Don't listen to the negative reviews

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Ray Milland plays 'Nardo'--yes, Nardo! Nardo is a vicious crook who has a huge suitcase of cash and is willing to do ANYTHING to get across the border into Mexico. When he shows up at the home of a local guide (Anthony Quinn), it's not just a coincidence--Quinn's wife (Debra Paget) was once Milland's lover and partner in crime. Soon Quinn learns this and is disheartened--but agrees to escort Paget and Milland through the desert for $10000.The rest of the film consists of Quinn taking them through the desert and it's all pretty interesting. However, one HUGE plot problem remains--if Milland has, so far, killed at least two innocent people, why wouldn't he just kill Quinn when they make it across the border? And, more importantly, why wouldn't Quinn just shoot Milland when he got the chance--and several times throughout the film he had such an opportunity. In other words, Quinn says he knows that Milland will try to kill him--so why not shoot Milland and claim the reward?! The worst part is at the end--when Milland is trying to kill Quinn. Paget stops this when she gets the rifle--then stands so close to Milland that he EASILY strips away the gun. Duh!! As a result, while well made (with a lot of tension and nice acting), the film makes no sense--none. Now why would anyone want to watch a film that make no sense? In addition, at the end it just kind of peters out--running out of steam until, mercifully, it all ends.By the way, at the end of the film, note how Quinn, after having a HUGE boulder roll onto his leg, is able to hop up and run around with no visible effects. A moment later, he starts limping...just a bit! Double duh!

Sleekly gorgeous Debra Paget looks about as comfortable on a hardscrabble ranch as Paris Hilton would in a convent. No wonder she takes off with former boyfriend Ray Milland when he shows up at the door. At least he likes money better than scruffy cattle. Pity grimy husband Anthony Quinn left in the dust when the shower doesn't work, the oven blows up, and he shows more concern for calf serum than a night on the town. But then, as we find out, things are not as uncomplicated as they look.Interesting if not very believable melodrama. The first half presents intriguing mind games between the three main characters, but bogs down in the last third. Nonetheless, the story strays some distance from the usual, with a few unexpected twists and turns. Milland's character is certainly not geared to winning new fan club members, while Paget standing around in her underwear shows why the real life Howard Hughes reserved a special cottage for her. The movie must have cost a $1.80 to make since hardly anyone gets on screen but the threesome, while the action takes place either somewhere in the boondocks or on a cheap outdoor set. And when Paget runs from a speeding car to the safety of a cornfield, I wondered if the writer of North by Northwest was taking notes. Had the script played up the mind games to the end, we might have had a real sleeper. But the early promise settles in for a more conventional wind up; at the same time, the last scene borrows from the ironical caper film The Killing from the year before. All in all, I expect an obscure film like this has gotten a much bigger audience from cable TV than it ever got in theatres. A must-see for fans of cult director Allan Dwan.

A first class B movie from the redoubtable Allan Dwan who, over the years, became something of an expert in making silk purses out of sow's ears. Not that this resembles anything like a sow's ear. It's got a decent script and good performances from Ray Milland as the cold-hearted killer trying to get across the border into Mexico with a suitcase full of money and Anthony Quinn as the farmer who is taking him there. What gives the film its kick is that none of it's three protagonists, (the third, Debra Paget, is the farmer's wife who happens to be the killer's former partner), is particularly noble, (indeed all display varying degrees of rottenness), and all are psychologically very well drawn. It's also very handsomely shot in wide-screen and combines studio and location work to good effect.

This is a western, though set in more modern days. Quite watchable, actors are fine, Paget is stunning. It is not very deep, and it borders on the naive, though never falls into the absurd.