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The River's Edge is directed by Allan Dwan and adapted to screenplay by James Leicester from the story "The Highest Mountain" written by Harold Jacob Smith. It stars Ray Milland, Anthony Quinn and Debra Paget. A CinemaScope production with colour by De Luxe, music is by Louis Forbes and cinematography by Harold Lipstein.

Ben Cameron (Quinn) and his wife Meg (Paget) are struggling to make their New Mexico ranch function as a happy working home. Enter shifty Nardo Denning (Milland), who has a past with Meg and has ulterior motives for suddenly appearing on the scene…

"You know, if you were on a desert island with that guy and there was nothing but rocks, pretty soon he would have all the rocks moved to his side of the beach"

Falling somewhere in the void between Noir and Western, The River's Edge is a delightfully sly and compact thriller that also boasts gorgeous location photography and splendidly garish colour compositions.

It was kill or be killed all the way down to The River's Edge!

Narratively it's a straight case of two men and one girl who wind up on the lam, with the foxy gal bouncing back and forth between the two men's affections like a ping-pong ball on legs. All three characters are flawed, their means and motivations deliberately scratchy, it makes for a near kinky noir love triangle, with dialogue that's often cynical or deliberately obtuse. The two guys are polar opposites, Denning is a spiv like manipulator, a dastard, Cameron is muscular but sincere, while Meg, with her shock of red hair scorching the landscape, has a murky past and is either confused or playing the cards close to her chest? Something is going to have to give...

In the mix is violence, potent violence at that, a suitcase full of cash and the perils of the terrain that the trio traverse. It's with the latter where Dwan and Lipstein come to the fore, the Scope photography and framing of characters amongst the Mexican locales (Cuernavaca, Morelos), really belies the B budget afforded the production. Were it not for some cheap looking studio interior shots-the remarkable recovery of one character after an accident-and a twist in the ending that should have gone the other way, this would be better thought of than just being considered a B movie culter.

Neon pinks and grubby greens mingle with shady grey characters for a whole bunch of fun. 7.5/10

Fox's Region 1 DVD features a very decent print and a detailed commentary track by noir aficionados James Ursini and Alain Silver.

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.

Those who think of Ray Milland as a skilled light comedian or an amiable drunk will be surprised by his work in this late Allan Dwan entry. He's mean as can be in this one, and the best thing in the movie, making Anthony Quinn look weak by comparison; not an easy thing to do, but Ray pulls it off with style. Debra Paget is an asset as well in this trim, modest film.

Watching The River's Edge today put me in mind of The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre. Just imagine if one of those treasure hunters had been a woman on the trip. Think they had problems then?

Ray Milland is the Fred C. Dobbs of the piece. Only he's not looking for gold, he's got a valise with a lot of money in cash. A notorious grifter he's on the run and headed for his former girlfriend Debra Paget. He wants the services of her current husband Anthony Quinn who is a guide and tracker to take him across the Mexican border and away from the law.

Given Paget's beauty and her involvement with both of these men you can imagine what a tense trip this was. Milland commits two murders along the way, that of a US Border Patrolmen and Chubby Johnson an old prospector

Like The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre 90% of the film is focused on the three leads. At no time is anyone truly sure of how they stand with each other. Paget the most confused of all, she loves her husband Quinn in her own way, but Milland is the guy who always scratched her itch.

In the end what happens to Milland is almost eerily reminiscent of what happened to Humphrey Bogart in the previous film. And as I wrote in my review of The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre, God really does have a sense of humor.

Not a western but a well shot and performed drama set in the West. The story is rather ordinary but benefits from the role reversal of Ray Milland, usually the hero and Anthony Quinn, often the heavy but in opposite roles here. Even at the relatively brief running time the script could have been tightened a bit but overall a good film. One caveat-it would take a great deal to make a woman as stunning as Debra Paget was in her prime look bad but the filmmakers almost achieve that feat. Saddled with unflattering makeup and frightening Lucille Ball red hair that never moves no matter what travail she is enduring her beauty is almost completely obscured.

