Edge of Eternity is a late 50s whodunit/ crime thriller set around the Grand Canyon. It’s a well-paced film, with a neat mystery at its centre, touches of romantic drama, some great footage of the Canyon, as well as a few dizzying stunts. Here from Powerhouse is a recent Blu-ray release of the film- it takes an HD remastered print with great colours, and a good selection of new extras.

Edge of Eternity is from the year 1959. It was filmed between several Arizona ghost mining towns, and the Grand Canyon- all filmed in CinemaScope, for maximum effect to the above/on-the-edge/ over Canyon shots.

The film was directed by Chicago-born Don Siegel- who is probably most known for the classic films he made with Clint Eastwood in the 70s such as Dirty Harry & Escape From Alcatraz. Though he had a total of thirty-six features to his name, covering a fair few genres, going from the Robert Mitchum-starring noir The Big Steal (1949), onto the paranoid sci-fi of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956), though to classic western Death Of A Gunfighter(1969), and gambler meets lounge singer dark comedy Jinked!(1982).

The film has a swift and (largely) plot-fat trimmed runtime of one hour and twenty minutes. After the swooping & sailing over the Canyon credits. We see on the edge of a canyon a fight between two men- one is suited and older, the other wears a red and white chequered shirt- first a car is pushed over the edge, then the shirted man falls, so we're straight into the mystery/ action.

As things unfold, we meet our lead Les Martin(Cornel Wilde), who with his dark/ brill cream hair and charming smile is a fairly classic 50’s male lead. He’s the Deputy Sheriff of a small town near the  Canyon, which once had a profitable gold mine- this shut down during WWII, and has yet to reopen as the gold prices in the US are low- so it doesn’t make commercial sense.

Fairly soon, the suited man from the start of the film is found hanged, with his hands tied behind his back, in the mining offices. So the depty starts to investigating getting help from Janice(Victoria Shaw), the likes-speeding-in-her-covetable daughter of the mine's stern/ balding mine owner.

As things unfold, there are three people found dead/murdered, with the pressure being put on Les by smug, suited, and brill-creamed grey-haired DA  Sam Houghton(Wendell Holmes).

The film balances well its solving mystery elements, with touches of romantic drama, light comedy, and of course, the Canyon-based shots, which take in a lot of swooping ‘n’ sailing shots, on the edge swaying, and a few death-defying stunts above the Canyon.

Moving on to this Blu-ray, it’s a region B locked disc. It features an HD print of the film- this largely looks very good, with bold colourings, and generally great picture clarity. The only issue comes with the back projection in car shots, which unfortunately, due to the improved picture quality do really stand out.

We have a good selection of all new extras. First up, there’s a commentary track from professor and film scholar Jason A Ney- this is a wonderfully researched and observed, full of detail/ interest. He starts off touching on the opening panning shot, and how it had to be perfectly timed, so as to link in with the car driving scene, which he says is pure noir. We get quoted snippets of interviews with both Don Siegel and the film's producer Kendrick Sweet, talking about the origins of the film,  and its pre-production. He talks about the theme of man being unable to shape his own destiny being present throughout.  He discusses a few locations in Kingsman( one of the towns they used)- the motel & courthouse, both of which are still standing, with the town now being a stop on Route 66.  He talks about the shift in the film's title- in pre-production it was called The Dancing Bucket, then it was Rim Of  Canyon, moving to Deadly Is The  Canyon, before coming to Satan's Bucket, which wasn’t used due to studio issues.  Later on, we get detailed bios of each of our leads, how the final stunt was done, and much more. So all in all, an excellent track, which I’ll certainly be returning to.

Otherwise, we have the following three new extras: Into the Canyon ( 16.49) which finds writer and academic José Arroyo discussing Siegel's career,  notable releases, and how they connect to the film to hand. We find out his first big job in studios was in the montage department, with one of his notable credits being Casablanca.  Closer to the Edge (30.09) Mr Arroyo returns to do a deep dive into Edge of Eternity, discussing some of his favourite/ notable scenes. An Australian Cinderella (16.49), which finds academic Stephen Morgan discussing the career of the film's female lead, Victoria Shaw.  So a good selection of the most informative/ interesting extras

The disc is finished off with an original trailer and image gallery. The finished release comes with a thirty-six-page booklet with a new essay by Peter Cowie, an archival piece on the making of the film by producer Kendrick Sweet, an extract from Don Siegel’s autobiography, and film credits.

I was, of course, very familiar with the more celebrated films in Don Siegel's filmography, but not Edge Of Eternity. So it’s great to see this Powerhouse release of the film, with a good selection of extras, and a colourful/well-defined scan.