In 1867, a gang robs a bank and flees into the desert. Out of water, the outlaws encounter a ghost town called Yellow Sky and its only residents, a hostile young woman and her grandfather.
Cinematography
Death Valley locations so harsh they nearly killed the crew.
Acting
Widmark's unhinged Dude steals every scene he's in.
Direction
Wellman shot this in 4:3 to trap you with these outlaws.
Director
William A. Wellman
Gregory Peck
James "Stretch" Dawson
Anne Baxter
Constance Mae 'Mike'
Richard Widmark
Dude
Robert Arthur
Bull Run
John Russell
Lengthy
Harry Morgan
Half Pint
James Barton
Grandpa
Charles Kemper
Walrus
Robert Adler
Jed (uncredited)
Harry Carter
Cavalry Lieutenant (uncredited)
William Gould
Banker (uncredited)
Eula Guy
Woman Bank Customer (uncredited)
Paul Hurst
Drunk (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Filmed in Death Valley during summer; temperatures hit 130°F and Anne Baxter's makeup literally melted off.
This was Widmark's first western after establishing himself in noir—his twitchy, violent Dude essentially imported psychological complexity into the genre years before the 'revisionist' western boom.
US
