Kirk Douglas is the disgraced urban newspaper reporter who shows up in Albuquerque looking for a newspaper job that will let him get back into the game, even if from the bottom, simply to have a chance at a 'big story' to propel him back to the limelight and New York. He whiles away a year, and on his way to cover a rattlesnake competition, happens upon the story he has been waiting for: a man has fallen into a cave while searching for Indian artifacts, and, if managed correctly, will the "human interest" story that will grab everyone's attention.
Dated, a little naive, reliant on stereotypes, but still, after sixty years, works, because it relies on good acting. Douglas plays the cynical, amoral Chuck Tatum with aplomb.
Jan Sterling plays the wife of the fallen-into-the cave hunter, and
Ray Teal plays the sheriff who works with Tatum to maximize the benefits derived from the circus that develops. Both actors are recognizable. Good movie.
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