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Friday, September 16, 2022

THE RIVER'S EDGE (1957)

Allan Dwan had three films to go in his 50 year directing career, but this may be his last substantial offering.  A tough, economically built suspenser, it’s a modern chamber Western in CinemaScope & shiny Deluxe color, following unhappily married Anthony Quinn & Debra Paget who are failing to make a go of it on his small, scrubby cattle ranch.  She’s a city gal, skipping out on parole with Quinn’s man-of-the-land, but secretly pining for Ray Milland, her older partner-in-crime who let her take the rap for their last job.  Now he’s hunting her up in a pink Thunderbird convertible and a case of cash with a plan to cross the Mexican border with Quinn as expert guide to avoid those pesky Customs Agents.  If only Paget seemed worth the devotion, especially in the first act setup.  Once they head out, her acting improves, the story compresses into a survivalist tale, tension ratchets up.  The pivot point is a casual border partol stop in the middle of nowhere that turns deadly and shows Milland as more pathological than either we or Paget assumed.  Three or four more doozy moments supply perfectly staged action & excitement to fill in the rest: a truck tumbling into a canyon; a prospector’s murder; a hunt in a field of corn.  Milland very good as the amoral killer, handy with facile explanations.  Quinn, pulling back from his usual everyman act to find a specific response to each situation.  Plus nice supporting turns in town and on the road.  Even Paget finds her form.  She certainly looks striking; all legs and red hair.  It’s not just the color processing that’s Deluxe.  Makes you want to check on those last three Dwan pics (not seen here).

DOUBLE-BILL: Over at Columbia, Don Siegel’s little seen EDGE OF ETERNITY/’59 has a similar feel, look and muscular bluntness to it.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2021/04/edge-of-eternity-1959.html

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