Inferno (1953)

After his wife (Rhonda Fleming) and her lover (William Lundigan) leave him stranded in the desert to die, a millionaire (Robert Ryan) must learn to survive by cunning and his wits in an attempt to stay alive. This tightly drawn Technicolor thriller, directed by the Brit Roy Ward Baker (A NIGHT TO REMEMBER), was originally filmed in and shown in 3D but it doesn't need all that 1950's 3D "in your face" junk thrown at you to keep you on the edge of your seat. In fact, the 3D effects are pretty minimal, rocks falling down on you, a rattlesnake lunging at the camera. Baker makes Ryan's struggle to survive against all odds extremely compelling so that the focus of our interest is on not only how and if he will survive, but what will he do to the duplicitous lovers if he survives. Ryan is very good here with most of his performance in voice over (after all he's all alone in the desert) but Fleming gives a nicely nuanced, conflicted performance whereas Lundigan is pretty one dimensional. Cinematographer Lucien Ballard's desert landscapes are impeccable and the discreet score by Paul Sawtell is effective. If you've not seen it, you're in for a treat. With Larry Keating, Carl Betz, Henry Hull and Barbara Pepper.