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Devil's Canyon

  • 1953
  • Approved
  • 1h 32m
IMDb RATING
5.4/10
525
YOUR RATING
Devil's Canyon (1953)
DramaWestern

In 1897 Arizona, an ex-marshal is sent to the territorial prison where many of his enemies, among guards and inmates alike, are eager for a chance at payback.In 1897 Arizona, an ex-marshal is sent to the territorial prison where many of his enemies, among guards and inmates alike, are eager for a chance at payback.In 1897 Arizona, an ex-marshal is sent to the territorial prison where many of his enemies, among guards and inmates alike, are eager for a chance at payback.

  • Director
    • Alfred L. Werker
  • Writers
    • Frederick Hazlitt Brennan
    • Harry Essex
    • Bennett Cohen
  • Stars
    • Virginia Mayo
    • Dale Robertson
    • Stephen McNally
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.4/10
    525
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Alfred L. Werker
    • Writers
      • Frederick Hazlitt Brennan
      • Harry Essex
      • Bennett Cohen
    • Stars
      • Virginia Mayo
      • Dale Robertson
      • Stephen McNally
    • 18User reviews
    • 4Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos9

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    Top cast60

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    Virginia Mayo
    Virginia Mayo
    • Abby Nixon
    Dale Robertson
    Dale Robertson
    • Billy Reynolds
    Stephen McNally
    Stephen McNally
    • Jessie Gorman
    Arthur Hunnicutt
    Arthur Hunnicutt
    • Frank Taggert
    Robert Keith
    Robert Keith
    • Warden Steve Morgan
    Jay C. Flippen
    Jay C. Flippen
    • Captain Jack Wells
    George J. Lewis
    George J. Lewis
    • Colonel Jorge Gomez
    Whit Bissell
    Whit Bissell
    • Virgil Gates
    Morris Ankrum
    Morris Ankrum
    • Sheriff
    James Bell
    James Bell
    • Dr. Betts
    William 'Bill' Phillips
    William 'Bill' Phillips
    • Red
    • (as William Phillips)
    Earl Holliman
    Earl Holliman
    • Joe
    Irving Bacon
    Irving Bacon
    • Old Guard
    Eric Alden
    Eric Alden
    • Tim
    • (uncredited)
    Murray Alper
    Murray Alper
    • Driver-Guard
    • (uncredited)
    Larry J. Blake
    Larry J. Blake
    • Hysterical Prisoner
    • (uncredited)
    Stanley Blystone
    Stanley Blystone
    • Bit Role
    • (uncredited)
    Rudy Bowman
    Rudy Bowman
    • Prisoner
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Alfred L. Werker
    • Writers
      • Frederick Hazlitt Brennan
      • Harry Essex
      • Bennett Cohen
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews18

    5.4525
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    Featured reviews

    4cutter-12

    Drab genre mix

    Film noir, prison break drama or western? It doesn't seem to know and you'll give up caring to figure it out about a third of the way in. This is a lacklustre B movie in any genre. Starts out a western shoot em up then takes on a Cagney in the big house edge. A good scene at the end with a gatling gun though, if you don't mind fighting to stay awake to get that far. Notable if spotting Earl Holliman in early bit parts is one of your favorite past-times, and Virginia Mayo is watchable if you like your western dames talking tough as nails and looking like they stepped out of a 50's LIFE ad for Lee Jeans. Otherwise, skipping this would probably be more to your liking.

    And I agree with the other reviewer that the title refers to Ms. Mayo's *mm-hmm*. If you can find an actual canyon anywhere in this picture you paid closer attention than I did.
    4FosterAlbumen

    Strange prison western

    I taped Devil's Canyon when TCM screened it in November 2009 b/c another western with a historical theme (Great Day in the Morning)was next and I had plenty of tape (I'm still an analogue guy). Reasons for giving it a chance included Dale Robertson in his prime, Steve McInally who was a dependable western heavy, plus Virginia Mayo's OK, but esp. b/c RKO in its decline often made uniquely flawed but curious products.

    What's strange about Devil's Canyon (besides the absence of a canyon) is the prison set, which appears only partially, but the walls appear to be enormous hewn stones that cast off strange pastel glows that change with the time of day. As a complement to these eerie atmospherics, the script and scenario range from casually crude to bluntly stupid. As a friend once said of a similar film, "It's just like a porn flick except everybody keeps their clothes on."

    The film's best passage--the attempted prison break--takes advantage of the set. The escapees anticipate which doors the guards will open and ambush their entrances, eventually controlling the entire prison, which sets up Robertson's gatling gun throwdown.

    Overall, the direction and editing of Devil's Canyon overall are unredeemable, but if you're not asking for much in those regards, the film's visuals have the quality of a meaningless dream.
    5hitchcockthelegend

    Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak, somewhere in this town

    Devil's Canyon is directed by Alfred Werker and collectively written by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan, Harry Essex, Bennett R. Cohen and Norton S. Parker. It stars Dale Robertson, Stephen McNally, Virginia Mayo, Robert Keith, Arthur Hunnicutt, Jay C. Flippen, Whit Bissell and Earl Holliman. Music is by Daniele Amfitheatrof and cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca.

