Devil's Canyon (1953 film)
Devil's Canyon is an American 1953 Western 3-D film directed by Alfred L. Werker. The film starrs Virginia Mayo, Dale Robertson, Stephen McNally and Arthur Hunnicutt.[2]
Devil's Canyon | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Alfred L. Werker |
Produced by | Edmund Grainger |
Screenplay by | Frederick Hazlitt Brennan Harry Essex |
Story by | Bennett Cohen Norton S. Parker |
Starring | Virginia Mayo Dale Robertson Stephen McNally Arthur Hunnicutt |
Music by | Daniele Amfitheatrof |
Cinematography | Nicholas Musuraca |
Edited by | Gene Palmer |
Distributed by | RKO Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 92 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $1,000,000 (US)[1] |
Plot
Arizona, 1897: A female outlaw, Abby Nixon, warns a lawman, Billy Reynolds, that her accomplices Bud and Cole Gorman are nearby. Reynolds manages to kill both in a gunfight, but finds himself arrested for murder, convicted and sentenced to a desert prison known as Devil's Canyon.
One of the prisoners there is a third Gorman brother, the ruthless Jesse, who intends to gain revenge for Reynolds having killed his kin. Jesse is also romantically involved with Abby, but is unaware that she's the one who tipped off Reynolds as to his brothers' whereabouts.
Reynolds is treated fairly by Morgan, the warden, but not by Captain Wells, a sadistic guard. Abby ends up sent to Devil's Canyon herself for a robbery. To keep her as far as possible from the male inmates, Abby is assigned to work with Dr. Betts in the prison infirmary. She treats Reynolds' wounds after Jesse injures him in a fight.
Abby plots a jailbreak. Sneaking guns to Joe and Red, outlaw partners of Jesse, she tries to persuade Reynolds to join them. He refuses, respecting the law and also not trusting Jesse a bit. Wells finds knives in Reynolds' cell, planted there by Jesse.
During the breakout, Jesse takes over the prison and guns down Wells in cold blood. Guards are taken hostage and the other prisoners are set free. Abby, now afraid of Jesse and his violent ways, is slapped by him and left behind. She manages to free Reynolds, who takes over the guards' machine-gun nest, kills Jesse and orders the others back to their cells. The warden vows to do everything in his power to grant Reynolds and Abby a pardon for their crimes.
Cast
- Virginia Mayo as Abby
- Dale Robertson as Reynolds
- Stephen McNally as Jesse
- Arthur Hunnicutt as Frank Taggert
- Robert Keith as Warden Morgan
- Jay C. Flippen as Capt. Wells
- George J. Lewis as Colonel Jorge Gomez
- Whit Bissell as Virgil Gates
- Earl Holliman as Joe
- Paul Fix as Gatling Guard
References
- 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1953', Variety, January 13, 1954
- Devil's Canyon at the American Film Institute Catalog
External links
- Devil's Canyon at IMDb
- Devil's Canyon at AllMovie
- Devil's Canyon at the TCM Movie Database