This film has a couple of things going against it, which makes it feel a bit like a B movie...well, it is a B movie...but a darned good one. "A list" movies usually aren't only 69 minutes long, and despite being in 1953, it's black and white. And, the film has only one first rate star.
But on the plus side, this is a taut little thriller. Can a woman (Barbara Stanwyck) save her husband (Barry Sullivan) who is trapped under a beam at a pier in the deserted Baja California in Mexico and will drown when the tide comes in? She's got her little boy to think about, too. So who does she find when she goes for help? An escaped murderer (Ralph Meeker).
Stanwyck may be past her prime here (although she still had a few "A" pictures coming up in her career (such as "Titanic" with Clifton Webb"), but she was still a powerful actress...and she certainly demonstrates that here. Barry Sullivan, who was soon to turn more to television parts, is a comparative lightweight, but he nevertheless does fine here. And an actor most of us love to dislike (or even hate) -- Ralph Meeker as the ex-con -- gives a whirlwind performance here. You'll love the scene where he slaps Stanwyck...multiple times! Of course, we are quite sure the husband will be saved...but how? And will Meeker survive? And did Stanwyck have a tryst to secure Meeker's help. Well, on that last one you're left to guess...after all, it was 1953! Worth watching at least once!
But on the plus side, this is a taut little thriller. Can a woman (Barbara Stanwyck) save her husband (Barry Sullivan) who is trapped under a beam at a pier in the deserted Baja California in Mexico and will drown when the tide comes in? She's got her little boy to think about, too. So who does she find when she goes for help? An escaped murderer (Ralph Meeker).
Stanwyck may be past her prime here (although she still had a few "A" pictures coming up in her career (such as "Titanic" with Clifton Webb"), but she was still a powerful actress...and she certainly demonstrates that here. Barry Sullivan, who was soon to turn more to television parts, is a comparative lightweight, but he nevertheless does fine here. And an actor most of us love to dislike (or even hate) -- Ralph Meeker as the ex-con -- gives a whirlwind performance here. You'll love the scene where he slaps Stanwyck...multiple times! Of course, we are quite sure the husband will be saved...but how? And will Meeker survive? And did Stanwyck have a tryst to secure Meeker's help. Well, on that last one you're left to guess...after all, it was 1953! Worth watching at least once!