La nuit sauvage

Devil's Canyon, a RKO picture, starts out like a normal western, the first ten minutes features an exciting gunfight between Dale Robertson and two outlaws gunning for him, but switches to a prison - it's essentially prison break yarn that happens to be a western.

The story- Following a shoot out in which he kills two men, former US marshal Billy Reynolds is sent to the notorious Arizona territorial prison. There he finds himself face to face with an old enemy who is determined to revenge himself on the lawman who sent him to jail.

It's a tautly-drawn story with just enough unpredictability to create suspense. Visually, Virginia Mayo is the only bright spot; a significant contrast to everything else, which is a drab grey. The stone walls are grey, the prison uniforms are grey, the quarry where the prisoners break stone is grey. Visually it's quite oppressive.

The cast is excellent, especially Stephen McNally, who towers over everyone with his intensity as the unhinged Gorman, Dale Robertson is his usual reliable self, and Virginia Mayo as Abby doesn't just add a speck of glamour, but is quite good as a character conflicted between Dale and Stephen McNally. (Also, it might seem odd to find a woman placed in a man's prison, however, in 1899, a woman stage robber known as Pearl hart was imprisoned at Yuma).

It's a decent film, and though I am not usually keen on prison dramas, there's enough things happening here to catch your attention. The finale features an exciting sequence with a Gatling gun and dynamite. I found it really entertaining- it's another of those regular westerns that were shown on BBC2 at 6.pm after school in 80's.

This routine oater sees eye-catching Virginia Mayo aiding a gang of outlaws in a small desert town by helping to arrange a massive jailbreak. It's a strictly by-the-numbers affair, featuring characters segregated into either the good or bad, and a particular cheapness to the sets. RKO Pictures were well known for churning out low budget programmer after low budget programmer and DEVIL'S CANYON is a good example of their 'shoot fast for a quick buck' mentality.

The movie features a number of notable character actors from the era, including Whit Bissell, Morris Ankrum and Irving Bacon, but only Dale Robertson, as the upstanding hero, is given much of a character, while Mayo seems to be relegated to the role of clothes horse for much of the running time.

Things do pick up with a couple of decent shoot-outs and an elaborate, large-scale climax which doesn't disappointment, but by the looks of it the gimmicky 3D fails to make much, if any, of an impact other than in the opening titles.

I taped Devil's Canyon when TCM screened it in November 2009 b/c another western with a historical theme (Great Day in the Morning)was next and I had plenty of tape (I'm still an analogue guy). Reasons for giving it a chance included Dale Robertson in his prime, Steve McInally who was a dependable western heavy, plus Virginia Mayo's OK, but esp. b/c RKO in its decline often made uniquely flawed but curious products.

What's strange about Devil's Canyon (besides the absence of a canyon) is the prison set, which appears only partially, but the walls appear to be enormous hewn stones that cast off strange pastel glows that change with the time of day. As a complement to these eerie atmospherics, the script and scenario range from casually crude to bluntly stupid. As a friend once said of a similar film, "It's just like a porn flick except everybody keeps their clothes on."

The film's best passage--the attempted prison break--takes advantage of the set. The escapees anticipate which doors the guards will open and ambush their entrances, eventually controlling the entire prison, which sets up Robertson's gatling gun throwdown.

Overall, the direction and editing of Devil's Canyon overall are unredeemable, but if you're not asking for much in those regards, the film's visuals have the quality of a meaningless dream.

Generally, a limp western. I don't know where they get "Canyon" since this is about the least scenic western on record. In fact, except for a few shots of LA's ugly Bronson Canyon, the story takes place almost entirely on studio sets. It's more like a prison movie than anything western. That might be okay if the story could work up suspense or intensity. But except for a motivated McNally, the movie generally meanders along without generating much of anything.

Of course, there's Mayo as eye candy. And since it's Marilyn Monroe 1953, Mayo sports a cantilevered chest and occasional cleavage. And that sets the stage for maybe the biggest stretch of the year. In short, we're supposed to believe she's the only woman imprisoned in the same prison with 500 horny guys. Come on scripters, I'll accept the improbable, but not the nutzoid.

At least, the lengthy supporting cast features familiar faces from that era, including a folksy Hunnicutt for comedy relief and a bulldog-faced Flippen for general nastiness. But please, couldn't someone wake Robertson from his general walk- through stupor. Looking like a young Clark Gable is simply not enough. At least the Technicolor makes the visuals somewhat watchable, but 3-D effects appear nowhere in evidence. From the title, I was expecting at least a 3-D avalanche in my lap.

Anyway, I get no pleasure from mocking this dud, but a 90-minute dud it unfortunately is.

DALE ROBERTSON is a marshal unjustly prisoned in an Arizona jailhouse who hinders and then helps a prison break plan concocted by VIRGINIA MAYO. This has the look of a low-budget movie that was put together hastily with a second-rate script and designed as a programmer to fill out a double bill.

VIRGINIA MAYO looks absolutely beautiful but her hairdress and costuming is strictly from the 1950s--and so is her overall demeanor as a tough gal who thinks she's in love with the brutish STEPHEN McNALLY.

Among the supporting cast, Whit Bissell, Arthur Hunnicutt, Robert Keith, Earl Holliman and Irving Bacon have all seen better days.

It affords only minimal entertainment with a standard prison break climax not too convincingly staged. Of the actors, only the handsome and stalwart DALE ROBERTSON looks as though he believes in his role, bringing strength and sincerity to his role as the marshal.

You can afford to miss this one.