The River's Edge
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''The River's Edge'' is a 1957 American
film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...
adventure, crime, and drama DeLuxe CinemaScope film directed by
Allan Dwan Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter. Early life Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan was ...
and starring Ray Milland, Anthony Quinn and Debra Paget. The picture is based on the unpublished short story "The Higher Mountain" by Harold Jacob Smith. Location filming was done in Amecameca and Iztaccihuatl in Mexico.
The supporting cast features Harry Carey, Jr. and Chubby Johnson.


Plot

Ben Cameron is a struggling New Mexico rancher who is devoted to his wife Meg. They married while she was on parole for a ten-year prison sentence. Meg has not adjusted to ranch life and she still loves her former partner in crime, Nardo Denning, who abandoned her after her arrest. After an argument with Ben, Meg prepares to leave him. Denning arrives and wants Ben to help him cross the border to Mexico. Ben refuses, and Denning and Meg leave for town. Ben finds a photograph of Denning and realizes that he and Meg were lovers. Denning apologizes for deserting Meg and reveals that he has $1 million in cash from a recent job. While driving, they are stopped by a police officer who looks into the trunk. Denning backs over him several times. Hysterical, Meg runs from the car and Denning drives towards her before crashing into a boulder. He tells her he backed over the officer by accident. Ben returns to the ranch, where he finds Denning and Meg. Ben wants her to go to the police, but Meg refuses because they will find out she violated her parole. Denning eventually agrees to give Ben $10,000 for escorting him and Meg over the border. After Denning kills a friend of Ben's, Meg realizes that he is a coldblooded killer. During an attempt to escape him, she cuts her arm on a barbed wire fence. She tells Ben she no longer loves Denning. Later, Meg collapses due to her infected injury. They shelter in a cave, where Ben starts a fire with his $10,000 to boil water for her injured arm. He tells her he would wait forever for her if she went back to jail. The next morning, Denning and Ben fight, resulting in Ben being pinned under a boulder. He gives Denning a choice of paths: to an airport or to a village that will send help for him and Meg. That night, Denning is knocked into a gorge while trying to stop a truck. Ben and Meg find the money and Denning's broken body, discovering that he was going for help. They bury him and return home to face the consequences of the past few days.


Cast

* Ray Milland as Nardo Denning * Anthony Quinn as Ben Cameron * Debra Paget as Meg Cameron * Harry Carey, Jr. as Chet * Chubby Johnson as Whiskers *
Byron Foulger Byron Kay Foulger (August 27, 1898 – April 4, 1970) was an American character actor who over a 50-year career performed in hundreds of stage, film, and television productions. Early years Born in Ogden, Utah, Byron was the second of four ...
as Barry * Tom McKee as U.S. Border Patrol Captain * Frank Gerstle as Harry Castleton


See also

*
List of American films of 1957 This is a list of American films released in 1957. '' The Bridge on the River Kwai'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture. A-B C-H I-N O-Q R-T U-Z Documentary See also * 1957 in the United States References External lin ...


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:River's Edge, The 1957 films American crime drama films 1957 crime drama films 20th Century Fox films Films directed by Allan Dwan 1957 adventure films Films based on short fiction Films shot in Mexico 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language crime films English-language adventure films