Man in the Shadow Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Pay the Devil")

Directed by Jack Arnold
USA 1957

From Jack Arnold, the acclaimed director of It Came from Outer Space, The Glass Web, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Tarantula, The Incredible Shrinking Man and No Name on the Bullet, comes this action-packed thriller starring Jeff Chandler (Ten Seconds to Hell, Red Ball Express) and Orson Welles (Touch of Evil, The Stranger). “Unless we go back to being beasts, there’s got to be law for everybody.” This stand is taken by sheriff Ben Sadler (Chandler) when the brutal murder of a Mexican farm worker is covered up by those who fear its perpetrator: powerful land baron Virgil Renchler (Welles). As owner of the Golden Empire ranch, the formidable Renchler makes his own rules… and a town that needs his business obeys them. But Ben believes in justice, and with the entire county against him, he fights a lonely and dangerous battle. He’s up against a master manipulator, and after a few attempts on the sheriff’s life, suspense mounts steadily to a showdown in which only one man can win. A modern-day western with bite and social significance, Man in the Shadow (also known as Pay the Devil) teems with atmosphere and features top-notch performances by its two leads.

***

Orson Welles and Jeff Chandler star in Man in the Shadow, a modern-day Western with bite and social significance. As the new sheriff in town, Ben Sadler (Chandler) believes in justice. As owner of the Golden Empire ranch, Virgil Renchler (Welles) makes his own rules, obeyed by a town that needs his business. When the brutal murder of a Mexican farm worker is covered up by all who fear its perpetrator, the formidable Renchler, Sadler fights a lonely and dangerous battle against the entire county. Up against a master manipulator, more than one attempt is made on his life. Suspense mounts steadily to a showdown - in which only one man can win.

Posters

Theatrical Release: December 12th, 1957

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Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:20:24.820
Video	2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 27,095,529,414 bytes Feature: 25,187,923,968 bytes Video Bitrate: 37.90 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1554 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1554 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 27,095,529,414 bytes Feature: 25,187,923,968 bytes Video Bitrate: 37.90 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Troy Howarth • Theatrical Trailer (2:17) and for 6 other films Blu-ray Release Date: March 17th, 2020 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 9

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (February 2020): Kino have transferred Jack Arnold's Man in the Shadow to Blu-ray. It looks gorgeous on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. There is a huge appeal to CinemaScope black + white in 1080P. This has a touch of gloss, rich black levels and looks great in-motion. There is frequent depth, film-like and consistent detail and nicely layered contrast.

NOTE: We have added 48 more large resolution Blu-ray captures for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (16-bit) in the original English language. It doesn't have a ton of aggressive effects - and the lossless track can handle it easily. The uncredited score is by Hans J. Salter (Tower of London, Man Without a Star, The Killer that Stalked New York, The Strange Door, Cover Up, Man Without a Star, Scarlet Street, The Land Unknown, The War Lord, The Mole People, The Strange Case of Doctor Rx) and Herman Stein (Female on the Beach, This Island Earth, It Came From Outer Space, War Arrow, Tarantula, There's Always Tomorrow, The Incredible Shrinking Man) sounding similar to other films (see Howarth's discussion in the commentary of Universal's 'recycled scores'). Kino offer optional English subtitles (see sample) on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray has a new audio commentary by Troy Howarth who discusses similarity with Citizen Kane, the psychological-heavy western genre, the effective use of Cinemascope widescreen black and white, recycled scores (music from Tarantula - desert locale), why Welles was in this 'B' picture (answer: money - was paid $60,000), the Mayberry quality of the small town and much more including degrees of separation on many of the bit players. There is also a theatrical trailer for Man in the Shadow and for 6 other films.

Man in the Shadow has Jack Arnold's economy but turns out to be a good genre picture (even if the genre is less-defined). Welles adds gravitas, Chandler is excellent and there are many effective supporting players. Conflict, racism, power, corruption, murder and many more themes are explored to varying degrees. Super Blu-ray from Kino with impressive a/v and a highly informative commentary. We give this a strong recommendation!

Gary Tooze