Edge of Eternity (1959)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

One of nature's natural wonders the Grand Canyon of Arizona serves as the backdrop to this modern day western where a breakout of three murders occur within a week. They don't seem to be related but of course they are and Deputy Sheriff Cornel Wilde pursues them all with the backing of Sheriff Edgar Buchanan.Wilde and Buchanan have their work cut out for them. The prosecuting attorney is from a different political party which backed a candidate against Wilde in the last election in Mohave County. Wilde's had issues in the past and his conduct of the investigation is used against Buchanan.In all of this it centers around a scheme to steal gold out of a working mine in the Grand Canyon that's owned by Victoria Shaw and her family. Wilde and her get a little romance going and her knowledge of fashion and designer labels is what gives him the clue to crack things open.The last 20 minutes involve the villain taking Victoria Shaw hostage with a nasty fight on a cable car that goes over the canyon between Wilde and the villain. Really well done a harbinger of some of the action stuff that is more prevalent in today's films. All staged and directed with distinction by Don Siegel.Edge Of Eternity is a crackerjack noir mystery set in the modern west, but hardly in a tight urban setting. You can't get more expansive than the Grand Canyon and I saw it about 5 years after Edge Of Eternity was filmed there. Grand doesn't begin to describe it, but this film will give you some idea.

While flipping channels before leaving a hotel room, I caught sight of a screen view of Kingman's court house (Mohave County, AZ) and, moments later, a view of old main street (Beale Street). I hadn't time to watch the film, but as I'd lived in Kingman 25 years, I ordered the DVD out of curiosity to see what other old scenes it might offer.The film appears, indeed, have been shot entirely in the Kingman area of 1959, and the city is far smaller than the one I moved to in 1982. The Grand Canyon location within the film is today that of Grand Canyon West, a touristic site belonging to the Hualapai Reservation. Remains of the funicular link to what was once a guano mine below, as well as an auto that crashed to the bottom, are still visible as a part of the GCW tour loop. A few scenes appear to have been shot in old Oatman (a picturesque ghost mining town) and some others north of Red Lake on the way to Lake Mead.In regards to the film, I feel that 1.) its script lacks what might have been some obvious and logical improvements, 2.) its runtime needs extension by about 10 minutes to allow denouement of a number of subplots, and 3.) overall, the film is structured in a rather amateurish, low-budget fashion. Compared to many a Western film of the 1950s, however, this one is not so badly done and provides entertainment.Despite the above criticism, I - like another reviewer - found myself looking into Victoria Shaw's biography, wondering if I might explore her appearance in other films. Unfortunately, they are very few.

Ah... This is a gem of a movie! Panned by most, but it remains one of my favorites! A bit short on plot, it has a plenitude of familiar faces, including Jack Elam, Edgar Buchanan, Victoria Shaw, Mikey Shaughnessy, the superb Tom Fadden, and of course, Cornell Wilde.Look for the director, Don Siegel (The Shootist, Dirty Harry, Invasion of The Body Snatchers, The Killers) sitting by the pool wearing a red sweater at the motel where one of the murder victims stayed.With the action set in the Grand Canyon of Arizona, as well as Kingman and its environs, Edge of Eternity provides a delicious time capsule of the late 1950's, as well as great location photography! So glad it was made available on DVD! Don't miss this one!

Edge of Eternity is directed by Don Siegel and written by Richard Collins. It stars Cornel Wilde, Victoria Shaw, Mickey Shaughnessy, Edgar Buchanan and Rian Garrick. A CinemaScope production with music by Daniele Amfitheatrof and cinematography by Burnett Guffey.Contemporary Western that finds Wilde as the local deputy sheriff trying to solve a murder case in the Ghost Town of Kendon.It's not got a strong plot and the performances of the cast are hardly out the top draw, but it's a solid murder mystery set to the magnificent backdrop of The Grand Canyon. Siegel keeps things pacey as Guffey brings the scorching vistas to life, and it all builds to an exciting finale, where some rear projection work not withstanding, it's breath holding stuff. 7/10