Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Majorthebys Charming and brutal

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Armand the cast makes difference in this case. the story, the end, the little tricks are old ingredients of genre. and performance, it can be only correct because it represents only part of machine. so,for not to be another western, this film search be a different game. the nice Audie Murphy gives all necessary nuances to his bad guy with good soul, Eddie Little represents ideal spice for a story of masks, using the Puck place and remembers from Lassie, but the key of film are Gia Scala in a splendid role and , sure, Walter Mathau.and this is the secret of this little film - the balance between humor and drama, the expected events in soft package. in same measure, good occasion to remember the "roots" of Henry Silva.

classicsoncall I always have some misgivings watching Audie Murphy portray a bad guy (Gunsmoke, No Name on the Bullet); he's got that clean cut All-American look going for him that doesn't seem to jive with his character. The same is true here, but the thing is, he's not really an outlaw in this picture except in name. Arriving in a Western town while on the run, he's mistakenly assumed to be the U.S. Marshal who was tracking him at the start of the story. Too bad about the marshal, he should have watched his step.This may be a starring vehicle for Murphy, but it's Walter Matthau who holds this thing together as the cantankerous Judge Kyle. He's a pretty tough lawman who's word goes in town (how come this town didn't have a name?), and his gruff manner steals every scene he's in. It doesn't take long for the judge to read the fake marshal, but he keeps his play close to the vest until an intended bank robbery eventually goes down. Joe Maybe (Murphy) maintains an uneasy alliance with outlaw Sam Keeler (Henry Silva), and when the time is right, the Curtis Bank will be ripe for picking.The hook in the story rests with the young boy Jimmy who's befriended by Maybe. I liked the tale about Maybe getting his name, shortened from May's boy, and how he was raised by some saloon gals. It was a bit too coincidental that Jimmy's growing up in the same circumstances, and it didn't quite ring true to me to see him doing that much school work. About as implausible as Maybe playing house with Keeler's girlfriend Tessa (Gia Scala), while planning on robbing the bank herself along with Keeler's bunch. So it's no surprise that Maybe second guesses himself throughout the picture and winds up going straight for good after settling the score with Keeler. It's probably best not to think about all of this too much while watching the picture, especially the part about Maybe and Tessa given their own furnished home to live in within twenty four hours of arriving on the scene. No wonder Murphy had that incredulous look on his face throughout the story.

RanchoTuVu A bank robber (Audie Murphy) assumes the identity of the sheriff who died accidentally while chasing him. A very light weight film trying to be a combo comedy western, a usually deadly idea with the exception of Destry Rides Again or a few others. Audie Murphy isn't very funny, and while Walter Matthau is, his role as a drinking judge and local leader of a town on a river, lacks any discernible wit. That leaves one with the story of a basically good guy who's done bad things given the second chance to redeem himself, as well as the saloon girl Gia Scala) who also gets in on the masquerade. A few good scenes here and there, and generally good natured entertainment, and a neat scene in the bar where a guy puts a cigar butt out in Murphy's whiskey, the film generally lacks excitement or tension, though the story had possibilities.

Brian Camp RIDE A CROOKED TRAIL is an Audie Murphy western distinguished by good writing and a flamboyant early role for Walter Matthau as a silver-haired, hard-drinking, shotgun-toting judge in a growing river town. It has surprisingly little action for a Murphy western, but it's consistently engaging thanks to a group of interesting, well-etched characters, a strong cast, some welcome humor, and a script by western veteran Borden Chase (WINCHESTER '73, BEND OF THE RIVER, THE FAR COUNTRY, BACKLASH, etc.).Murphy was always at his best when surrounded by solid co-stars and here he's got Matthau as a persistent father figure; Gia Scala as a femme fatale ripe for reform; and Henry Silva as an outlaw gang leader. Murphy plays a wanted outlaw himself who is mistaken by Matthau for a missing marshal (who'd fallen off a cliff while pursuing Murphy) and soon has to assume the functions of the marshal's office in order to keep up the charade and escape detection. When Scala gets off the riverboat from New Orleans, she recognizes Murphy and calls him by his real name, "Maybe," forcing Murphy to cover up by telling Matthau Scala is his wife. But Scala is there to case the town's bank for Silva, so she has to act the respectable lady for a few days till Silva and company come to town. Both she and, later, Silva expect Murphy to help with the bank job. After a while, Matthau starts to get suspicious, even as Murphy begins to grow comfortable in the marshal's job. Added to the mix are a precocious orphan boy (Eddie Little) and a dog who, true to form, gradually tug at Audie's and Gia's heartstrings.Murphy seems more relaxed here than usual. Perhaps he was grateful for the opportunity to turn the more attention-getting dramatics over to Matthau. Murphy also has good chemistry with Scala, who is quite attractive and confident here in a way that looks forward to Isabella Rossellini (who played a similar role in Lawrence Kasdan's WYATT EARP, 1994, with Kevin Costner). Joanna Moore (mother of Tatum O'Neal) makes an attractive saloon girl. Mort Mills has a small, vivid part as one of Silva's gang and his appearance will be enjoyed by those who recall him as Charlton Heston's sympathetic colleague in TOUCH OF EVIL the same year and as the highway patrolman who stops Janet Leigh in PSYCHO.Most of the film was shot in a western town set on the Universal Pictures backlot, although a few chase-and-cattle scenes take place on location late in the film. It's a relatively light-hearted film for screenwriter Chase, who wrote or co-wrote so many harder-edged westerns, but it turns out to be among the best of the roughly two dozen westerns Murphy made at Universal.