Synopsis
From writer Budd Schulberg (On the Waterfront, A Face in the Crowd) and director Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause) comes this colorful turn-of-the-20th-century adventure starring Oscar winners* Burl Ives and Christopher Plummer. When poachers hunt down birds so they can sell the feathers for women's hats, newly hired Everglades warden Walt Murdock (Plummer in his second film role) is ordered to bring in Cottonmouth (Ives), the brutal leader of the gang. Captured deep within the swamps, Murdock takes a gamble and accepts the outlaw's offer to surrender if the warden makes it back to town before Cottonmouth can kill him. Shot entirely on location and bearing Ray's masterful stamp, Wind Across the Everglades also features appearances by Gypsy Rose Lee, heavyweight boxer Tony Galento, circus clown Emmett Kelly, jockey Sammy Renick, Pulitzer Prize winner MacKinlay Kantor and Peter Falk in his screen debut.