Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsEnvironment, Cast, Director all make this an unforgettable experience
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 22, 2011
The star attraction of Edge of Eternity is the Grand Canyon, not just by its beauty, but also by its vastness and inherent dangers. The film's high desert settings, with locations in and around Kingman, Arizona, also contribute very effectively to this crime thriller of the late 1950s West. Less than fifteen minutes into the story, Cornel Wilde's deputy sheriff stops at a gas station on the outskirts of Kingman. It is dawn in the desert and the weather is noticeably windy and chilly. In the next scene, the sun is out, and a motel proprietor cheerfully allows that it "looks like it's going to be another scorcher today!" While these small details may seem insignificant by themselves, they add flavor and a real sense of locale.
Cornel Wilde is great as Deputy Les Martin, a man who has made mistakes in his job but has been given a second chance. As interpreted by Wilde and scriptwriters, his character is friendly, relaxed, and modest. Chemistry between Wilde and leading lady Victoria Shaw is excellent, and the film has a supporting cast of pros in Edgar Buchanan, Jack Elam, Tom Fadden, and Mickey Shaughnessy.
Edge of Eternity is not considered a major work in director Don Siegel's credits, possibly because the story and length (80 minutes) are not epic in scale, but the leanness throughout and toughness of certain scenes represent Siegel at his best.
Daniele Amfitheatrof's score offers majestic canyon music and a love theme which is rendered first in a breezy, orchestral pop arrangement with pizzicato strings, then later in subdued woodwind pastels.
Because this issue is part of Sony's DVD on-demand series, there are no extras. It is great, however, to see Edge of Eternity again in widescreen, preserving the original cinemascope ratio, and in a first-rate transfer with vivid Eastman Color.
Highly recommended, and especially so for anyone who saw the movie when it was first released in 1959.
12-31-19 Addition: Edge of Eternity has been available on Blu-Ray for
some time on the Twilight Time label. As good as the DVD is, the Blu-Ray
is even better.
