Devil's Canyon (1953 film)

Devil's Canyon is a 1953 American Western 3-D film directed by Alfred L. Werker. The film stars Virginia Mayo, Dale Robertson, Stephen McNally and Arthur Hunnicutt.[2]

Devil's Canyon
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAlfred L. Werker
Screenplay byFrederick Hazlitt Brennan
Harry Essex
Story byBennett Cohen
Norton S. Parker
Produced byEdmund Grainger
StarringVirginia Mayo
Dale Robertson
Stephen McNally
Arthur Hunnicutt
CinematographyNicholas Musuraca
Edited byGene Palmer
Music byDaniele Amfitheatrof
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Pictures
Release date
  • August 15, 1953 (1953-08-15) (US)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,000,000 (US)[1]

Plot

Arizona, 1897: A female outlaw, Abby Nixon, warns a lawman, Billy Reynolds, that her accomplices Bud and Cole Gorman are nearby. Reynolds manages to kill both in a gunfight, but finds himself arrested for murder, convicted and sentenced to a desert prison known as Devil's Canyon.

One of the prisoners there is a third Gorman brother, the ruthless Jesse, who intends to gain revenge for Reynolds having killed his kin. Jesse is also romantically involved with Abby, but is unaware that she's the one who tipped off Reynolds as to his brothers' whereabouts.

Reynolds is treated fairly by Morgan, the warden, but not by Captain Wells, a sadistic guard. Abby ends up sent to Devil's Canyon herself for a robbery. To keep her as far as possible from the male inmates, Abby is assigned to work with Dr. Betts in the prison infirmary. She treats Reynolds' wounds after Jesse injures him in a fight.

Abby plots a jailbreak. Sneaking guns to Joe and Red, outlaw partners of Jesse, she tries to persuade Reynolds to join them. He refuses, respecting the law and also not trusting Jesse a bit. Wells finds knives in Reynolds' cell, planted there by Jesse.

During the breakout, Jesse takes over the prison and guns down Wells in cold blood. Guards are taken hostage and the other prisoners are set free. Abby, now afraid of Jesse and his violent ways, is slapped by him and left behind. She manages to free Reynolds, who takes over the guards' machine-gun nest, kills Jesse and orders the others back to their cells. The warden vows to do everything in his power to grant Reynolds and Abby a pardon for their crimes.

Cast

References
  1. 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1953', Variety, January 13, 1954
  2. Devil's Canyon at the American Film Institute Catalog
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