As Man in the Shadow begat Touch of Evil so did this beget Man in the Shadow - it's another black and white Universal neo noir about a murder and police corruption in a small town starring Jeff Chandler, produced by Albert Zugsmith and directed by Jack Arnold. Chandler is a ruthless lawyer defending someone for murder - he gets the wrong people off side and finds himself on trial. There's lots of jazzy music and a slutty blonde dancing in a tight evening dress while sipping on alcohol - the sort of image you always saw in Zugsmith films.
This wasn't bad - it moves crisply enough and has an interesting cast: Chandler is forceful as a lawyer not a million miles from Don Draper (that terrific voice is well used in several speeches); Jeanne Crain pops up in a rather thankless role as his estranged, forgiving wife; Jack Carson is superb as a nasty sheriff; poor old Gail Russell pops up and is effective as a sad, broken woman.
I didn't quite buy the story - Carson goes to an awful lot of trouble to made life hard for Chandler; it sets up this murder story in the first third then becomes about something entirely different (i.e Chandler on trial for bribery); Chandler's summing up at the end doesn't make sense (he's saying he went after money and made a lot of mistakes and justice is important... what does that have to do with being not guilty?)
But Carson is a terrific antagonist - smart, ruthless - and Chandler gets to play one of his most flawed heroes: ambitious, unfaithful, a gambling addict. It's an erratic but interesting mystery.
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