La barranca de Satanás

Unusual outdoor suspenser from Columbia studios, guided by sure-hand of cult director Don Siegel. It's a super-slick production that makes great scenic use of the magnificent Grand Canyon. Nothing profound or head-scratching here, just A-grade movie entertainment.

A string of mysterious murders in a remote Arizona ghost town has deputy Cornel Wilde flummoxed and sheriff Edgar Buchanan about to lose his job. Add to that the sassy and beauteous Victoria Shaw in red-haired Technicolor, gabby bartender Mickey Shaugnessy, and professional hick Tom Fadden, and you've got a cast lively enough to compete with the compelling scenery. Even the stolid Wilde loosens up more than usual, though his countrified accent sort of comes and goes.

Great staging. I really liked the scene at the abandoned mine, where Shaw explains what happened to the fabled gold-mining industry after the war. This may be the only screenplay to take up that topic, which seems odd given the metal's rich role in the settling of the West. So if you're curious about why the industry suddenly disappeared from the American landscape, this is the movie to catch.

The episode in the "dancing bucket" is a real hair-raiser. If I recall a book correctly, Shaw was terrified of doing those high-wire scenes and Siegel had to go to some lengths to get them shot. Given the heights involved, that's not surprising. Anyway, there's action, mystery and plenty to look at including Miss Shaw who unfortunately died much too young. So if you've got a spare 90 minutes, scope out the kind of movie Hollywood was making back when Cinemascope was trying to lure audiences away from the little screen.

Director Don Siegel and star Cornel Wilde combine to give audiences a fast paced and very entertaining murder mystery that keeps everyone guessing until the breathtaking climax.The wild beauty of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River serve as a backdrop to the mystery This is the closest that Wilde ever came to making a western and he is cast as a former Las Vegas police detective who is now a deputy sheriff in an Arizona town and is faced with a series of baffling murders in what is normally a quite and peaceful little desert hamlet.Wilde becomes romantically involved with the daughter of towns local big shot played by Victoria Shaw who he meets while giving her a speeding ticket. Ms Shaw was married to actor Roger Smith at the time.. The father is of course hostile to the relationship, particularly when he becomes a suspect in the murders. Crusty Edgar Buchanan portrays the slow moving sheriff who is occupied in a feud with the county prosecutor regarding the crimes. Mickey Shaughnessy plays Scotty O'Brien who owns the town's only tavern and liquor store. Scotty seems to know a lot of town secrets but like all good bartenders he is very discreet.

Of course the Canyon is as much a star in the film as any of the actors and Siegel gets a marvelous performance from the river and the gorge.From the jaw dropping beginning to the heart pounding climax, the Canyon is the real star. Siegel favorites Jack Elam and Dabbs Greer have red herring roles. Seek this one out you will be glade you did.

Take the Grand Canyon, a cave full of tons of bat guano, an aerial tramway, an old deserted mining town, a beautiful red head, Cornel Wilde, Jack Elam, Edgar Buchanan, 50's cars, all filmed in vibrant color, and a few corpses and you get a really different mystery film that moves briskly along during its 80 minutes. This film would be worth watching if only for the scenes of the aerial tramway heading down into the Grand Canyon, something that you'll never see again, and it was all real! The mine depicted in the movie really existed, and so did the U.S. Guano Corporation!!! This movie is a time capsule and is fascinating to watch for just the period effects and the settings. Very enjoyable.

An older gray-haired man, in a dark blue suit, drives to the edge of an unpaved road along the Grand Canyon, gets out, and, directly in front of his late-model yellow car, gazes over the canyon with his binoculars. While he is thus occupied, another man, younger and heavier set, sneakily walks up to the car, releases the brakes, and pushes it; his intent is to strike the older man and so that both he and his auto will plunge over the canyon. The car misses the well-dressed man who jumps out of the way. The younger man lunges for the older one but the ensuing quick struggle results in the victory for the older man. The younger one falls a long way to his death.

Right after we see Eli Jones (Tom Fadden) who fruitlessly tries to get the attention of deputy sheriff Les Martin (Cornel Wilde). Eli has seen the older man walking aimlessly (after the struggle), but Eli has previously "called wolf" once too often, so the sheriff dismisses him. Instead he chases after a fast driving young lady (Janice Kendon, played by Victoria Shaw) and gives her a speeding ticket. Later we find out that her brother Bob (Rian Garrick) is a drunk. Their father Jim (Alexander Lockwood) is an owner of the nearby Kendon mine. Meanwhile Eli returns to his office (the Kendon Mine Corporation), a remote frame structure. He sees the older man, the one in the dark blue suit, hanging from the ceiling with his hands tied behind his back. Sheriff Edwards (Edgar Buchanan) and Deputy Martin, who have been summoned by Eli, are on the scene of the crime. "Well, at least we know it's not a suicide," quips Edwards.

