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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

    dinky-4

    Give this "B" a "B"

    In a bit of a departure for its time, this movie begins with a brief pre-credits sequence, and it delays some of its credits till the very end. (During these closing credits, music is played which was also used in "It Came from Outer Space.")

    Aside from these minor touches, however, "Man in the Shadow" is a traditional, straightforward effort which would have once fitted unobtrusively into the bottom half of a double-bill. By 1957, however, these "B" movies were rapidly being replaced by TV programming and "Man in the Shadow" could easily have been converted into a one-hour television drama. The script might have been edited down by eliminating the role of Orson Welles' teenage daughter who only figures tangentially into the plot and who does not provide any "romantic interest" for Jeff Chandler since his character is already happily married.

    The plot is one of those "politically correct" affairs about the small-town lawman standing up against a powerful citizen in defense of a racial-minority member. The lawman's urged by his family and friends to leave well enough alone but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

    You might expect here one of Orson Welles' flamboyant (a.k.a. "hammy") performances but he's surprisingly restrained due, one suspects, simply to lack of interest in such a minor project. Jeff Chandler, amazingly enough, seems more compelling, and in the movie's most memorable moment he's dragged by his wrists down Main Street, sometimes on his belly, behind a pick-up truck.

    Jack Arnold directed this movie competently but without distinctive touches in a series of standard expository scenes. It pales in comparison to his other 1957 movie, "The Incredible Shrinking Man."
    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.
    7ma-cortes

    A sheriff investigates the strange death of a Mexican laborer but gets not help when he attempts to find law and order

    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 .
    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

    Edit

    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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    FAQ16

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    Details

    Edit
    • 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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