The Saga of Hemp Brown

An army officer (Rory Calhoun) is blamed and is dishonourably discharged from the army wrongly after gold from a stagecoach is robbed. He goes after the man really responsible.

An indistinguishable low budget western that looks cheap, but fairly mature material.

The Saga of Hemp Brown is a satisfactory western with great characters, good visuals and the usual solid performance from Rory Calhoun.

But...

Rory has a mission to clear his name. Ok nothing wrong with that...unless the movie presents about 10 different ways that this could occur before reaching its conclusion?

It ends up giving you the feeling of 'what's the point'. The plot totally destroys what is otherwise a good presentation.

I can usually overlook plot holes but The Saga of Hemp Brown keeps smacking you over the head with them.

Its a real shame and this was allowed to happen and it feels like they pumped out a movie treating the audience with contempt :)

The Saga of Hemp Brown is directed by Richard Carlson and written by Bob Williams and Bernard Girard. It stars Rory Calhoun, Beverly Garland, John Larch, Russell Johnson, Fortunio Bonanova and Allan Lane. A CinemaScope/Eastman Color production, the music is by Joseph Gershenson and cinematography by Philip Lathrop.

Plot finds Calhoun as Hemp Brown, an army officer who loses the army payroll to a gang led by Jed Givens (Larch). Being the only survivor of the robbery and with no proof of what really happened - especially since Givens had a while back been reported as killed in action - he is dishonourably discharged from the army. With his good name in tatters and the odds stacked up against him, Brown sets about tracking Givens down.

Fascinating Oater this one, it's undone a touch due to the finale being a fizzle out damp squib, but still enough here for the genre fan to enjoy. The narrative contains some smart threads that lift it above average. The concept of Brown having his name severely tarnished by the army instead of putting him on trial for his life, and thus the whole country looks down on him, is improbable but a good plot device.

Better than that though, is the fact that both Brown and Givens need each other alive! Brown has to prove Givens is alive and well to prove his innocence, and will have to fight to keep his nemesis alive, while Givens needed Brown alive so he could take the blame for the robbery. Add in that Brown's only companions worth the name are a quirky travelling salesman (Bonanova) and his lovely assistant (Garland), then it's a nice frothy hot pot of plot ideas.

This could easily have been a boorish revenge piece, but there's a complexity about Brown's journey to redemption. Everyone and everything he believed in has gone sour, and yet he seeks not bloody vengeance, but justice so he can once again hold his head high in a society that was quick to shun him. The things he witnesses, such as a violent brother over protecting his sister, or a mob rule mentality late in the play, these stack up to paint the society Brown is ostracised from as hardly ideal! Remembering that he had already been cruelly misjudged by his army peers.

Not high on action quota, what we do get is well staged by Carlson, who had starred in enough lively scenes himself during his acting career. Calhoun is ever watchable, perfectly playing out Brown's various emotional beats with ease, while he also gets some sparky dialogue to deliver. Garland looks lovely and is costumed accordingly - especially when she's able to show off her glorious legs, and she finds tidy chemistry with her leading man. Larch is a wonderfully oily villain, but his big scene in the finale is a show of over acting, while Johnson as a hook handed criminal leaves a favourable mark.

Nicely photographed out of Conejo Valley, Thousand Oaks, Calif by Lathrop (though we yearn for more for sure), and a nifty foreboding based score by Gershenson (Herman Stein uncredited) seals the deal for this as good Oater viewing. Not one for those seeking wall to wall shoot outs etc, but one for those who like to see a narrative offering meaty substance. 7/10

Rory Calhoun is a disgraced army officer trying to track down the only man who can clear his name in this bland western with all the standard elements. It does feature the World's most inept lynch mob. So that's something, I suppose. Poor: [4/

U. S. cavalry officer, Hemp Brown (Rory Calhoun), runs into some serious trouble when the party of civilians and troops he's bringing to a nearby Army fort is ambushed. A woman is killed during the gunfight, and money is stolen by the bandits. The leader of the gang, Jed Givens (John Larch), is an acquaintance of Brown, who implicates the fugitive during the subsequent trial. But Brown is court-martialed and booted from the Army. Brown tracks down Givens to restore honor to his name.

From cavalry officer Rory Calhoun's character becomes an outcast, one who has been wronged, and searches for the key that will grant him readmission into society, and the only way he could do that is by capturing John Larch. Larch is excellent as the villain of the piece, coming across quite psychotic. Calhoun does equally well as the man desperately trying to clear his name of cowardice. Beverley Garland add some colour as well as offering advice to our hero: that revenge can be self-defeating nature of it all and how it ends up inflicting more harm on the seeker than anyone else.

This western does lack some action, but it's plot driven and you get absorbed into the story with enough things happening. When I first watched this I found it a tad boring in parts, but on second viewing I liked it more. The pace can be a bit lumbering and there's some lack of excitement - but it's still a decent western with strong themes and performances.