EDGE OF ETERNITY

US, 1959, 79 Minutes, Colour.
Cornel Wilde, Victoria Shaw, Mickey Shaughnessy, Edgar Buchanan.
Directed by Donald Siegel.

Edge of Eternity is quite an enjoyable, exciting and adventurous thriller. It is noteworthy for its wide-screen photography and climax in the Grand Canyon. It was directed by Don Siegel who has become an object of cult interest in France and in other countries. In the 50s he made impact with films like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He was to make even greater impression in the late 60s and early 70s with his taut thrillers, especially those with Clint Eastwood, eg. Coogan's Bluff, Two Mules for Sister Sara, The Beguiled and, especially, Dirty Harry. Siegel himself appeared in Eastwood's Play Misty For Me.

1. The quality of this thriller, enjoyment value, conventional?

2. The impact of its brevity, style, colour and Cinemascope. the use of the Grand Canyon and its emphasis?

3. The use of the Canyon for plot and themes? The bucket and the helicopter? Scenic value?

4. The impact of the opening murder, death, the number of killings, the murder mystery emphasis? A good murder mystery? Audience involvement in solving it?

5. The policeman hero: his character. the importance of his past record, sense of failure. hope for achievement, skills, accidents? People's hostility towards him? His relationship with the girl? His involvement in his job? His ability to search out clues and follow them up? The final confrontation? The plausibility of the heroics? A suitable hero for this kind of film?

6. The impact of the heroine: speeding in her car. reckless and wealthy, her pursuit of the policeman. involvement with him. understanding of what had happened, her being used as a hostage. the danger in the dancing bucket? A suitable heroine for this kind of film?

7. The character of the brother and his weakness, the explanation through the father and the family? His hostility? His being used by the criminal? His death?

8. The humour of the character of Scott. revealed as the villain, his callousness and the murders? The final fight and his fear of death?

9. The contribution of the minor characters for atmosphere: the father and his attitude towards work and his children, the old caretaker, his realization of who did the murders, the sheriff who trusted the policeman, the worker who contributed to the solution?

10. The swift build-up to the solution, the explanation of the mining, the bucket and the helicopter, the melodramatics of the fight and the danger? How spectacular and convincing?

11. A good story, themes of honesty, crime, greed, human nature?