Back in the 1930's and 40's, Warner Brothers utilized a similar plotline, first as "Tiger Shark" (an A starring Edward G. Robinson), later as a B ("Slim"), and as an A again featuring Robinson, and co-starring George Raft and Marlene Dietrich, "Manpower". Among their many forgettable B films in the 1940's, several others popped up with similar plots, not indicating that it was yet another remake, but simply based on a story by the original author. Other studios did similar movies based on the same set-up ("The Cruel Tower"), and along comes 20th Century Fox through an independent production company to do their own variation which turns up here as a cheesy B picture.
There's a fabulous narrated introduction that gives us a brief history of Alaska's requirement by the United States and how a main road was able to connect the top of Washington State to Alaska. Interestingly enough, Canada is never mentioned. Two truckers (one of them lead Bill Williams) are heading to Fairbanks, and they pick up hitchhiker Nora Hayden, a sexy Julie Newmar lookalike, statuesque, curvy, and no nonsense. She looks like trouble, but surprisingly she isn't, and her and Williams fall in love. But there's trouble in the form of his ex-flame Lyn Thomas who in spite of having married the boss wants him back and will not accept no as an answer. Of course the boss shows up, misunderstands what he sees, and murder follows.
This could have been a much better B picture had it utilized Alaska's outdoorsy setting outside of a few shots of trees, cabins in the woods and quiet highways. The dialog is melodramatic and silly, and Thomas's character is far too one dimensional and demanding to even be remotely alluring. She does have a terrific final moment though, with the expression on her face a delightful twist. Not much really happens, making this old fashioned melodrama feel really dated by late 50's standards.