The greatest movie ever!

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

In this B&W modern western from Universal-International, Jeff Chandler and Orson Welles do give great performances and thus show great acting skills in this tense drama which, as has been noted, is an a la "High Noon" western: Chandler is very much the answer to the marshal Gary Cooper did portray in the latter-mentioned allusion. In the movie the marshal is forced to stand alone against the wealthy crazed-bigot ranch owner (whom only the sheriff is willing to defy), the role portrayed by Welles. You can't keep from hating the ranch owner and his cohorts as well. The beautiful Colleen Miller does performs well the role of Welles' daughter. Barbara Lawrence, the "nut" Gertie Cummings in "Oklahoma!", is here a totally different person in the role as the sheriff's wife; here, she is a very serious, scared, yet staunch-looking lady. The movie hits hard at the matter of bigotry which is, to state it extremely mildly, politically incorrect. A Chicano is murdered and the sheriff must go after the killer responsible for it taking place. The climax is totally surprising, I feel. I have watched it more than once and the acting and tension sell it more than anything else connected with it. It is worth the time, basically for those reasons.

Somehow eerily prescient of today (2016) and at the same time not. Stumbled on this as it was being run on Showtime and as I hadn't heard of it, I DVR'd it to watch later. It reminds me in part of In the Heat of Night (Sidney Poitier) and Murder in Coweta County (Andy Griffith). The theme of a rich man running not only his business but the town or county he lives in is certainly not new. but done well here. Basically Virgil Renchler (Orson Wells) owner of the Golden Empire Ranch is upset as his daughter Skippy (Colleen Miller) has taken up a friendship with one of the migrants working on the ranch. Renchler tells some of boys to teach the boy a lesson. Enjoying the assignment, they go too far and kill the boy. The sheriff Ben Sadler (Jeff Chandler) finds he needs to look into the incident even though the townspeople are against it as Renchler basically "owns" and runs the town and after all it was only a wetback (Mexican) who was killed. The cover up results in a second murder and Sadler decides he has to make a choice: the law or the town. Eventually things spin so out of control that the townspeople find they too must decide. We have the expected resolution with Renchler being arrested. About two thirds into the film Sadler has a conversation with the town barber, Tony Santoro (Mario Siletti) who comments he understands the problems the Mexicans are facing more so than the other residents. He mentions his father had died recently at the age of 93; and after living in this country for thirty years, he still spoke no English. And as for Renchler, he adds that he, Santoro, still has relatives in Italy and that Sadler might recall they had a guy back there who ran the country the way Renchler runs the town. While it is a clear allusion to Mussolini, I suspect there are many viewers who wouldn't get it. Given the current political climate here and the attitude toward immigrants being espoused by some, the conversation has a certain poignancy and immediacy. Jeff Chandler does a good job here. He imbues his character with the nuances of conflict he is dealing with, and the consequences of his choices on himself, his wife, his town. Worth a watch if you can find it, or if you like movies that are supposed to make you think. Pretty impressive for a B film from 1957.

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 .

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.