SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

bkoganbing In Hell Bent For Leather Audie Murphy has the misfortune of running into Jan Merlin on the trail who robs him of his horse. Merlin is a man on the run and known to carry a distinctive shotgun as his weapon of choice. Murphy wounds Merlin fleeing and Merlin drops said shotgun with some fancy carving on the stock.Which is enough to give the townspeople the idea he's Merlin. That's further reinforced by Stephen McNally who represents the law on Merlin's trail.But McNally is tired of chasing Merlin. Since he is the only one who really knows Merlin and he's tired of chasing him, McNally is willing to take credit using Murphy, preferably dead and get credit for stopping the outlaw killer.Hell Bent For Leather is a lot like another classic western where McNally is the pursued instead of the pursuer Winchester 73. This film is tightly edited and the tale well told, not a minute of footage is wasted. Note also good performances from Felicia Farr as the woman who by circumstance becomes Murphy's hostage and then ally. And another from Robert Middleton as an old outlaw, not the most noble of characters but one with his own ethics.This one is a must for Audie Murphy's fans.

Robert J. Maxwell It's all here in this inexpensive Western from Universal Studios. Audie Murphy as the fresh-faced hero mistaken for a ruthless shotgun killer. Felicia Farr as the misunderstood local woman swept up in his escape. Stephen McNally as the crooked Marshall consumed by self aggrandizement. The angry townsfolk seeking revenge. The buckboard bouncing in a frenzy along the rough roads, pursued by the galloping posse. The pause at the empty cabin during a rainstorm so Murphy and Farr can exchange a few understanding words before falling in love. But, come to think of it, there are no fast draws and no clips on the jaw that render anyone unconscious for as long as the plot requires. Maybe it ISN'T all here.But Mount Whitney is here, or at least nearby. Most of the movie was shot at Movie Flats, near Lone Pine, California, on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. You'll probably recognize the location. It's been used in a hundred movies. I was there a few years ago and can swear to it that I found some pieces of welding left over from "Gunga Din" (1939), although it must be said that I lie constantly.Felicia Farr is a pleasant and attractive woman, Jack Lemon's wife. She never had a major career. Perhaps her talent was modest or maybe she just didn't get the challenging parts. I wonder how she'd have done if she'd tackled Blanche DuBois.More often than not, Audie Murphy was a little embarrassing. His range was so limited. It's painful here watching him struggling to project an emotion like fear, as if in a high school play in Cedar City, Utah. He STILL looks innocent here, fifteen years after the end of the war from which he emerged with more decorations than any other soldier -- and he earned them too. When a role was within his range and when he had the right director, he could be entirely convincing, but that only happened once that I know of -- in John Huston's "The Red Badge of Courage." This isn't a bad movie. It's mediocre in almost every respect, helped by a couple of accomplished actors in smaller roles. Well, I'll give an example of something that keeps the film from being aimed at a more sophisticated or mature audience. Throughout, Felicia Farr is glamorously made up. It doesn't matter -- rain or shine, night or day -- he false eyelashes are flawless and her no-smear lipstick a perfection in scarlet. Couldn't they have mussed her up a little? After all, she has to hoof it for dozens of miles across the mountains and deserts.

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.

ColeArmin Very entertaining western directed by George Sherman (who did Big Jake with John Wayne and produced The Comancheros 1961). The actors are excellent. We get Audie Murphy and Stephen McNally back altogether 8 years after Duel at silver creek 1952, but here they are enemies. Felicia Farr acts in her last western. And very good supporting cast with Jan Merlin as Travers, John Qualen and Bob Steele among others.With a very good screenplay, I really liked the character, Stephen MacNally plays. The three main actors are perfect, and they carry the movie. So if you have the luck to have the opportunity to see this movie: GOOOOO!