Debra Paget is walking out on Anthony Quinn and his miserable ranch. Between the scorpions in her shoes, mud in the water tank, and her throwing out the calf medicine that cost $11, she doesn't see any chance. Up drives Ray Milland in a pink Continental convertible. He's just conned someone out of a million dollars in cash, and he wants to hire Quinn to get him across the border to Mexico so he won't have to explain ten thousand $100 bills. He also wants Miss Paget, his old girl friend, who's still in love with him.

Allan Dwan's 132nd feature movie -- he also directed 272 short subjects -- is a fine little morality play, with the performers giving him, as they so often did, excellent performances. The subtext is, alas, too close to the surface to offer much subtlety, as it so often was in his last decade of directing, but the way he shoots the Mexican mountains harks back to his earliest shorts, when he showed his talent for making the landscape part of his story.

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.

I just watched this little known film on Netflix. It's gorgeous and fascinating, allowing both frustration and identification with each of three main characters. A modern Adam and Eve story with Ray Milland as a charismatic snake, Debra Paget as a frustrated and sympathetic Eve and Anthony Quinn as an alternately tender and vengeful Adam. The film straddles multiple genres--film noir to melodrama to western---reminding me particularly of Willian Wellman's The Purchase Price and Victor Sjostrom's The Wind in it's thematic exploration of tough urban girls who grow in moral dimension as they learn to appreciate men who have a practical intimacy with the earth.

One wonders if the compelling New Mexico/Arizona scenery is on location. This is Technicolor at it's most subtle and beautiful. What a movie.

Harold Jacob Smith co-adapted his own short story "The Highest Mountain" about a cattle rancher near the Mexico border who reluctantly harbors a fugitive; seems the rancher's new bride was once a pushover for this manicured killer, and now she's involved with him again. Handsomely-produced, sloppily-directed crime-drama with western applets doesn't seem to have anywhere to go after the set-up is clear. A few senseless murders don't do much to enhance Ray Milland's crook-in-a-suit (he's passable, but that's all); Debra Paget isn't bad as the fiery woman caught between the two men, however Anthony Quinn's performance in the lead strikes gold. Alternately a big brother and a daddy-bear husband to Paget, Quinn knows exactly how to handle this scenario, and never overplays. One comes away wanting to know more about this character and hoping he'll be all right--and that's solely due to Quinn's acting. The cinematography and the score (which pushes the oldie "You'll Never Know" a bit strenuously) are both classy, but director Allan Dwan doesn't know how to stage this showdown, and occasionally one loses patience. ** from ****

Anthony Quinn is excellent in this above average B film. Paget is adequate but Milland seems to be sleepwalking through it. The tension and action are constant so you won't get bored.

When a married woman's old lover comes back into her life things began to go to hell for her and hubby. The old flame had a suitcase full of wrongfully gained capital that he wanted the pair to help him smuggle south of the border, therefore an uneasy alliance was formed and a dangerous trek through the badlands was undertaken. I felt that Milland's character's actions at the end were way out of character: and just how is it that Quinn's character managed to bite those slugs out of the cases? Ever try that? The teeth will go first every time. Fairly entertaining but way too much sluggish dialogue.

Excepting Debra Paget's gams, this foray into film is utterly legless. Mistitled and--in Ray Milland's case--miscast, the simple-minded, sometimes illogical story schlepps along so listlessly that viewers might well wish for a protagonist's demise just to end the misery! The derelict direction employs gratuitous scenes of Paget enveloped in tamely titillating beach towels, a bubble bath, and a cleavageless slip. She carries it all off as best she can and is actually credible as an ex-con in a marriage of convenience. Anthony Quinn, whose role was probably intended as a dumb-ox rancher, exudes such sexuality and smarts that the city gal/country guy dichotomy seems not so dubious. Middle-aged Milland, however, as a hot property Paget cannot resist, pulls the rug out from the whole plot. He moves through the movie like a somnambulist--and can scarcely be scolded for doing so!

