Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

jacobs-greenwood Though ostensibly a version of The Asphalt Jungle (1950), I didn't see it, nor is it even half as captivating. It stars Alan Ladd, late in his career and looking it, and Ernest Borgnine as ex-convicts who, at least initially, don't want anything to do with one another but end up working together.The film opens in a Yuma prison camp where Ladd has 10 months left on his sentence, but Borgnine has only one more day to serve. Borgnine has just gotten out of solitary confinement, where he has served 4 of his 10 years, so he's a little grouchy. In fact, he is about to strike a guard, for beating another member of his chain gang, when Ladd wrestles him to the ground and stops him. Ladd, who has been a model prisoner, is then released later that same day, his sentence commuted for saving the guard. Incredibly, Borgnine is also released, suffering no penalty for almost striking the guard. Though Ladd offers a "job" to Borgnine, he had been burned before and is uninterested. After Borgnine leaves, the warden asks Ladd why he never acted like a prisoner when he was inside. He responds that he was innocent and that he'd been framed.Ladd takes the stagecoach to Prescott, pointing out the Lisbon mine to a couple of women passengers as they ride into town. It is clear he has some history in this town, and had a dispute with the mine's owner which led to his arrest. While trying to check into the hotel, he is told by the Marshall, who had sent him to Yuma those years ago, that he's not welcome. After promising him that he'll leave on the next stagecoach at 6 PM the next day, he is allowed to stay. However, his normal suite in the Bascom hotel is not available, so he is given a room across the hall. He meets a woman who is staying in the suite, Ada Winton (Claire Kelly), after helping her. She is a kept woman, who'd been locked in, by Cyril Lounsberry (Kent Smith), who's wife owns the Lisbon mine. An arrangement she tolerates because he has money.Later, he rides his (?) horse to the closed, south entrance of the mine. He enters the mine and, after moving some boards, goes straight to a rich gold vein, taking a sample. He then goes back into to town to see Sample (Robert Emhardt, a "fat" character actor most moviegoers would recognize). Leaving Sample's office is Comanche (Anthony Caruso). Both of these men work for Lounsberry and Ladd wants Sample to arrange a meeting for him with the big man. While Ladd is meeting with Sample, Borgnine comes in. Apparently he knows Sample too and asks him for a job because he eventually wants to become a rancher again. When Sample, now with the upper hand, prods him, he gets angry and leaves.Later, outside, Borgnine witnesses Comanche and some other roughnecks treating a Mexican woman Anita (Katy Jurado) badly and interrupts their fun. When one of them is about to shoot Borgnine, a deputy (Adam Williams) fires his gun to break it up. Borgnine and Anita then begin a relationship. Meanwhile, Ladd gets his meeting with Lounsberry and shows him the gold ore sample. Ladd says he needs cash and, since he doesn't have time to work the mine himself (given the Marshall's deadline), will bring $100,000 worth to Lounsberry the next afternoon if he'll give him the money. After Lounsberry questions him as to whether the mine in question is his wife's, Ladd lies, telling him it's not. So, the deal is made with Lounsberry spotting Ladd $10,000 for supplies et al.Ladd goes to Anita's to find Borgnine and offers for $1,000 now & $9,000 later if he'll help him get the ore out of the mine. Given that the amount would help him finance his cattle ranch, he agrees. They then go to see Vincente (the recognizable Nehemiah Pershoff), a Mexican and former acquaintance of Ladd's. He is a "power monkey", someone who knows how to work with explosives, who knows the mine and agrees to join them for $500. The plan is to set their explosives to blow at the same time of day (4 PM) that the regular mine workers explode their tunnel. While Borgnine returns to Anita and Ladd dallies a bit with Ada, Vincente has to get all the supplies and meet them at the designated time. On the way to the mine, they are seen by the deputy.There's not a lot of drama left in this film at this point, though there is a double cross (isn't there always?). Thought the film is rather short, under 90 minutes, it barely holds one's interest.

utgard14 Recently released from prison, Alan Ladd and Ernest Borgnine head to the town where each was done wrong years before. Borgnine wants to go straight but Ladd has plans to rob a gold mine and asks Borgnine to join him. Delmer Daves directs this enjoyable western remake of The Asphalt Jungle. Alan Ladd is good in what is probably my favorite film of his post-Shane. He has nice chemistry with pretty Claire Kelly. Ernest Borgnine and Katy Jurado steal the movie playing very sympathetic likable characters. I was rooting for them to get a happy ending. Nice support from Nehemiah Persoff, Kent Smith, Robert Emhardt, and Adam Williams. Not one of the more appreciated films from Daves or the stars but it should be. I think if it weren't for it being in the shadow of the classic film noir it's a remake of, it would be more well-known.

Tweekums Opening in Yuma prison this western gets off to a gritty start as we see a prisoner being flogged; he isn't one of our protagonists though; they are Peter 'The Dutchman' Van Hoek, a mining engineer framed for a robbery at the mine he worked in and John 'Mac' McBain, the conned out of the land the mine was built on. They are not friends though and Mac wants nothing to do with The Dutchman when he gets out of prison.Once out The Dutchman goes back to the mine via a disused shaft and goes to a disused section; here he heads straight to a large gold seam that he had discovered before but hadn't told the manager as he didn't trust him to reward him as promised. He takes a sample and goes to a rival mine owner and proposes that he will deliver the gold ore for smelting for $100,000; he estimates it is worth over twice that so both would be getting a good deal. To do it he must get help; Mac and an explosives expert... they must also time it perfectly so that they blast at the exact moment the miners in the active part of the mine blast so nobody notices the explosion.This western is essentially a classic heist movie the only difference is that rather than robbing a bank they are robbing ore from a mine. Alan Ladd and the recently deceased Ernest Borgnine do fine jobs as The Dutchman and Mac respectively. As with most westerns there is some female interest for the protagonists; Katy Jurado plays a Mexican woman who is rescued by Mac when set upon by thugs; this helps establish that his character is a good man at heart. The scenes in the mine are suitably claustrophobic and the outdoor scenes take full advantage of the Arizona landscape with stunning scenery and lots of towering cacti. The villains are suitably conniving making it satisfying when their plans are thwarted in the middle of a Mexican carnival. I'd certainly recommend this for fans of the western genre; especially if they are looking for something a little different.

vlbridges-1 For the record, this movie was filmed primarily in Old Tucson, near Tucson, Arizona. Ernest Borgnine and Alan Ladd made a great combo and their friendship, which began in Yuma Teritoral Prison, proved beneficial to both as the story develops. Both had been railroaded and served time in prison in spite of being innocent and both sought and obtained their revenge, albeit in a non-violent manner. Katy Jurado does a good job with her part and the relationship between her and Borgnine is well-written and played. I believe they were husband and wife in "real life." If you love "good guy wins" endings, this is the good old western for you!