L'étoile brisée

In a comic change-of-pace role, WWII hero turned actor Audie Murphy does an amiable job as Joe Maybe, an outlaw who rides into the river town of Webb City. He had managed to escape from a pursuing marshal, and is then assumed to be the marshal by the authorities in the town, led by the genial Judge Kyle (Walter Matthau, in a show-stealing performance). Joe keeps up the ruse, thinking he'd like to rob the town bank, and the ruse is threatened when his old acquaintance, Tessa (Gia Scala), shows up in town and nearly exposes him. So he forces her to pose as his wife, and *she's* not happy about that. Then her boyfriend Sam Teeler (Henry Silva, amusing as always), who is Joe's rival in crime, shows up, and of course he wants to rob the bank too.

Scripted by Borden Chase, based on a story by George Bruce, this is just good, straightforward Western entertainment, given polished direction by Jesse Hibbs. Hibbs had previously guided Murphy in "To Hell and Back", the film version of Murphy's wartime exploits. What gives "Ride a Crooked Trail" some distinction is its light comic touch. Among other things, Joe decides to sleep in a bathtub when Tessa refuses to sleep with him. Naturally, a fair amount of the humour lies with Matthaus' deft, offbeat performance. The judge is not one to be messed with, but at the same time he does take a fatherly interest in this young newcomer to his town. (This, despite the fact that Matthau was only a few years older than Murphy in real life.) Murphy is quite engaging himself, creating a character who is sometimes on edge (instinctively flinching when people say the word "maybe") and out of his depth. Scala and briefly-seen Joanna Moore add plenty of feistiness and sex appeal; Scala has some good chemistry with Murphy as they do a fair bit of bickering and bantering. Silva is great value as always. As the viewer will see, Sam Teeler is an unscrupulous, lying weasel. Child actor Eddie Little is appealing as an impressionable boy named Jimmy, who begins to look up to Joe. Familiar character actors like Mort Mills, Leo Gordon, Bill Walker, and Richard H. Cutting fill out supporting roles quite well. Bob Steele and Morgan Woodward have uncredited bits.

All in all, "Ride a Crooked Trail" is pure fun for fans of the genre, complete with the time-honoured premise of the potential redemption of a person who's had no breaks in life and a criminal past. It begins with an action scene, and gives plenty to amuse and delight the viewer before wrapping up quite pleasantly.

Seven out of 10.

For a modestly budgeted, unambitious horse opera, this is as good as it gets. Audie Murphy's Western vehicles of the 50s don't command the respect of Randolph Scott's or Joel McCrea's, but they are just as entertaining. A few of them ("No Name On The Bullet," "Posse From Hell") have an unusual edge that makes them noteworthy, but this one simply transcends its limitations to be a damned good entertainment. Walter Matthau steals every scene he's in as an alcoholic judge, while Murphy's subtly nervous performance as the would-be outlaw pretending he's a respected lawman may remind one of David Janssen as TV's "The Fugitive." Audie reportedly was uncomfortable with romantic scenes, but here he handles some innuendo-laden dialogue with Gia Scala quite nicely. Henry Silva and Mort Mills provide some surprisingly restrained (for this sort of thing) villainy. The premise (good-at-heart outlaw is reformed by wearing a badge) was old hat, but the execution is great! Set your expectations for a medium budgeted Western with no pretensions, and you won't be disappointed. You may even be pleasantly surprised.

i really enjoyed this western as i always liked audie murphy westerns. also a great performance by walter matthau as the crusty old judge. also gia scala is great as the bad girl with a big heart

i wish they would show this, other audie murphy movies and all the 50's westerns

from universal-international on tcm. also what do we have to do to get these great old western from universal on DVD? "ride a crooked trail" rates up there with me with "the cimmaron kid" "night passage" "the duel at silver creek" and the "unforgiven" as audie's great westerns. they put out old black & white westerns from the 30's and 40's from other studios but why don't they put universal's great color westerns from the 50's out on DVD

This was a good Westrn, pretty much of a formula Western of Hollywood from 1950 to 1990, in which the hero begins as a bad guy. One wonders if a Western hero could ever have started out good to be a Hollywood hero. The answer is "no". Murphy plays an outlaw who assumes the identity of a lawman whom he sees fall off a cliff. He becomes a celebrity in a town where the law in a roguish judge played by Walter Mattheau. The movie is more of a showcase for him than anything, and he does brilliantly. People who know who Audie Murphy really is show up with ulterior motives, and Murphy finds himself in the middle. No doubt, most people will find the main character's part a bit formula, but likewise, most people will enjoy Mattheau very much. A lot of likable aspects to this story. Not packed with gunplay, but there are several guns going off. Enough action to keep 98% of the audience interested. Lots to like.

Ride a Crooked Trail is directed by Jesse Hibbs and adapted to screenplay by Borden Chase from a story written by George Bruce. It stars Audie Murphy, Walter Matthau, Gia Scala, Leo Gordon, Henry Silva and Eddie Little. A CinemaScope/Eastman Color production, music is by Joseph Gershenson and cinematography by Harold Lipstein.

A blend of the breezy and the beefy here as Audie saddles up as Joe Maybe, a bank robber who after assuming the identity of the detective who was sent to capture him, winds up as the sheriff of a corrupt town. Ironically it's the town he and his dastardly cohorts had planned for their next big robbery. But as Joe insinuates himself into the company of the town's better citizens, he begins to doubt his dark side.

It's pretty routine as per the bad man trying to turn good axis of Western movie plotting, but there's a good sense of fun running throughout. Murphy himself seems to really be enjoying himself in the role of Joe Maybe. Leading the front of frivolity is Matthau as the town judge, his capacity for alcohol is as legendary as his ability to find a quip or sarcasm in the most trying of situations. Many of the scenes shared between the two men are most funny, be it hangovers, court room shenanigans or generally sounding each other out, they make for a great pair of characters.

Of course all this good fun has to ease off for the plot to take its darker turn. Which brings in the villains and the action scenes just as Joe's conscience starts to gnaw away at him. Costuming is appealing, especially when modelled by Scala, Gershenson provides another one of his lively Western musical scores and Lipstein's Scope photography makes good use of the gorgeous scenery. It's a bit creaky in parts and Hibbs sometimes lets the pace sag, but this is good entertainment for Audie and Matthau fans. 7/10