Ray Milland was one best actor ever, charismatic, handsome, sophisticated and had a remarkable successful career, Anthony Quinn neither, Debra Paget didn't reach too high, but his beauty is undeniable, the three leading role should be enough to make a great picture, in the past perhaps, but Ray Milland was in decaying process, his previous pictures testify such assertion, Quinn and Paget in same boat, even so the plot is a bit shallow and naïve, however this small production wasn't devoid of interest just to see Debra Paget with naked legs in early scenes pay the picture plentiful, she was too sexy, the escape through the jungle despite many flaws is too exiting, the snake sequence is fair acceptable, burning money to light the fire is mindless, certainly wasn't lack of time to know how bad was Milland in such cold blood killings, Debra should know his madness previously, let's forget on fight when a huge rocks falling down on Quinn's leg, another insult to the viewers, when he sudden walks with just a bit of the difficulty, worthwhile to see again majors living legends as Milland, Quinn and the red-haired Paget!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2010 / How many: 2 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.5

(60%) A somewhat pulpy crime classic featuring a very bad ass Ray Milland, a suitcase filled with cash, and quite an interesting - if quite well worn plot. This is as vibrantly shot as it is entertaining, with a decent level of pacing. And once the opening sequence begins you'd assume this is a full-on romantic flick, but it's not. In fact this quite a surprisingly violent film at times, with real flashes of sharp bite that still hold up even today. There may not be a whole lot here in terms of depth, but as far as relatively tough, censor pushing Hollywood pictures go that passers the time without ever really dragging its feet then look no further.

This movie shows the good and bad side of people. When the main character obtains his rich fortune from steeling a million dollars, he seeks his former lover to share his life. This movie shows what love and wealth can do to people when times are tough. It seemed, as the main character had to kill two people, it was not done in hate but to reach his goals, as a person would do to protect his belongings. I saw a good side in the main characters side and having a tragic end when he tries to do something good. The lady in the movie seemed to shift loves too easily and not something I see as a good quality. The Rancher showed his love to his wife during these turbulent experiences and ended up bonding with his wife over these trials.

Anthony Quinn and Ray Milland Play Opposite-of-Type Roles and Caught In the Light is Debra Paget's Sex-Appeal, Who Once Was Milland's "Partner" in More Than Crime.

Debra Paget's Beauty Shares Screen-Time with the Dueling Male-Leads, that are Mostly, but Not All-Together, Reflecting Their Persona of Behavior.

It is a Modern (Post-War) Exploration of the Psychological that Found its Most Notable Frequency in Film-Noir.

A Genre that was by Accident, Forming of a Style and Tone of an "Artistic" Presentation.

Daring with Subjects , Formerly "Taboo", with some Verisimilitude, that Film-Makers were "Letting-Loose" on the 'Now" that the "Gateway" into a "Reality". Previously Unapproachable in Depth.

Not-Everyone and Everything Fits in the Category of Life Envisioned by The Movie Studios, Church and Political "Presenters".

Audiences were Quick In-Line with Film-Makers, Writers, and Anyone who Now Saw that Taking a "Look" at the "Dark-Side" was Healthy.

So, Here is a Late-Entry to the Enlightened "Party" of Self-Reflection.

By 1957. Not Only a Trend for Artistic Expression, but a Common Concern Among the "Gen-Pop ''.

Alan Dwan Directed this Movie that was Budgeted Restrained.

He Combined His Knowledge of Movie-Making Honed Since the 'Silents', to Make a Movie that Capitulated to the Rules of Engagement, with some "Edge".

IMDb Lists Over 400 Credits for the Veteran Film-Maker. He was Always a Bottom-Line-Looking Craftsman.

A "Work For Hire", Capitalizing off His Strength. A Reliable Studio-Friendly-No-Worries "Worker".

Occasionally Took-On a Film Might Include Some Soul-Searching, when Allowed by the Subject Material and the Money-Men.

