Cast a Long Shadow (1959)

A lot of fun.

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Back in those days of the 19th century the polite phrase in describing Audie Murphy's illegitimate birth was to say he was born on the left side of the blanket. I think this story came from the left side of the blanket.Cast A Long Shadow has Murphy as the illegitimate son of the owner of the local Ponderosa who lives a wastrel life. As the film opens the foreman of said Ponderosa John Dehner pulls a drunk Murphy out of the saloon and tells him his father died and as he had no other family the whole thing is left to him.Dehner was hoping it be left to him, but since it wasn't and Murphy just wants to keep on with his wastrel life, Dehner has built up a syndicate of sorts from the locals to purchase the place and keep Murphy in booze for a very long time.What happens afterward, the way Murphy is treated by the townspeople no matter how their 19th century blue noses felt for a man who was to be their benefactor is just ridiculous. Only Terry Moore who Murphy once courted treats him well.All Dehner's and the rest's plans go up in smoke for the unbridled contempt they hold him in and for another little joker in the deck that gets sprung on everyone. How it all is resolved is for you to see Cast A Long Shadow.Try as I may I really could not accept people acting against their own rational self interest the way these people do when it comes to Murphy. Cast A Long Shadow will not be rated as one of Audie's better westerns.

Cast a Long Shadow is directed by Thomas Carr and adapted to screenplay by Martin M. Goldsmith and John McGreevey from the novel written by Wayne D. Overholser. It stars Audie Murphy, Terry Moore, John Dehner, James Best, Denver Pyle and Ann Doran. Music is by Gerald Fried and cinematography by Wilfred Cline.Filmed in black and white and produced out of the company Murphy formed with Walter Mirisch, Cast a Long Shadow is a tired Oater on narrative terms. The look and feel is fine and the performances are more than up to scratch, but there's a thematic drive missing from the writing, a missed opportunity to really pump some psychologically distorted blood into its veins.Murphy is a tough drinking loose cannon type who inherits a ranch and renounces his past and plans to marry his sweetheart. But the ranch is wanted by the townsfolk as a means of productivity salvation and it transpires it's in a whole bunch of debt - with the bank vultures circling. So Audie takes control of a crucial cattle drive and proves to be a very hard task master, so much so he just may kill off any hope of saving the ranch in the process.In the background is the hovering question of Murphy's illegitimacy, something which bothers him so, and with him trying to go straight and sober - but in the process alienating everyone around him, the meat is there for a tasty stew. Sadly it's only averagely unfurled and culmination of story leaves loose ends dangling. Still, it's never dull, music and photography are in sync with the play, and Murphy fans get good value for their time. 6/10

Drifter Audie Murphy inherits a massive ranch from the man long-rumored to be his real father and returns home to sell it to a worker's collective, most of which resent him for being the boss's son and look down on him for being illegitimate and the son of a loose woman.Though critically panned, this isn't nearly as bad as some say. it's actually an interesting study of both social and personal psychology, with Murphy changing his mind and pushing back hard against the patronizing cowboys in a do-or-die cattle drive, where he (the son) becomes an inverted, mini-version of John Wayne in Red River.As entertaining as it is, it could have used a healthier budget and a more polished script. Also, the ending was annoyingly abrupt as well and main villain James Best (the best of the underrated heavies) should have been given more to do.Though this was pretty much forgotten, producer Walter Murch struck gold the following year with The Magnificent Seven.

Murphy was a hero in World War 2, being the most decorated soldier of the war, but as an actor he left much to be desired. Black and white should have gone the way of the arc projector lamp by the 1950's! The film does have a good cast of character actors doing they're best to pull this film out of it doldrums. Ms. Moore seems out of place in this film, lacking her usual sensuality. John Dehner is his usual best as the stern character of the film, outdoing Murphy who's supposed to be the lead. James Best is in his heyday period and shows good acting. One wonders if Murphy being a co-producer has any bearing on the quality of this flick? I would recommend it to people who like typical westerns of the B class.