Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

atlasmb Louis L'Amour wrote well-structured western stories that were very entertaining. Usually, there's a hero who never goes out of his way to hurt anyone. And the force(s) of villainy are clearly defined. But Hollywood wanted to pair Natalie Wood and Tab Hunter, so the love story in this film includes some amorous un-L'Amourous scenes to cater to young viewers.The first couple of scenes establish who our hero is (Tab Hunter as Trace Jordan) and how bad the villains are. Natalie plays Maria, a strong-willed young woman who is also victimized by the gang of gunslingers who enforce the evil dictates of one Joe Sutton (Ray Teal). After Trace attempts to bring the bad guys to justice, they chase him over the countryside. Maria tries to help him.Members of the gang include Claude Akins, who also appeared in "The Sea Chase" with Tab Hunter in 1955. One of the orneriest gang members is played by Earl Holliman. After this film, he would appear consecutively in "Giant", "The Rainmaker" and "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral". Talk about being in the right places at the right time.Unfortunately, certain scenes are marred by some very corny lines. The result is a great L'Amour story burdened by Hollywood "enhancements". You can judge for yourself if Natalie Wood's accent is horrible or not. She surely took a lot of criticism for Maria's accent in "West Side Story", which would follow in five years.

audiemurph Ugh. This is one tiresome Western. Now I love Westerns, but not this one. There is not an iota of clever dialogue, just a boatload of clichés. Tab Hunter, though not unsympathetic, has an emotional range that makes Audie Murphy (my hero) look like Lawrence Olivier. Natalie Wood, though beautiful, has a Mexican accent that sounds heavy Slavic more than anything. The fight scenes go on waaaaay too long, and there is too much filler of men riding horses.The only saving graces are the character actors who make the best out of almost nothing. Skip Homeier is delightfully obnoxious and weaselly as always (see The Gunfighter, for his most memorable role); Claude Akins is dependable; and Earl Holliman looks and sounds like he is Larry the Cable Guy's younger and thinner brother.An odd sub-theme in this film, though not fully explored, is mixed-race breeding. Natalie Wood's mother was Mexican, but her father was a "Yankee" (though she hates all Gringoes). And Eduard Franz's tracker has a mother who is Indian, but a father who is Dutch(!). Weird.Unless you are desperate for a Western fix, skip it, or be prepared to use your fast-forward a lot.

Spikeopath The Burning Hills is directed by Stuart Heisler and adapted by Irvin A. Wallace from the novel written by Louis L'Amour. It stars Tab Hunter, Natalie Wood, Skip Homeier, Eduard Franz, Earl Holliman, Claude Akins & Ray Teal. It's a CinemaScope/Warnercolor production, with Ted McCord photographing primarily out of the Warner Ranch at Calabasas, California, and David Buttolph scores the music. Plot sees Hunter as Trace Jordan, who after finding his brother murdered seeks revenge on the killers. He is aided in his quest by Maria (Wood), a half-breed Mexican girl who has her own agenda to fulfill.Stock formula Oater that puts two attractive young actors at the front in the hope that that will be enough to see it home. OK, maybe that's being a touch harsh since the film does have some moments to make a viewing worthwhile, notably McCord's use of "Scope" and Heisler's more than competent construction of action sequences. But there's so much turgid filler in between the good points it just comes across as a movie made to promote Hunter and Wood. Which would have been OK if they wasn't outshone by pretty much the whole supporting cast! There in is the major issue with The Burning Hills, one look at Ray Teal's gang sees fine character actors Holliman and Akins wasted, while I would defy anyone to argue that Homeier would not have given a better performance than that of the blankly wooden Hunter in the lead role. Clearly it's an aesthetic decision by Richard Whorf and the Warner Bros people.However, if able to forgive the "tween" like romance that hangs heavy on proceedings? Then it's a film for genre fans to pass the time away with. The revenge core in the narrative stays true, and the finale raises the temperature for all the right reasons, where, Heisler makes good use of the water based set-up. Look out too for the unsung work of the stunt men, with one particular moment showing how they suffer for their art. The Warnercolor is sadly a bit lifeless on this occasion, but the print of the film that exists is hardly one to write home about, while Buttolph's score is pretty much standard rank and file for a bottom rung "B" Western feature.Recommended to Western fans? Only if it happens to be on the TV and they appreciate Messrs Homeier, Holliman & Akins. 4/10

moonspinner55 Bubblegum western marketed at the time as if it were "Rebel Without a Cause" on the range (one of the tag lines read: "People would say, 'But they're only kids!'"). Half-breed girl (Natalie Wood, heavily pancaked and miscast, but still not bad) shelters a cowboy (Tab Hunter) embroiled in a vengeful feud with a scurrilous gang. Good, trashy fun; supporting cast including Earl Holliman and Claude Akins is solid, direction by Stuart Heisler fast-paced. The screenplay adaptation (by Irving Wallace, of all people) slants Louis L'Amour's story in favor of showcasing the teen heartthrobs of the day, but it has good action scenes and a satisfying wrap-up. **1/2 from ****