Shadow on the Wall

Director: Pat Jackson, Patrick Jackson Pat Jackson

Overview

A murder is witnessed by the victim's little daughter (Gigi Perreau), who immediately goes into a state of shock. All the girl has seen is the shadow of her mother's killer, but the audience knows that the murderer is Ann Sothern. At first Sothern is secure that the girl will never be able to identify her, but as the child shows signs of recovering, Sothern panics. Though the murder was unintentional and the killer is quite fond of the little girl, she nonetheless begins scheming to put the potential witness out of the way. Quite tense at times, especially in the last scene, Shadow on the Wall represents one of the few unsympathetic performances by the otherwise likable Ann Sothern.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/13/2015
UPC:	0888574295127
Original Release:	1950
Source:	Warner Archives
Language:	English
Time:	1:24:00
Sales rank:	36,561

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ann Sothern	Dell Faring
Zachary Scott	David I. Starrling
Gigi Perreau	Susan Starrling
Kristine Miller	Celia Starrling
John McIntire	Pike Ludwell
Tom Helmore	Crane Weymouth
Helen Brown	Miss Burke
Barbara Billingsley	Olga
Marcia Van Dyke	Secretary
Anthony Sydes	Bobby
Jimmy Hunt	Boy
Nancy Reagan	Dr. Caroline Canford
Pierre Watkin	Dr. Dan Hodge

Technical Credits

William Ludwig

Pat Jackson	Director,Director
Robert Sisk	Producer
William Ludwig	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

A fairly gripping little murder thriller, Shadow on the Wall derives a lot of its impact not from figuring out "who did it" -- which is made clear early on -- but in finding out whether the murderer will succeed again. Shadow's screenplay has its problems, among them some implausible situations and the usual ridiculous depiction of psychological treatment that is typical in motion pictures, but it overcomes these flaws with its premise and with the effective manner in which it lets the story play out. Pat Jackson's direction emphasizes the suspense, which is all to the good; he plays the "big" scenes for all they're worth but also makes sure that there are plenty of little touches to individualize the characters and set moments apart. He's aided by Ray June's deep focus photography, which is crucial in creating the atmosphere that is so important to Shadow. While Ann Sothern is a curious choice for the leading role, given her usual penchant for comedy, she acquits herself quite well; indeed, her obvious likeability actually works in her factor, making the character more interesting and creating some welcome ambivalence in the audience in terms of how they feel about her. Zachary Scott and Nancy Davis are fine, and Gigi Perreau does very, very well with a demanding and difficult role.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler