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The River's Edge

Play trailer Poster for The River's Edge 1957 1h 27m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 4 Reviews 41% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
Former hunting guide Ben Cameron (Anthony Quinn), now a rancher, struggles with his new profession and with keeping his feisty younger wife, ex-convict Meg (Debra Paget), distracted. Frustrated by the difficulties of ranch life, Meg quarrels constantly with Ben. When Meg's former criminal partner, Nardo Denning (Ray Milland) -- who turned her in to avoid arrest -- shows up at the ranch, Ben unknowingly allows the pair to go off, sparking a series of threatening events.

Critics Reviews

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Edward Kosmal St. Louis Post-Dispatch 01/31/2023
A sorry spectacle of colorful CinemaScope scenery submerged in an inane tale of a fugitive's flight to Mexico. Go to Full Review
Richard Brody The New Yorker 09/21/2015
The director, Allan Dwan, fills the sunbaked landscape with an acrid haze of moods and a suffocating tangle of emotions, which he conjures with sharp, stark images of stifled frenzy. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 02/01/2009
B-
Milland's caustic performance, one of his better ones, keeps things at a boil until the bitter end. Go to Full Review
Michael E. Grost Classic Film and Television 08/08/2008
Not-so-great thriller - but with a creative use of color and staging from director Dwan. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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04/12/2015 Good thriller with a dark edge and reasonably datk for 1957.Milland is trying to get over the border with a case full of loot. He hijacks a wilderness guide and his wife with whom he has ad a fling. The rest of the story is an exciting but modest tale. Great perfomance from the psychopathic Milland with equally effective perfomances from Quinn and Paget. Shot in De Luxe Color and decently directed by veteran Allan Dwan See more 03/03/2015 (60%) A somewhat pulpy crime classic featuring a very bad ass Ray Milland, a suitcase filled with cash, and quite an interesting - if quite well worn plot. This is as vibrantly shot as it is entertaining, with a decent level of pacing. And once the opening sequence begins you'd assume this is a full-on romantic flick, but it's not. In fact this quite a surprisingly violent film at times, with real flashes of sharp bite that still hold up even today. There may not be a whole lot here in terms of depth, but as far as relatively tough, censor pushing Hollywood pictures go that passers the time without ever really dragging its feet then look no further. See more 12/19/2013 western noir from allan dwan. love the colors! See more 06/23/2013 Not a western but a well shot and performed drama set in the West. The story is rather ordinary but benefits from the role reversal of Milland, usually the hero and Quinn, often the heavy but in opposite roles here. Even at the relatively brief running time the script could have been tightened a bit but overall a good film. One caveat-it would take a great deal to make a woman as stunning as Debra Paget was in her prime look bad but the filmmakers almost achieve that feat. Saddled with unflattering makeup and frightening Lucille Ball red hair that never moves no matter what travail she is enduring her beauty is almost completely obscured. See more 04/23/2011 Not a bad western/suspense-drama, with Quinn and Ray Milland, as the villain. Pretty scenery, set in New Mexico, as the threesome (Debra Paget) cross the border into Mexico fleeing Milland's murderous trail left behind them. See more 09/09/2009 This melodrama is a bit campy, but the high production values and a good cast make it entertaining. There are plenty of dramatic scenarios. See more Read all reviews
The River's Edge

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Movie Info

Synopsis Former hunting guide Ben Cameron (Anthony Quinn), now a rancher, struggles with his new profession and with keeping his feisty younger wife, ex-convict Meg (Debra Paget), distracted. Frustrated by the difficulties of ranch life, Meg quarrels constantly with Ben. When Meg's former criminal partner, Nardo Denning (Ray Milland) -- who turned her in to avoid arrest -- shows up at the ranch, Ben unknowingly allows the pair to go off, sparking a series of threatening events.
Director
Allan Dwan
Producer
Benedict Bogeaus
Screenwriter
Harold Jacob Smith, James Leicester
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Benedict Bogeaus Production
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 11, 1957, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Jul 11, 2006
Runtime
1h 27m