It makes sense as to why fictitious names would be used in this adoption of Doctor Mudd story from the days right after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Dr Mudd was imprisoned on Shark Island for giving him medical treatment, and innocently not knowing who he was. Here, a country veterinarian played by Sterling Hayden has the same thing happened to him, except the man he treats is the head of a group of guerrillas, and Hayden is sense to a hell like Prison in the middle of the wilderness in the Middle West. Even though he continues to proclaim his innocence and hopes that with his wife Joan Leslie's help, he will be freed, the prison commander Ward Bond keeps a close watch on him, hoping that he will slip up and reveal things which of course he does not know because of his innocence. What starts off great moves into extremely convoluted plot twists, with Hayden and a group of his cave dwelling prisoners escaping and being led into an attack by Native Americans and others whom Bond has out on the watch for this group. A series a bad choices in moving the plot forward culminates with ridiculous revelations being made, and that results in this being one of the most outlandish re-tellings of American history in Hollywood history.Having already been filmed as the excellent "The Prisoner of Shark Island" in 1936, the story of Dr Mudd had already been presented in a more realistic light. If there was any reason to change what had already been filmed, it was the fact that the producers knew that there was no way that this could compare with the desperate manner in which 20th Century Fox had already done 16 years before. So why do it at all?, is my question. Sterling Hayden does an excellent job as the hero, but he is defeated by a script that doesn't seem to believe in the story it is telling. Ward Bond's character is so one dimensional yet three are indications that this character has multiple personalities because his motivations continue to change at outlandish rates. For that reason I had to give this one a thumbs down, you are better off sticking with your original story or possibly even the television version done more than 20 years later which took great pains to find out details that had not been revealed before.There is also no point in having a major actress like Joan Leslie cast in the insignificant role of the devoted wife, intermittently seeing talking with people she is hoping I can find the evidence to clear him.James Arness has a thankless role as one of the people living inside the cave prison nicknames hell we are all these prisoners are kept. the ending had me raising my eyes with disbelief, and I thought how can I have suffered through 90 minutes of this for a conclusion that made absolutely no sense.it is sad to say, but this one is a piece of American history that is well worth skipping.

Charles Marquis Warren is a director, screenwriter and producer associated with tough westerns about tough people, most of them above average.This western is so good you wonder why it has been ignored. There have been many films about terrible prisons, but few make such a strong impression as this one. Sterling Hayden and James Arness, together in a cell, hating each other plus Ward Bond hating them both and you are sure to have a lot of action. Plus the prison where water has to be brought every month, and profits from the geography to build the cells. There is no way to escape, if the guards don't shoot, or the Indians, the desert will kill. Hayden has an excellent performance as Gilman Hanley, he barely talks but is able to express every emotion. Don't miss this one.

Surprisingly well-produced and offbeat Western from budget-minded Lippert Productions. Note how well stocked with convicts the prison camp is, along with the realistic army tents for the staff. Hard to believe this "Devil's Island" is just a few miles from downtown LA in often-used Bronson Canyon. Lippert does a really convincing job recreating a desert penal colony in the middle of a big city. The prologue from Oliver Wendell Holmes suggests the story is based on fact, though that's not stated. Hayden plays a veterinarian wrongly convicted of guerrilla activity following the Civil War. At the prison camp he has to survive a guerrilla-hating commandant (Ward Bond), a cruel guard (the great Robert Wilke), and scheming fellow prisoners like James Arness. (The Hayden-Arness fistfight features two of the physically biggest men in Hollywood.)The camp is a real hellhole, with underground cells (well-done), a half buried punishment coffin called "the oven", and a posse of Pima Indians for those escaping on foot. And get a load of that trap door leading underground, as if the Devil himself were on the other side. I like the way armed guards are posted on the canyon rim and silhouetted against the sky— another nice touch. There's plenty of intrigue and action, although the typhus outbreak comes as something of an anti-climax following the jailbreak. Hayden underplays throughout, as does Arness. It's really Bond and Wilke who make the strongest impression. Then too, pretty Joan Leslie has her name on the marquee, but only appears for about 5 minutes as Hayden's long-suffering wife. Anyway, it's an offbeat and entertaining 90 minutes that'll make you think twice about helping suspicious-looking strangers,

The early part of this story is the routine innocent-man-sent-to-prison story. Once Sterling Hayden arrives at the prison, however, things improve because of the unusual nature of the prison. It's located in a canyon near the southwestern tip of New Mexico. The canyon walls are more than 200 feet tall and beyond them lies a waterless desert patrolled by Pima Indians anxious to earn a reward for capturing any escapee. Prisoners are kept in underground cells. Punishment consists of being baked in metal coffins half-buried in the sand, or being whipped at a teasingly slow pace which allows the pain of each blow to sink in before the next one is delivered.Seeing how Sterling Hayden reacts to this environment and how he eventually overcomes it makes for a western which rises a bit above its standard materials.