The River's Edge

Colorful in more ways than one, Allan Dwan’s The River’s Edge is a strange and exciting adventure noir set near the Mexican border and involving fugitives, rattlesnakes, gunfights, caves, murders, and Debra Paget as a gorgeous ex-con wearing high heels on a cattle ranch. Paget plays Margaret Fowler, a city girl newly married to budding cattle rancher Ben (Anthony Quinn) but unhappy with her new, rural lifestyle. When her former lover Nardo Denning (Ray Milland) arrives in town carrying a bag of loot from his latest robbery and looking for someone familiar with the mountainous landscape to guide him over the Mexican border, Ben agrees to the job and Margaret reluctantly tags along. Despite the tension and distance that had begun corrupting their marriage, Ben and Margaret rekindle their love for each other on the journey as they face the threats of nature and, more frighteningly, come to discover that Nardo is a homicidal maniac. The film is a convergence of various genres, but, notwithstanding the title ballad sung earnestly by Bobby Winn over the opening credits, be prepared for dark moments (the scene in which Nardo murders a border patrol officer is a shock to the system). The three lead performances are excellent but Quinn stands out as the husband who gives Margaret space and independence while showing his love through deeds, not words; the scene when he removes a bullet from Margaret’s shoulder combines agony and love into a moving, romantic moment.