More a postcard of Mexico than a movie, despite which, actor William Lundigan stars as a straight-laced archaeologist who reluctantly takes stand-in photographer (Castle) along on an expedition where tensions grow as a love triangle evolves with local guide (Silvestre).Interesting cast features the young Rosenda Monteros as Silvestre's scorned woman, the ill-fated Peggie Castle as the seductive snapper, and Latin heart-throb Silvestre as the bane of Lundigan's dapper but ultimately bland existence. The soap opera treatment services the romantic melodrama and sexual tension, leaving the action to compete for the sloppy seconds. At times, Lundigan looks like coitus interruptus personified, such are the provocative glances and horny exchanges between Castle and her Latin tease.Despite colourful landscapes and an attractive cast, the film never elevates beyond B-grade fodder, incapable of conjuring any excitement or palpable tension, weighed down by inane dialogue ("merely a vampire bat") and a plot that prefers melodrama to action (60 minutes passes before the first glimpse of something more fervent than tent buddies on heat). The climax and conclusion offer some redemption, with a fiery Aztec encounter, but it's all too little too late to resurrect the picture from 'average' status.

This movie offers some good travel footage of Mexico, including the rarely visited (even today) Veracruz site of El Tajin, which despite the dialogue was built by neither the Toltecs, Aztecs, nor Mayans, but by Huastecan Indians of eastern Veracruz. I have seen this site and also the Voleadores flying from their high pole on festival days. Many reviewers have commented on the faded color quality. This film was almost certainly shot in the winter, when even the jungle is rather bare of leaves (dry tropical deciduous forest). Also, there is nothing close to being a desert between El Tajin and Chiapas, that must have filmed elsewhere. Description of vanilla orchid growth and artificial pollination is correct, although Mexico is the only place in the world where the natural vanilla bee pollinators live. I have this movie on a 20 Movie "Suspense" package from Mill Creek.

Opens with Robert Burton (William Lundigan "Santa Fe Trail") dictating into his recorder. He is giving the story of El Taxim, the Mayan Temple, but during this and other parts of the film, the sound is choppy and small portions are missing. This disc is part of a 50 film collection of "action classics" from Treeline/TCM, and much of the color is also faded and washed out . Burton meets up with Kathryn Williams, ( Peggy Castle, who made lots of westerns in the 1950s) who has been assigned as his photographer. Burton doesn't like the idea of having a female photographer along, but later decides she's not so bad. We also get to witness some interesting native Mexican festival rites which may or may not be authentic. Local native Juan Cervantes (Armando Silvestre, actor from Mexico who made many movies from the 1940s right up until 1999) promises to help her find the jungle to research a more primitive, traditional population, but of course this only causes more friction with Burton, her boss. Through Burton's stupidity, they lose supplies in a sandstorm; moving on, they stop at Juan's ranch before continuing on their expedition, with their singing band of helpers. At one point, they cross paths with a raccoon, and Kathryn asks "What's that?" One might think she would recognize a raccoon, on either side of the border...Then the troubles begin... and things get a little unbelieve-able, but I guess we're just along for the adventure. The travel to exotic lands would have been quite interesting before people did as much travel as they do today.

The location photography in Mexico is a noticeable plus in this adventure feature, which is watchable but just fair overall. The story follows a very familiar pattern, yet it opens up some good dramatic possibilities. The cast and characters don't always make full use of the opportunities, but there is enough to make it worth seeing.William Lundigen stars as a diligent but rather small-minded archaeologist, who is reluctant to take a female photographer on an important and hazardous trip to a remote part of Mexico. Once the expedition is underway, he and the group's guide find themselves rivals for the photographer's attentions, which makes the hazardous situations they face even more difficult.The combination of a love triangle with a hazardous quest is the kind of setup that can make for a fine movie, and this one gets enough out of the setup to be interesting, but it could have been quite a bit better. The dialogue is too bland to give the actors a lot to work with, and as the lead, Lundigen is believable but one-dimensional. Peggy Castle is attractive enough to make it easy to believe that the two males could make fools of themselves over her, but likewise she and her character remain one-dimensional. Armando Silvestre is somewhat more interesting as the guide.On the plus side, the settings and the situation are interesting, and they offer a slight change of pace from the usual action film premises. Even with some of the color having faded from the print, the rugged scenery is often well worth seeing just for itself, and the outdoor photography adds considerably to the atmosphere. Overall, though it has some apparent flaws, it's not bad and it has some definite pluses.