The Purple Hills

Gene Nelson rose to prominence as a dancer -- his signature move was a leap from the floor to the top of a piano. He doesn't do any dancing in this decent Fox western about a couple of people who claim the bounty for killing a bad man -- and whose brother shows up in town whle they are disputing their claims.

Nelson appears in a beat-up outfit with his hair grown out. This is in contrast to the neat look cultivated by other western stars. The time of the B western was just about over and the plot points clearly to the scruffy violence of spaghetti westerns.

Veteran cinematographer Floyd Crosby shoots the dry landscape beautifully. One would expect no less of him.

Roy Rogers, Red Ryder, the three Mesquiteers, were my staple diet of B westerns. Roy Rogers was my favourite. "The purple hills" comes at the end of this era, but nonetheless could easily slot into this category. Enjoyable for family viewing as there is no profanity, nudity or excessive violence. Even with a running time with just over one hour, the story does seem to drag a bit towards the middle. I am a 8mm and 16mm film collector and watched this movie to determine whether it would be worth adding to my 16mm collection. If I came across it at a reasonable price, I would consider buying it, but I would not go out of my way to look for it. Enjoyable matinee fun. Robert - South Africa.

Not a bad film, low budget, but fine location shots. Gene Nelson plays a b0unty hunter who kills the man he is seeking, but he has to bury him as his horse becomes lame and is unable to haul the dead body back to town. Meanwhile, another bounty hunter ( Kent Taylor) comes across the burial site and goes to town to make his claim for the money. Th3 sheriff ( Russ Bender) decides to take them both back to the burial site to settle the matter. The grave is in Apache territory and they don't want either man to have the body in the grave. Needless to say, a battle breaks out between the Apaches and the bounty hunters and their companions.

Pretty good oater, at least until the climax, which is poorly staged. Apparently, the Apaches practice never hitting anything they shoot at. Good thing for the white men, but a real departure from reality, especially when the red men level a steady fusillade. To bad this episode is not up to what's gone before.

The first part is good. We don't know who to root for since both Nelson and Taylor are flawed. They're both bounty hunters and not too trustworthy. This is a period when revisionist westerns were beginning to take hold, so there are no purely white hats or black hats. That kind of ambiguity adds to story interest, which, in this case, also includes fine desert photography.

Nothing special here, except a payday for two aging stars and part of a good story.

With the decline of musicals for Gene Nelson and Kent Taylor never being in the top tier of leading men these guys were scrambling for work as television arrives. The Purple Hills is what they settled for.

Gene Nelson is in the same business with the same motivation as James Stewart in The Naked Spur, an amateur bounty hunter who's thinking the $8000.00 on the hide of a certain outlaw will set him up nicely for life. Unlike Stewart he doesn't have anything against this guy the way Stewart had a grudge against Robert Ryan.

But Kent Taylor who was a member of the deceased's gang races to town to collect the reward. Add to that Jerry Summers who is the deceased's brother accompanied by his 'nanny' Joanna Barnes looking to gun the one who did do it. The relationship between Barnes and Summers is weird to say the least. But westerns were becoming allegedly adult at this time.

With deputy Russ Bender along to arbitrate they all set out to where the body is buried. But the Apaches are out as well and for reasons not explained they liked the deceased white guy.

The Purple Hills shot outdoors in Arizona is definitely a shoestring budget western with a rather unbelievable plot and a whole cast that looks like it's just going through the motions.