as if his heart really wasn't in this one. But at least his role isn't purely one-dimensional; he's more tender around his young daughter "Skippy" (the stunning Colleen Miller). Really, it's the swaggering attitude of jerks like Yates and Huneker that helps to pick up the slack since Welles / Renchler gets relatively little screen time.

    The filmmaking is generally very good, with top black & white cinematography by Arthur E. Arling. For a change, the action takes place in the present day, with people using phones and cars regularly. The atmosphere is strong, with a nearly wordless opening five minutes or so.

    The main value of "Man in the Shadow" is the presence of a superior gathering of character actors: Ben Alexander, James Gleason, Royal Dano, Paul Fix, Mario Siletti, William Schallert, Forrest Lewis, and Mort Mills. Larch and Gordon are effective as the brutish thugs, but Barbara Lawrence gets a rather thankless role as the Sheriffs' concerned wife.

    The theme is solid if hardly inspired: the good lawman surrounded by townspeople too afraid to back him up. At least Coon and Arnold make the proceedings reasonably entertaining.

    Seven out of 10.
    7Ben_Cheshire

    Its no Citizen Kane, but its also no David and Goliath

    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.
    7hitchcockthelegend

    The Bingham County Bully.

    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
    7bkoganbing

    Local Tyranny

    With the debate over illegal immigration and the concern that it is mostly coming from south of the American border, Man in the Shadow is a film that has assumed a serious relevance for us today.

    Jeff Chandler is the sheriff of a small southwestern town and a Mexican migrant worker, Martin Garralaga, has brought news of a homicide committed by white ranch hands on the property of his employer Orson Welles. It seems that a young Mexican was paying to much attention to Welles's daughter, Colleen Miller, and Welles wanted to teach him the error of his ways. Of course Leo Gordon and John Larch go too far and now a murder has to be covered up.

    It becomes two murders when witness Garralaga also turns up dead. Though Welles and his Golden Empire Ranch have a stranglehold on the local economy and the town's leading citizens beg Chandler not to pursue the case, Chandler doggedly goes ahead anyway. He's the sheriff and it's his duty.

    Chandler in this modern western is a standup straight arrow sheriff in the mold of Gary Cooper or John Wayne. He takes his oath of office quite seriously. And what happens to him during the course of the investigation makes the townspeople want to re-examine just how much they want to kowtow to Welles and his hired thugs.

    Mario Siletti, the town barber and one of the few who backs Chandler without reservation, puts it best in that his father fled from a guy who was running Italy in the Twenties the same way Welles was running this corner of the USA.

    Orson Welles just by his appearance in what is a B picture lent enormous prestige to it. This was one of those acting jobs he did trying to earn money to finance his own projects. But Welles never gave less than 100% of himself in anything he did. His portrait of a malevolent Ben Cartwright is a great piece of work.

    Man in the Shadow played the bottom of double features in the Fifties, but those who saw it were not disappointed.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The role of Virgil Renchler was originally supposed to be played by Robert Middleton. The William Morris Agency instead suggested Orson Welles, who badly needed money to pay income taxes he owned to the Internal Revenue Service.
    • Goofs
      Many characters comment about the heat, saying the temperature must be well over 100 degrees, yet even though they are all wearing long sleeves, ties, even suits, no one is ever sweating. The only ones with even a bit moisture on them are the old man and one of the henchmen.
    • Quotes

      Ben Sadler: There isn't a yard of guts in this whole town. This isn't a town, it's a trained dog act! I'm tired of gettin' pushed around! One way or another I'm gonna get myself a couple of murderers tonight.

    • Connections
      Referenced in The Veil: Summer Heat (1958)

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    FAQ

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • November 1, 1957 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Man in the Shadow
    • Filming locations
      • Conejo Valley, Thousand Oaks, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Albert Zugsmith Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $600,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 20 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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    Orson Welles, Jeff Chandler, and Colleen Miller in Le Salaire du diable (1957)
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