One thing you have to say for Don Siegel -- he managed to work in some scenic locations, in this case in and around the Grand Canyon. But this is a formula film, not an identifiably Siegel product. His favorite theme seemed to revolve around a person caught between the law and the underworld, siding with neither, on his own trip so to speak. And he was not a camera artist. There are no fancy shots in his movies, no epic explosions, no artsy compositions. It's all craftsmanship -- but it's really GOOD craftsmanship at its best. It's difficult after the fact to pin down exactly what his contribution was to his best films but he seemed to add something of his own to the script and to pull out unusual performances from otherwise ordinary actors.
Take "Line Up", made about the same time as "Edge of Eternity." It's a relatively plain movie about dope smugglers but Siegel managed to put something extra in it. There's Robert Keith, nobody's idea of a finely tuned performer, doing something very odd with his intellectual reserve. And Siegel even manages to turn Vaughan Taylor (!) into a figure of menace even though he has no more than one or two lines of dialogue.
Nothing like that happens here. Cornell Wilde is the upright sheriff. Edgar Buchanan his folksy boss. Mickey Shaughnessy is the heavy posing as the comic relief. There is the drunken wastrel of a son. There is the pure (if rather aggressive) girl after Wilde. Jack Elam as a regular hard hat. The plot is simplicity itself. A small group of nogoodniks are trying to smuggle gold out of an abandoned mind and commit a couple of murders along the way. The plot is foiled by Wild, ending in a fist fight aboard one of those dangling trams over the Grand Canyon, done better than the one in "Second Chance" but not as lengthy or exciting as the one in "Where Eagles Dare." No unusual guns are in sight. No bitterness or betrayal. The actors hit their marks, say their lines, and depart. It's as if Siegel were shadow boxing, warming up a bit.
If there is anything outstanding about the film it's the gorgeous photography, crisp, colorful, sunny, and the scenery itself. The cars are equally magnificent, especially a long yellow convertible that glistens under the day-for-night sun. Yet it's engaging as these things go. It's formula movie making but it's not bad, anymore than Pythagoras' theorem is bad. It's just -- well -- just THERE. On the plus side, I never knew that bat guano was worth so much that even a considerable quantity would justify building a tram across the Grand Canyon. What would we do without bats?
Take "Line Up", made about the same time as "Edge of Eternity." It's a relatively plain movie about dope smugglers but Siegel managed to put something extra in it. There's Robert Keith, nobody's idea of a finely tuned performer, doing something very odd with his intellectual reserve. And Siegel even manages to turn Vaughan Taylor (!) into a figure of menace even though he has no more than one or two lines of dialogue.
Nothing like that happens here. Cornell Wilde is the upright sheriff. Edgar Buchanan his folksy boss. Mickey Shaughnessy is the heavy posing as the comic relief. There is the drunken wastrel of a son. There is the pure (if rather aggressive) girl after Wilde. Jack Elam as a regular hard hat. The plot is simplicity itself. A small group of nogoodniks are trying to smuggle gold out of an abandoned mind and commit a couple of murders along the way. The plot is foiled by Wild, ending in a fist fight aboard one of those dangling trams over the Grand Canyon, done better than the one in "Second Chance" but not as lengthy or exciting as the one in "Where Eagles Dare." No unusual guns are in sight. No bitterness or betrayal. The actors hit their marks, say their lines, and depart. It's as if Siegel were shadow boxing, warming up a bit.
If there is anything outstanding about the film it's the gorgeous photography, crisp, colorful, sunny, and the scenery itself. The cars are equally magnificent, especially a long yellow convertible that glistens under the day-for-night sun. Yet it's engaging as these things go. It's formula movie making but it's not bad, anymore than Pythagoras' theorem is bad. It's just -- well -- just THERE. On the plus side, I never knew that bat guano was worth so much that even a considerable quantity would justify building a tram across the Grand Canyon. What would we do without bats?