Don Siegel has an eye for the visuals in this mystery story set in the Grand Canyon but the plot and dialogue are merely serviceable.Deputy Sheriff Les Martin (Cornell Wilde) patrols the canyon area which includes an abandoned gold mine. He listens to a tall story told by an old timer of a beaten up guy he saw when he suddenly pursues Janice Kendon (Victoria Shaw) the daughter of a local mine owner who speeds past him and after he books her they begin flirting with each other.Pretty soon the deputy is investigating missing men, murders and looking into whether gold is being smuggled out of the mine works. You have an old coot, a drunken son, a hostile father, a foreman, a comic relief and any one of them could be the shady heavy.There is an entertaining climax with the cable cars high above the canyon and there seemed to be a real bat cave full of bat crap which was involved in the location filming. I think a bit of bat poo went into the script.

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.

Like all of Don Siegel's movies we are immersed in the action from the beginning of this spectacularly shot mystery thriller.Not a single frame,word or gesture is wasted just like in all of Don's films.No wonder Clint Eastwood attributes his own economical movie-making style to him. Cornel Wilde's deputy sheriff carries the whole film very well like in a old school noir mystery he is in almost every scene piecing the puzzle along with us and we are not given any information other than what he learns therefore the final revelation is as shocking to us as is to him. Like of all Don Siegel movies the supporting cast is great; including the late and great Edgar Buchanon, Siegel regular Jack Elam and the very beautiful and charming Victoria Shaw.But like in all his films the bad guy (revealed at the end)is awesome. Kudos to Don Siegel ,one of my all time favourite directors. Special mention has to be made of the film's stuntmen's work in the climax.I won't spoil it but it's a nail biting sequence.

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.