    Arizona 1897 and former marshal Billy Reynolds (Robertson) is forced to kill in self defence two brothers of outlaw Jesse Gorman (McNally), the man Billy had previously sent to prison. With new people enforcing new laws in town, Billy doesn't get a fair trial and is sentenced to ten years at the tough Arizona Territorial Prison; home of one Jesse Gorman! When lady outlaw Abby Dixon (Mayo), sweetheart of Gorman, is also sent to the prison, it stirs the already potent hornets nest still further…

    Originally a 3D production out of RKO, boasting Natural Vision 3 - Dimension no less, Devil's Canyon can now only be viewed in Technicolor flat mode. Upon examination it's hard to believe that even in 3D this tardy Western had anything going for it, unless Mayo's pointy breasts were the selling point, or Robertson's Teddy Boy haircut? (Yes, they must have had Teddy Boy's in Arizona circa 1897!).

    There's a bunch of reliable Western actors in it, director Werker was always competent and ace cinematographer Musuraca was also on board, yet the promising story is bogged down by a good hour of, well, nothingness, as the screenplay has a bunch of sweaty guys talking about stuff that doesn't advance the plot with any real distinction.

    Mayo looks gorgeous, but her character is victim of a preposterous set-up and in spite of the trailer (and some misguided reviews) promising a prison of 500 desperate men in a tizzy over one woman, this really isn't the case at all. It should also be pointed out that Devil's Canyon is where the prison is, it's the unofficial name of the prison, it is not a metaphor for Mayo's private parts, as some have bizarrely suggested is the case!

    On the plus side the picture begins and ends with some decent action, with the Gatling Gun coming into play at the finale, which just about lifts the film out of its stupor. Yet even here it's all very predictable and hard to feel lenient about since the previous hour has been so pointless. The prison is suitably dank and moody, Musuraca doing his best to put a bleak sense of film noir foreboding on proceedings, while costuming for the boys is of a high standard.

    Utterly frustrating all told, a waste of idea and personnel, while the print shown on TV these days is scratchy and often washed out in colour. 5/10
    5Doylenf

    Weak sagebrush tale about a prison break...

    DALE ROBERTSON is a marshal unjustly prisoned in an Arizona jailhouse who hinders and then helps a prison break plan concocted by VIRGINIA MAYO. This has the look of a low-budget movie that was put together hastily with a second-rate script and designed as a programmer to fill out a double bill.

    VIRGINIA MAYO looks absolutely beautiful but her hairdress and costuming is strictly from the 1950s--and so is her overall demeanor as a tough gal who thinks she's in love with the brutish STEPHEN McNALLY.

    Among the supporting cast, Whit Bissell, Arthur Hunnicutt, Robert Keith, Earl Holliman and Irving Bacon have all seen better days.

    It affords only minimal entertainment with a standard prison break climax not too convincingly staged. Of the actors, only the handsome and stalwart DALE ROBERTSON looks as though he believes in his role, bringing strength and sincerity to his role as the marshal.

    You can afford to miss this one.
    8Ed-Shullivan

    It took a prison riot and break out attempt for Virginia Mayo to find her man

    I really wouldn't call this a bona fide western, but more like a prison romance with a villain (Stephen McNally), a hero (Dale Robertson), and a sex pot (Virginia Mayo) who is pulling the strings on both men who are interested in this conniving vixen. There are 500 men in this prison and Virginia Mayo gets sent to this all male prison to do her stint for a bank robbery gone bad.

    The villain named Jessie Gorman (Stephen McNally), wants revenge by trying to kill the hero named Billy Reynolds (Dale Robertson), because Jessie believes Billy killed two of his brothers although they did try and kill Billy who was acting in self defense.

    I would agree that the plot is very basic and the ending is as expected, but Virginia Mayo is easy on the eyes, and the good versus bad guy never gets old, so I will admit I have watched this movie twice now and I enjoyed it both times.

    i give the film an 8 out of 10 IMDB rating

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    Related interests

    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    John Wayne and Harry Carey Jr. in The Searchers (1956)
    Western

    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The film reproduces the actual prison quite well. Yuma Territorial Prison in Yuma AZ opened on July 1, 1876, and shut down on September 15, 1909, and housed over 3,000 men and over two dozen women for crimes ranging from murder to polygamy. The site is now operated as a historical museum by Arizona State Parks as Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park.
    • Goofs
      Earlier in the movie one of the prisoners attempts to escape by climbing a wall, but he is gunned down by a prison guard using a Gatling gun. The Gatling gun fires numerous rounds at or around the prisoner and the wall he is climbing, yet absolutely no bullet holes or impact splinters are seen. Later in the film, the same Gatling gun is fired numerous times at a wall: this time, the expected bullet holes and impact fragments are clearly evident.
    • Quotes

      Virgil Gates: You know, that's pretty good stew as stew goes around here. Of course, I wish old Cookie would stay out of it with his feet when he's mixin' it up.

    • Crazy credits
      Opening credits: Arizona Territory in 1897 was the last of the old frontier. The story we are about to tell is well known to historians. Names have been changed but the lust and brutality, the love and sacrifice of the people involved remain unchanged. The woman outlaw and her lovers belong now to folklore - - in 1897 they lived.

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    FAQ15

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • August 13, 1953 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Infierno en el desierto
    • Filming locations
      • Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production company
      • RKO Radio Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Gross US & Canada
      • $1,000,000
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 32m(92 min)
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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