LeonLouisRicci Audie Murphy Leads a Good Cast in front and back of some Outstanding Scraggy Rock Formations that make this a slightly Edgy Entry in the "Murph" Filmography.By 1960 the Western was Waning in Popularity due to an Overexposure of Movies and TV Titles that became Exponential as the Decade Unfolded. This is a Strong "B" Entertainment that Delivered Color, CinemaScope, and an Adult-Theme Touch.Some of the Dialog is Cutting Edge for the 50's, and the Leering Looks that Felicia Farr gets in the Cabin as She is Verbally Raped and Forced into Servitude is a Standout.Some of the Back-Stories are Complex as Murphy is on the Run from a Psychopathic "Lawman" and some Revengeful Townsfolk, that the Script is Quick to Call Religious Hypocrites (you wouldn't find that on TV).Steve McNally is Memorable as the Cold-Blooded "Marshall" and Jan Merlin makes His Mark as a "Smile-Happy" Shotgun Killer. Fast Paced and Thoughtful Western that is Slightly Above Average in the Decade's Outlandish Output of Westerns and another Solid Outing for Audie Murphy Fans to Appreciate.Note...Audie Murphy's Career mostly ignored by Film Historians deserves another look and deeper analysis. As a consistent entertainer, especially in the Western Genre, it has been passed over and underrated.

Spikeopath Hell Bent for Leather is directed by George Sherman and adapted to screenplay by Christopher Knopf from the novel Outlaw Marshal written by Ray Hogan. It stars Audie Murphy, Felicia Farr, Stephen McNally and Robert Middleton. A CinemaScope production in Eastman Color, it features music jointly scored by William Lava and Irving Gertz (Joseph Gershenson supervising) and cinematography by Clifford Stine.Audie Murphy plays Clay Santell, a horse trader who is wrongly accused of murder and goes on the run pursued by a vengeful Marshal. The Marshal (McNally), knows Santell is innocent, but he doesn't care and figures that killing a wanted man that nobody has seen before can only earn him glory.There is often a tendency from Western film critics to undersell a "B" Western, it's like you are not allowed to rave about or rate a "B" the same as an Oater from the well regarded and well known movers and shakers in the genre. This happens to be more the case where Audie Murphy's output is concerned. Not blessed with great acting talent, Murphy none the less knew how to make a scene work, to imbue a passage of play with great presence, never once trying to hog the limelight from co-stars, he remains more so today a Western star whose values should not be easily dismissed. His CV contains quite a few bad or ordinary films, but he was in some very good ones as well, and one such film is Hell Bent for Leather. Plot is essentially standard fare, a wronged man is on the run and he is saddled with a pretty gal for the journey. Posse are in pursuit and wronged man has to prove his innocence before he is killed by a sadistic sheriff out to feather his own nest. Yet the locale and well written characters mark this out as a tough little Oater. Sure there's little action to pump the blood of those who need such passages, though some good chase scenes are here and one finishes with a great bit of stuntery, but the neat trick here is having Murphy and Farr's characters run off/up into the rocky terrain; the magnificent Alabama Hills rocky terrain. As Anthony Mann had a knack of marrying up surroundings to psychological aspects of his protagonists, so it be here with Sherman, but of course this is a "Audie Murphy B Western", so such things aren't possible...Hey, it's no Naked Spur et al, far from it, but it is far better and grittier than some think it is purely because of the director and star who made it. It also has a great finale, where up in the jutted rocks we get a tense situation that sees the wronged man, the guilty man, the spunky girl with a substantial back story and the unhinged glory seeking Marshal, all brought together in a moment of reckoning. You will not die of shock with the outcome, but it's a finale rewarding us for having spent the time with these deftly etched characters. Acting is safe and sound, with Middleton the stand out performer, and the music score is "B Western" 101 stuff. But if only for Stine's CinemaScope photography then the Western fan should see this, the Alabama Hills, so prominent in many a great and classic genre offering, are beautifully captured and very much a critical character in the story. 7.5/10