This Film has its Moments with the Trio of Stars Partially Still Scripted with Restraints from the "Over-Lords".

But Artistic-Freedom was Gaining More Motion Every-Day with the Tide of Changing Attitudes and more Respect for Expression.

Making Waves in the Movies Sea of Mediocrity.

The Movie-Moguls Bought-Into the "10 Commandments" Idea with Selfish Motives and Whitewashed Content.

It was a Relief for"Medicating" a Never-Ending Headache and Bleeding Ulcers that Plagued.

Now the Studio-Heads let The "Code-Creators" Take the Burden and Most of the Blame.

They also would Put a Stop to Those Pesky "Message Movies", that Were Now Under the Code that came with a "Holier-Than-Thou" Artistic Restraint.

It was a Long Time Coming. But Behold by the Late 60's, for the Studio-System and "The Code", it was...

"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road".

Today I saw "The River's Edge" for the first time, never having heard of it before, but already it is one of my favorite Anthony Quinn films. A few reviewers were surprised by Ray Milland as the cold-heart criminal on the run, but they should view "Dial M for Murder" of 1954, in which Milland is a disenchanted husband who wants to murder his innocent and ever-so-proper wife, portrayed by Grace Kelly. After seeing "Dial M, " no one should be shocked at the depths to which Milland can go when cast as the cold and calculating embodiment of evil.

Some reviewers also questioned how a young woman, portrayed by Debra Paget, could be attracted to the 50-something character portrayed by Milland. However, the reviewer should remember that the young woman must have been insecure to serve as the thief's partner in crime and that, as a result, she had done time in prison. Perhaps she had a father fixation and was attracted to older men, especially if the men had money, even stolen money. Throughout the film she is torn between her recent marriage to a rancher, portrayed by Anthony Quinn, who has given her hope for a future, and the former partner in crime, portrayed by Milland, who represents her sordid past and sets out to blackmail her.

I agree the film is something like "Treasure of the Sierra Madre," another of my favorite movies. I am glad to know "The River's Edge" is available on DVD so that I can see it again.

This film has several flaws; the worst of which is casting a 50 year old Ray Milland as a master thief who revives the passions of a hot Debra Paget. Anthony Quinn is perfectly cast as a Southwestern rancher, but Paget did not look like an ex-con to me. Milland is almost perfect in any role he tackles, and he gives this one his best shot. But it is difficult for him to navigate the savage behavior of the thief on the run in this film. This role just goes against type. The story is interesting, and that is what saves the film. And the moral of the story is obviously that no good deed goes unpunished.

This is perhaps the best films made about a farmer marrying a woman, who knew about if not took part in stolen money, and a plot to escape the country. If this is about a marriage gone wild, this will work.

Movie Plot Summary, an unsuspecting farmer marries a woman with a dark past that catches up with them, and the guy who stole the money wants the woman back, husband to get them out, and make husband watch his wife with him! It's practically a love triangle movie. Good girl fell for bad guy, and tries to clean herself with a good guy. Never work! Through the whole movie, the farmer watches painfully as his wife is in the arms of the other man, making out in the trailer. If anything, if marriage is put in doubt then there's your answer. :)

Stars Ray Milland, Anthony Quinn. When a thief Denning needs help escaping to mexico, he takes rancher Cameron and his girl with him. And it turns out, his girl (Debra Paget) used to be Denning's girl. Small world! But i wouldn't want to have to paint it. The power shifts back and forth between the thief turned murderer, Denning and Cameron. Cameron needs the cash that Denning is offering, but Denning isn't sure if he can trust Cameron to take him deep into mexico without turning him in. And the title of this thing is River's Edge, so they must cross at a river at some point! Can Cameron and his girl hold on long enough to get away from Denning? It's pretty good. Suspense. Adventure. Directed by Allan Dwan. Check out all the silent films he made! Based on a story by Harold Smith. He had won the oscar for Defiant Ones.