Ordeal

This noteworthy film stars Arthur Hill as a worthy and initially shallow businessman. His wife, well-portrayed by the memorable Diana Muldaur, schemes to rid herself of him, and her lover conspires with her, (As portrayed by James Stacy, as her slick opportunist lover).

Hill finds himself abandoned in the scorching, unforgiving desert, and at first is tempted to give up. There is a suspenseful soundtrack and he gradually learns to fight back, despite a broken leg, dehydration, and no rescue in sight.

Muldaur meanwhile enjoys the spoils of what she thinks is his eventual demise. She and her lover celebrate the fact that his tracks have been covered by rain, he is most likely dead. There are some nice shots of her 1970's style mansion, kaleidoscopic colors from that era, and set decoration.

They visit the desert to ensure that Hill has died, there is a suspenseful twist at the end, and you will truly enjoy this film. There was an earlier film starring Robert Ryan and Rhonda Fleming (circa 1950's) which I believe was a similar theme. Recommended. 8/10.

In the 1970s, Diana Muldaur often played really nasty, conniving women--tough but unscrupulous broads. And, that's exactly who she is in "Ordeal".

The film begins with Richard Damian (Arthur Hill) out in the middle of the desert with his wife and the man who is her lover. When Richard gets badly hurt, Kay Damian (Muldaur) leaves him for dead...as she doesn't love him and wants to have fun with her boy toy! She eventually reports his disappearance to the police...after she assumes he's already dead. The problem is he isn't dead and Richard lives to somehow survive and get revenge on his faithless wife. Will he somehow make it? And, if so, what's next?

Much of the film is spend showing Richard's survival ordeal in the desert and occasionally cutting back to brief segments with Kay playing with her boy toy. Late in the film, the two schemers decide to return to the desert to make 100% sure he's indeed dead.

This is a good film because the bad folks are incredibly evil--the audience just wants to see them get theirs! However, the ending...well, it left me waiting and hoping for SOMETHING more. In other words, you have an excellent film that at the end just didn't deliver.

Ordeal (1973)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Decent made-for-TV flick about a rich husband (Arthur Hill) who goes out into the desert with his wife (Diana Muldaur) and a guide (James Stacy) trying to find a certain location he might be buying. The abusive and hard-headed husband ends up falling down a cliff and breaking his leg. The wife and guide go to get help but she talks him into letting her husband die so that they can keep his money. The only problem is that he realizes what they're up to when no one comes back for him so he plans on making it out by himself. ORDEAL has a lot of silly stuff in it and it goes on a bit too long even at just 88-minutes but there's enough entertainment here to make it worth viewing as long as you don't go in expecting too much. One of the biggest flaws in the story is how the rich man ends up out in the desert on his own. He pretty much refuses to go with the wife and guide after he's injured and instead wants to stay out there by himself until they can get help back to him. Considering how he's been rich all of his life and never been out in the wild I had a hard time believing he would do this. Once you get past that the story clears out a little better and we get some nice scenes. I was shocked to see how much more I preferred the story happening outside the desert. The film cuts back and forth to what the husband is doing to what the wife and guide are doing. I thought the stuff between the wife and guide was actually more entertaining as the two begin to fear that the husband might not be dead and how they might have to change their plans. The stuff in the desert is nice as well since we get some great visuals. I think some people, myself included, are going to have a hard time believing what all the husband does considering his background but after a while you just get caught up in the story and go with it. The performances are a major plus with Hill doing a terrific job showing how desperate the man is. I thought he was very good in the scenes dealing with his hatred towards the wife as well as him struggling to survive. Muldaur is also quite good and perfectly gets across her spoiled side. This would turn out to be Stacy's final film before a drunk driver would hit him while he was riding his motorcycle and ripping off his left arm and leg. He actually turns in the best performance here and really makes you believe the tension his character starts to feel as things don't go as planned. It seems like the 70s delivered just about every type of storyline when it came to made-for-TV movies and this one here is a bit far-fetched at times but there's enough going on here to make it worth viewing.

You find out a lot about yourself, when you're lost in the desert. I'm sure Arthur Hill's survivalist techniques in "Ordeal" are open to challenge, but that is not the point of this excellent TV movie. It's all about a life changing experience, that transforms a pompous ass of a husband, into a person who realizes that perhaps he should share the blame for his attempted murder. Arthur Hill is the husband, and Diana Muldaur the wife who leaves him to die. James Stacy is along for the ride as Muldaur's accomplice and lover. The desert photography is outstanding, and dozens of animal species show up on screen. The entire film is character driven, however all of the main characters are unpleasant. ...... - MERK

...but alas Richard Damian never had any as he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and once he pulled it out has been using that mouth to insult and push people around ever since. Damian is out on a desert expedition to investigate some land that may have some mineral value. He is accompanied by his wife Kay and the prospector, Andy Folsom. He has an accident and falls down an embankment, breaking his leg in the process. He barks out orders to the other two to get help. His wife asks Damian if he wants her to stay with him while the other goes for help. In an unfortunate choice of last words to her he asks why would he need the company of someone stupid.

Thus his wife leaves, and suddenly realizes the beauty of her situation. Richard, who has a reputation as being impulsive and taking off without telling anybody, is in a place that only she and Andy know about. She convinces Andy that the two should go back to town and tell the authorities that Richard is missing, but that he just disappeared into the desert. Plus, they point the authorities in the entirely wrong part of the desert as to where they were. A few days in the rugged elements with no food or water should do the trick. Murder without the mess of actually doing it. Kay will be rid of the bullying Richard and still have his money, Andy will have Kay.

Richard, not exactly being full of love and trust for his fellow man, quickly realizes what the two have done. In spite of the fact that every necessity has always been obtained with a credit card up to this point, he swears he'll walk out of this desert alive. Kay and Andy have a couple of problems on their hands too. For one, the sheriff of the desert town is a sharp cop, not a hick, and Andy and Kay fear he may be on to them. Secondly, when they take a private plane over the place in the desert where they left Richard three weeks before "just to make sure" they can find no body. Did Richard make it out powered on pure revenge? Did the sheriff find the body, hide it, and is just playing Kay and Andy to tip their hand? In their anxiety and growing panic are they simply looking in the wrong part of the desert? I'll let you have the fun of discovering what happens.

This film has little action and is mainly a character study mixed with a bit of mystery as you really get to know the three people involved. In the end, you can't help but have both a little bit of disgust and empathy towards all three. Highly recommended.