John Sturges’ gem from his Columbia years—and his final film (out of eight) for the studio—is a minimalist neo-Western about a group of outcasts in search of lost treasure in Death Valley. It stars Randolph Scott, already in his underplayed laconic mode that would fully flourish in Budd Boetticher’s 1950s Westerns, alongside Edgar Buchanan, Arthur Kennedy, John Ireland, Ella Raines, and the delightfully surprising addition of folk-blues singer Josh White, who adds lyrical touches to scenes when he picks up his guitar.

Quick to respond to and riff on major studio successes (in this case, Warner Bros.’ The Treasure of the Sierra Madre released the previous year), Columbia allowed Sturges to shoot this parable of greed in dangerously hot locations. Throwing in a sandstorm climax and a memorable shovel fight, Sturges fully ventured into his first (nearly) all-male action film. Produced by Harry Joe Brown, it can also be seen as a proto-Ranown Western—the joint venture of Brown and Randolph Scott which produced films often directed by Boetticher.