Escaped convicts hold hostages in a ghost town targeted for a nuclear bomb test.
Direction
Dick Powell squeezes claustrophobia from wide open desert.
Cinematography
Black-and-white shadows that eat characters whole.
Acting
Jan Sterling's Dottie: tragic, tipsy, unforgettable.
Director
Dick Powell
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Filmed in just 10 days on a shoestring budget at RKO's '40 Acres' backlot—same desert later nuked in The Twilight Zone's 'The Shelter.'
Released mere months after the Korean War's stalemate, the film weaponizes America's fresh nuclear anxiety for cheap popcorn thrills.
US
