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Devil's Canyon
Devil's Canyon
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Alfred L. Werker
Screenplay by	Frederick Hazlitt Brennan ; Harry Essex
Story by	Bennett Cohen; Norton S. Parker
Produced by	Edmund Grainger
Starring	Virginia Mayo; Dale Robertson; Stephen McNally; Arthur Hunnicutt
Cinematography	Nicholas Musuraca
Edited by	Gene Palmer
Music by	Daniele Amfitheatrof
Production; company	RKO Pictures
Distributed by	RKO Pictures
Release dates	August 6, 1953 (Preview); August 19, 1953 (U.S.); October 2, 1953 (New York);
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1,100,000 (US)

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]

Plot

In 1897 Arizona, female outlaw Abby Nixon warns lawman Billy Reynolds that her accomplices Bud and Cole Gorman are nearby. Reynolds kills both men 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 exact revenge. Jesse is also romantically involved with Abby but is unaware that it was she who informed Reynolds of his brothers' whereabouts.

Reynolds is treated fairly by Morgan, the warden, but not by Captain Wells, a sadistic guard. Abby is also sent to Devil's Canyon 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, Jesse's outlaw partners, she tries to persuade Reynolds to join them. He refuses, respecting the law and also distrusting Jesse. Wells finds knives in Reynolds' cell that had been planted there by Jesse.

During the breakout, Jesse takes command of the prison and shoots Wells in cold blood. Guards are taken hostage and the other prisoners are set free. Abby is now afraid of Jesse and his violent ways, and he slaps her and leaves her behind. She frees Reynolds, who takes control of 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 secure pardons for Reynolds and Abby.

Cast

Virginia Mayo as Abby
Dale Robertson as Reynolds
Stephen McNally as Jesse
Arthur Hunnicutt as Frank Taggert
Robert Keith as Warden Morgan
Jay C. Flippen as Capt. Wells
George J. Lewis as Colonel Jorge Gomez
Whit Bissell as Virgil Gates
Earl Holliman as Joe
Paul Fix as Gatling Guard

Production

Yvonne De Carlo was originally cast for the female leading role.^[3]

The film's working title was Arizona Outpost.^[4] It was first screened for a preview audience in Pittsburgh on August 6, 1953.^[5]

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther wrote: "Outside of a couple of seedy specimens, played by Arthur Hunnicutt and Jay C. Flippen, the yarn is as flat as the desert on which the prison is set. And that is a fact, for all the 3-D in which the picture is made. Once more it is evident that a mechanical technique is no salvation for a meagre film."^[6]

Reviewer Hortense Morton of the San Francisco Examiner wrote: "'Devil's Canyon' is as violent as a volcano and director Alfred Werker has polished every facet of the Frederick Hazlitt Brennan screen play until life within the walls of a prison in Territorial Arizona becomes just as realistic as any law-abiding citizen can handle in one dose."^[7]

References

^ "1954 Box Office Champs". Variety Weekly. January 5, 1955. p. 59. - figures are rentals in the US and Canada
^ Devil's Canyon at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
^ Hopper, Hedda (January 4, 1953). "Debra Paget All Set for Fishing Picture". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 65.
^ "In Star Role". Argus-Leader. Sioux Falls, South Dakota. July 5, 1953. p. 10.
^ Fanning, Win (August 7, 1953). "The Drama Desk". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 8.
^ Crowther, Bosley (October 3, 1953). "The Screen in Review". The New York Times. p. 14.
^ Morton, Hortense (August 20, 1953). "'Devil's Canyon' Is Violent and Absorbing Drama". San Francisco Examiner. p. 28.