On a depressing, ramshackle cattle ranch near the Mexican border, paroled ex-con Meg (Debra Paget) is fed up living in near poverty with earnest husband Ben (Anthony Quinn). Sick of finding scorpions in her slippers, a shower that spews nothing but muddy water, she's fed up and contemplates leaving her husband the same day her old confidence man lover - who let her take the rap on a "bunko job" he engineered - turns up at their doorstep. Suspicious Nardo Denning (top-billed Ray Milland) needs help getting across the border, saying he's planning to do "a little hunting," and wants to hire Ben as his guide. But the rancher refuses and Meg, still secretly pining away for Nardo, heel or no, leaves her husband, hopping into Nardo's pink convertible.

When a border patrol officer stops Nardo car and begins searching the trunk, Nardo ruthlessly throws the sports car into reverse, crushing the officer. (He was about to discover Nardo's briefcase of cash: a million bucks, no less.) Nardo tells Meg it was all an accident, but after fleeing the scene compels her to run away to Mexico with him. Disgusted by his wife's behavior, Ben coldly reconsiders Nardo's offer and agrees to guide them across: for $10,000 in cash.

The River's Edge is a very strong B-movie that takes a couple of reels to get going, but once it does it stays compelling and logically suspenseful through to the end, though a bit of deus ex machina tidies things up in a way the Production Code might otherwise not have allowed. Conversely, the climax hinges on a bit of humanity carefully natured earlier in the film that logically, ultimately breaks away from the overwhelming cynicism of the first half.

Nardo's devious behavior and plotting and manipulation of Meg is fun to watch, and Milland was especially good playing this type of oily character. Quinn keeps his salt of the earth persona in check, with brooding Ben suppressing the betrayal he feels toward his wandering wife long enough to find a way out of the mess they've found themselves in.

The crackling dialogue is sharp and sardonic: "What's in the bag?" Ben asks, pointing to Nardo's suitcase full of money.

"A change of underwear."

"You must have problems," Ben replies.

Though Dwan, whose career went back to the early silent era, tends to direct studio interiors, particular Ben's run-down ranch house, rather unimaginatively, the action scenes are top-notch. (There's an obvious use of stunt doubles, however. On big movie screens the fight scenes must have looked especially phony.)

Video & Audio

Fox's 16:9 widescreen transfer preserves the original CinemaScope theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The color by De Luxe is pretty faded; the hues look tweaked to inject what life was left in them, but things tend to be on the brownish side: Paget's red hair, Nardo's pink convertible (more "flesh" color than pink here), the image is nice and sharp. The film probably had a four-track magnetic stereo mix, but the so-called English stereo on the disc is not true stereo from original multi-tracks. A mono soundtrack is included, along with a Spanish one and optional English and Spanish subtitles.

Extra Features

Extras include an Audio Commentary with James Ursini and Alain Silver; those familiar with their work on myriad other Fox titles will know what to expect.

An extensive Still Gallery includes pub art, including some sketches featuring an improbably muscular Milland locked in mortal combat with Quinn.

A 16:9 theatrical Trailer is complete with text.

Parting Thoughts

The River's Edge is a neat little movie, the kind of double-bill fodder that went unappreciated until scholars like Peter Bogdanovich stumbled across them and recognized their value, much like you may be doing now.

Stuart Galbraith IV is a Kyoto-based film historian whose work includes The Emperor and the Wolf - The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune and Taschen's forthcoming Cinema Nippon. Visit Stuart's Cine Blogarama here.