A piece of movie history was forged here with the directing debut of Roger Corman, who became the acknowledged master and exploiter of the B-movie and the sponsor of such talents as Bogdanovich, Coppola, Scorsese and Demme. It's a western, of course, a sort of Civil War spy story about a deserter, stolen gold, a list of Confederate agents and five convicted murderers who are let out of jail to catch the deserter. Shot in colour and widescreen by Floyd Crosby - the cameraman on High Noon - and starring wooden John Lund and Dorothy Malone, it's unmissable for students and historians of modern Hollywood, though unlikely to provide many surprises for everyday western fans.

During the Civil War, five condemned Southern prisoners are plucked off Death Row and promised pardons on the condition that they undertake a mission to head west and bring back a double-crossing Confederate spy who has a stagecoach full of Confederate gold.