Shadow Over Elveron
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name =
| director = James Goldstone
| producer = Jack Laird
| writer =
| screenplay = Chester Krumholz
| story =
| based_on = {{Based on|Shadow Over Elveron|Michael Kingsley}}
| starring = {{startplainlist}}
{{endplainlist}}
| narrator =
| music =
| cinematography =
| editor =
| company = Universal City Studios
| network = NBC
| released = {{Start date|1968|03}}
| runtime =
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
}}
Shadow Over Elveron is a 1968 television crime drama film directed by James Goldstone and starring James Franciscus, Shirley Knight, and Leslie Nielsen.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kW8j6sHvrewC&pg=PA202|title=Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors|first=Jerry|last=Roberts|year=2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810863781|page=202}}{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49804262/the-daily-herald/|title=Shadow Over Elveron, New Drama|newspaper=Daily Herald|date=March 4, 1968|page=19|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} It aired on NBC in March 1968. The story is based on the novel Shadow Over Elveron by Michael Kingsley.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yyqc0Qa6b60C&pg=PA949|title=The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film|editor-first=Alan|editor-last=Goble|year=2011|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110951943|page=949}}
Plot
{{no plot|date=April 2020}}
Cast
- James Franciscus as Dr. Matthew Tregaskis
- Shirley Knight as Joanne Tregaskis
- Leslie Nielsen as Sheriff Verne Drover
- Franchot Tone as Barney Conners
- James Dunn as Luke Travers
- Don Ameche as Justin Pettit
Production
The film was produced by Jack Laird for Universal City Studios. The screenplay, based on the novel of the same name by Michael Kingsley, was adapted by Chester Krumholz. The film was directed by James Goldstone.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49804839/independent-star-news/|title=TV Week Movie Highlights|newspaper=Pasadena Independent Star-News|date=March 3, 1968|page=54|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} Filming took place in 1966.
The lead role was regarded as a career resurgence for James Franciscus, who considered the project as more of a feature film than a television film.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49806571/austin-american-statesman/|title=Perhaps The Time Is Now|first=Don|last=Page|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|publisher=Austin American-Statesman|date=March 6, 1968|page=24|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}
Critical reception
Critical reviews were mixed. The Baltimore Sun called the film "a thoroughly rotten, vicious film", citing its "greatly exaggerated" scenes of police brutality. It characterizes Sheriff Drover, played by Leslie Nielsen, as "Elveron's little Hitler" and decries the image of the United States that the film projects in the guise of a "typical" small town riddled by corruption.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49820975/the-baltimore-sun/|title=Look and Listen with Donald Kirley|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|date=March 8, 2020|page=20|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} The San Francisco Examiner sums up the film as "sick", with its battle between Nielsen as "a repulsively delinquent sheriff" and James Franciscus as the "true, blue hero–dauntless, fearless, incorruptible, indestructible".{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49822038/the-san-francisco-examiner/|title=Vile Case of Morbid Adult Delinquency|first=Dwight|last=Newton|newspaper=San Francisco Examiner|date=March 6, 1968|page=63|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} The Boston Globe called the film "a hysterical, cheap melodrama".{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49822305/the-boston-globe/|title='Premiere Season' At Best Indifferent|first=Percy|last=Shain|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=March 26, 1968|page=33|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}
The Los Angeles Times, in contrast, described the film as "a first-class motion picture by any standards". This review praised both the direction and acting, calling Franciscus' performance "sensitive and penetrating" and Nielsen's role "perhaps...the finest performance of his career"; the review also singled out Franchot Tone, Don Ameche, and Jill Banner for their work.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49822522/the-los-angeles-times/|title='Shadow Over Elveron' Shown on Channel 4|first=Don|last=Page|date=March 7, 1968|page=93|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} According to the Herald & Review, Nielsen's portrayal of a corrupt small-town sheriff "steals the show", while Ameche is "a close second in his totally humorless role as the town's main financial factor".{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49805411/herald-and-review/|title=TV Previews: TV Portrait Drawn of Clark Gable's Life|newspaper=Herald & Review|date=March 5, 1968|page=9|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}
References
{{reflist}}