While Deputy Martin is investigating the case, he meets with guano mining foreman Bill Ward (Jack Elam), who tells him that his watchman, Charlie Piper, is missing. Martin discovers that the current mining operation (US Guano) involves 500,000 tons of bat guano (sold for fertilizer). A tram car supported by cable traverses 9,000 feet across the canyon. The expression "over the rim" had cropped up in Martin's investigation. The tram has something to do with something nefarious. At Scotty O'Brien's bar in town (Kendon), Martin gathers no information. A little more than a half-hour into the film, Martin and Bill Ward are being flown over the canyon where they spot a crashed yellow car and Charlie Piper's body. (Piper was the dude who tried to kill the older man at film's beginning.)

At the abandoned gold mine post Martin arrests a vagrant, Suds Reese. He has binoculars with the initials R.E.W. They are obviously not his; Reese claims he found them. But this comes to nothing. While Martin's investigation continues, his budding romance with Janice Kendon romance has amplified. One night at the Kendon Office Eli, alone, watches a TV show. A man, whom we do not see, enters. Through the man's eyes we observe Eli. Eli tells the man that he has spotted something of interest on the framed photograph hanging on a wall. It is Jim Kendon posing in a group photo next to the murdered man in the dark blue suit. Eli says that he will immediately call the sheriff. Thereupon the stranger takes a knife and stabs Eli to his death. Another murder!

The next scene focuses on a coroner's inquest that the politically minded county attorney is using for his own advantage. He is backing his own candidate for sheriff with the intention of removing both Edwards and Martin. The CA tries to rile up the citizen's committee. The coroner reminds the CA that the purpose of the inquest is to discover the identity of the dead man (blue suit) and the cause of his death. Because of the budding political situation over the unsolved three deaths, it is imperative that there is break in the case.

A break does occur about an hour into the feature. Deputy Martin discovers that the identity of the man in the blue suit was Randall E. Whitmore of New York, Executive Vice-President of Kendon Mining Corporation. Martin quickly drives out to the Kendon family home where all three family members (Jim, Bob, and Janice) happen to be present. Jim is genuinely shocked to discover that the dead man was Whitmore. And why was he out in Arizona instead of the NY offices? Martin surmises that Whitmore found out that someone was taking some of the gold from the Kendon mine without permission. Difficult, but can be done, says Jim Kendon. While this is transpiring Bob gets a telephone call and leaves. Janice, suspicious, says she will make a pot of coffee, and leaves the room. Instead of heading out into the kitchen, however, she takes her car and follows Bob to the local airstrip. At the airstrip things come together and we see the main bad guy, who comes as a surprise. I will not reveal his name. The movie climax occurs about 15 minutes later, and it involves a shootout on the suspended tram high above the Grand Canyon.

Using a USA National Park/Monument in movies goes back a long way. For instance, the first motion picture featuring aerial views of the Grand Canyon was a Tom Mix western, "Sky High" (1922). Yellow Sky (1948) was filmed at Death Valley National Monument (now Park). John Ford's beloved Monument Valley was the setting for many of his westerns, including "Stagecoach" (1939) and "The Searchers" (1956). Alfred Hitchcock used the Statue of Liberty National Memorial in "Saboteur" (1942) and Mt. Rushmore NM in "North by Northwest" (1959). In "Dangerous Mission" (1954) the star was Glacier National Park. "Close encounters of the Third Kind" (1977) featured Devil's Tower National Monument.

The cinematography is simply excellent. It must be also said that the acting is decent, even with Wilde's strange accent. Victoria Shaw looks great and for once Jack Elam is not the heavy. Entertaining and suspenseful!

One of nature's natural wonders the Grand Canyon of Arizona serves as the backdrop to this modern day western where a breakout of three murders occur within a week. They don't seem to be related but of course they are and Deputy Sheriff Cornel Wilde pursues them all with the backing of Sheriff Edgar Buchanan.

Wilde and Buchanan have their work cut out for them. The prosecuting attorney is from a different political party which backed a candidate against Wilde in the last election in Mohave County. Wilde's had issues in the past and his conduct of the investigation is used against Buchanan.

In all of this it centers around a scheme to steal gold out of a working mine in the Grand Canyon that's owned by Victoria Shaw and her family. Wilde and her get a little romance going and her knowledge of fashion and designer labels is what gives him the clue to crack things open.

The last 20 minutes involve the villain taking Victoria Shaw hostage with a nasty fight on a cable car that goes over the canyon between Wilde and the villain. Really well done a harbinger of some of the action stuff that is more prevalent in today's films. All staged and directed with distinction by Don Siegel.

Edge Of Eternity is a crackerjack noir mystery set in the modern west, but hardly in a tight urban setting. You can't get more expansive than the Grand Canyon and I saw it about 5 years after Edge Of Eternity was filmed there. Grand doesn't begin to describe it, but this film will give you some idea.