Lonnie Wilson, the son of a toothless sharecropper, Zuba Wilson, returns to small southern hometown after spending six years on the chain-gang for killing Colonel Ben Marquand's son in an ...
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Title: Desire in the Dust (1960)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Raymond Burr | ... | Col. Ben Marquand | |
| Martha Hyer | ... | Melinda Marquand | |
| Joan Bennett | ... | Mrs. Marquand | |
| Ken Scott | ... | Lonnie Wilson | |
| Brett Halsey | ... | Dr. Ned Thomas | |
| Edward Binns | ... | Luke Connett | |
 |
Margaret Field | ... | Maude Wilson (as Maggie Mahoney) |
| Douglas Fowley | ... | Zuba Wilson | |
| Kelly Thordsen | ... | Sheriff Wheaton | |
| Rex Ingram | ... | Burt Crane | |
| Jack Ging | ... | Peter Marquand | |
| Anne Helm | ... | Cass Wilson | |
| Irene Ryan | ... | Nora Finney | |
|
|
Paul Baxley | ... | Thurman Case |
|
|
Robert Earle | ... | Virgil |
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Storyline
Lonnie Wilson, the son of a toothless sharecropper, Zuba Wilson, returns to small southern hometown after spending six years on the chain-gang for killing Colonel Ben Marquand's son in an automobile accident. He revives his love affair with Melinda Marquand, who is now Mrs. Melinda Thomas, since she married Dr. Ned Thomas, while Lonnie was serving time, in her place, for the accident she caused. Somewhat miffed about all this, Lonnie incites Dr. Ned about his wife's infidelity, which Dr. Ned verifies when he catches Lonnie and Melinda in a semi-torrid embrace in Colonel Marquand's hunting lodge. Melinda, looking for an explanation for this situation, shoots and wounds Lonnie to defend her innocence by claiming she was being raped. Colonel Marquand,who had bribed Lonnie to take the blame for his daughter, uses her story to try and have Sheriff Wheaton kill Lonnie, and put an end to all this mess. But there is another reel or two before this mess ends. Written by Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
Plot Keywords:
colonel | sharecropper | infidelity | southern gothic | based on novel |Taglines:
Why did they try to stop the rich boy and the Tobacco Road girl? What was the secret between the Colonel and his daughter? Why were they afraid to leave the mother alone? See more »Parents Guide:
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See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
23 November 1960 (South Africa) See more »Also Known As:
Begierde im Staub See more »Company Credits
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IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)Color:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1
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Zuba Wilson: Well you better get used to it honey or it's going to cut down on your list of spooning partners considerable.
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Did You Know?
Trivia
There was a 7-year age difference between Joan Bennett and Raymond Burr, playing husband and wife, and also between Burr and Martha Hyer, playing father and daughter. See more »Goofs
The heckler in the bar jerks his head back and to the side before Lonnie's punch reaches him. See more »Quotes
Cass Wilson: I don't like to kiss men with whiskey on their breath.Zuba Wilson: Well you better get used to it honey or it's going to cut down on your list of spooning partners considerable.
See more »
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Released in 1960, Desire in the Dust looks to have been a B movie, featuring a lot of TV actors and future TV actors: Raymond Burr, Anne Helm, Jack Ging, Edward Binns, Martha Hyer, and Brett Halsey. The film also looks to be attempting to cash in on the success of those southern Big Daddy dramas like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Long Hot Summer.
The Big Daddy in this one is Raymond Burr, who tightly controls a family that includes his off-her-rocker wife, played by Joan Bennett, stunningly beautiful daughter Hyer, her wimpy doctor husband, Brett Halsey, and son, Jack Ging. Bennnett never recovered from the death of a young son who was hit by a car six years earlier; Ging is love with the white trash daughter of the man who supposedly ran him over.
Of course, there's a lot more to the story than that and in 102 minutes, this film stuffs it all in, including more cigarettes and alcohol than one would see in ten films put together. There are also a lot of bullets, dust, and histrionics.
All in all, it's a slow go, with a couple of interesting segments and decent acting.