zardoz-13 "Big Jake" director George Sherman's "Hell Bent for Leather" is one of Audie Murphy's better westerns. This mistaken-identity, manhunt melodrama not only pits Murphy against Stephen McNally's crooked lawman but also Jan Merlin's shotgun-wielding murderer. This 82-minute Universal International Release puts protagonist in jeopardy from the start to finish. Sherman maintains a swift pace and "Posse" scenarist Christopher Knopf' screenplay is credible and entertaining throughout, putting our hero in tight spots while the villains are breathing down his neck. Clay Santell (Audie Murphy of "Column South") is minding his own business when a stranger toting a double-barreled shotgun enters his camp and requests water. After Clay gives Travers (Jan Merlin of "Illegal") his canteen, he rustles him up some grub. Travers strikes Clay a glancing blow at the head and steals Clay's horse. Before Travers clears out, our hero fires at him and knocks the shotgun out of Travers' hand. Now, poor Clay wanders on foot into town looking for a fresh mount. The blacksmith, Old Ben (John Qualen), dispatches a rider to alert the important officials about the stranger's arrival. Meantime, Clay has no idea Travers' shotgun has incriminated him and he sticks around long enough for three horsemen to catch him at the corral and arrest him. Naturally, Clay protests his innocence, and the town leaders are prepared to mete out justice despite never having seen Travers. All these law-abiding citizens know is Travers killed two well-liked people. Indeed, only Marshal Deckett (Stephen McNally of "Duel at Silver Creek") can identify Travers. Anyway, Clay catches his captors with their guard down and almost escapes. Luckily for Clay, Deckett intervenes and rides away with Clay as his prisoner. Later, when they are safely out of town, Clay asks Deckett to release him. When Deckett refuses, Clay escapes and takes refuge in a rancher's bunk house where Janet (Felicia Farr of "The Last Wagon") has been babysitting children during a funeral. Deckett alerts the citizens that Travers has escaped, and they assemble a posse. After Deckett and the posse ride off, Clay forces Janet at rifle point to drive a two-horse buckboard.As Janet and Clay are pulling out in the buckboard, they are spotted and Clay shoots at the man who sees them. Deckett and the town citizens pursue them. During the chase, Janet struggles to get the rifle away from Clay, and together they fall off the buckboard and tumble down a slope. Deckett and company catch up with the buckboard and their Native American tracker, William (Eddie Little Sky of "The Hallelujah Trail"), assures them that Clay is making for the mountains. Clay discovers to his chagrin that he used the only bullet in the long gun when he fired at the man back at the ranch. As they climb the mountains, Clay tells Janet that he is not Travers. He complains that Deckett is so inclined to end the chase and he is prepared to claim that Clay is Travers. They clamber into the mountains. Eventually, Clay realizes that he isn't getting anywhere with Janet so he releases her. She promises to bring Pennick (Herbert Rudley of "The Young Lions") back to talk to him. Clay sits down and awaits Janet's return. Janet descends the ridge and William catches her. Deckett rides up and sends William after the rest of the posse while the lawman forces Janet to take him to Clay. Clay jumps Deckett and Deckett calls him Santell in Janet's presence. Clay and Janet escape from Deckett just as the posse arrives. Deckett and Moon unleash a volley of rifle shots at Clay and Janet as they ascend the ridge. Everybody thinks the ridge is impassable until somebody observes that the only man to cross it was Janet's father. William takes Deckett and the posse on a four hour ride around to the other side while Clay and Janet forge ahead.They get caught in a rain storm and take refuge in an abandoned stagecoach relay station. As it turns out, Janet knows the place well because her father used to run it. She regales Clay with her hard luck story about how her mother died and her father went bonkers. They are surprised when three men burst into the station. Ambrose (Robert Middleton of "The Law and Jake Wade") and two friends invade the station and Janet tends to Ambrose's wounded leg when the latter tells them about their encounter with Travers. Clay inquires about buying one of their horses and shells out forty dollars. Outside, Ambrose's two friends, Shad (Joseph Ruskin of "Smokin' Aces") and Grover (Steve Gravers) try to take all Clay's money, but our hero thwarts them and Janet and he escape on separate horses. It doesn't take Deckett and his posse long to find Ambrose and company and beat the information out of them because they find Clay's money pouch. Shad tells Deckett that Clay was heading for the town of Paradise.Our hero and heroine ride into Paradise on one horse and Clay spots his horse. Travers spots the posse and hightails it. Clay and Janet steal mounts and pursue Travers with Deckett and his posse hot at their heels. No sooner have Janet and Clay caught up with Travers than the posse rides in and Clay tries to make a deal with Deckett. Deckett goes out to meet him and Clay bluffs him and almost gets his six-gun until Travers appears armed with a shotgun. Clay and Janet listen as Travers talks about what a treacherous fellow Deckett is and Deckett tries to cut a bargain with Travers. If they can kill Clay, Deckett will lead the posse away from Travers, but Travers shoots Deckett. Clay grabs a six-gun and kills Travers. Reluctantly, Perrick and the posse believe Clay's hard-luck story now and he is free.Altogether, "Hell Bent for Leather" qualifies as an adequate sagebrusher. If you look closely, you'll spot legendary B-movie western stars Allen Lane and Bob Steele.

dbdumonteil The most decorated combat soldier of the war,Audie Murphy, plays the part of a man,falsely accused of being a gangster by a marshal .This embittered cop has been searching for the true culprit for months and he needs to find one ,his claim to fame.Stephen Mc Nally is the stand out ,the audience realizes little by little he has gone completely nuts ,heading the posse on his victim's trail.The girl the horse-trader meets (Felicia Farr,better known for her part in " kiss me ,stupid" )and who takes up his cause is some kind of outcast for her father was not a good man .She was taken in by neighbors but she has not really been received at the community :she takes care of the children when the inhabitants attend the service.This is a modest but entertaining western with good suspense and a great finale when the wrong and the right man meet in the mountain.