Across the Sierras

Bill Elliott played Wild Bill Hickok in many westerns so much so that he was billed as Wild Bill Elliott in films like Across The Sierras. But anything that any of these films have to do with the real Hickok is purely coincidental. Across The Sierras is one of thousands of westerns that take a real historical character and write a fictional story around him.

In the case of Across The Sierras it's more like they took a western classic and adapted into this film. Any western fiction fan or film fan will spot elements of The Virginian in the plot of this B western.

Elliott as Hickok has a young friend in Richard Fiske whom he is pulling out of trouble and warns him he's flirting with death or prison should Fiske not mend his ways. After Fiske starts hanging out with an especially murderous outlaw in Dick Curtis, Elliott accidentally kills Fiske and goes through grievous remorse. At the urging of Luana Walters Elliott considers becoming a peaceable man for real and hanging up his guns. But when Curtis challenges Elliott there's only one answer for a cowboy hero.

Across The Sierras has a few more adult themes in this than the normal B western market that Elliott was appealing to at this time. It holds up pretty well today.

Mitch Carew is released from prison and returns to Arroyo intending to get revenge on "Wild Bill" Hickok and Dan Woodworth, who were responsible for his conviction six years earlier. Carew meets Woodworth on the street and cold-bloodily shoots him through the heart. Hickok, who has been away for some time, comes to town with plans to settle down, and learns of the killing and that his old friend, Larry Armstrong, has joined the outlaw's gang. Hickok rides to the gang's hideout, finds Larry alone but can not convince him to leave Carew. When Hickok rides away, Carew, hiding in ambush, takes a shot at him and hits his hat. Spinning around, Hickok sees Larry with a drawn gun, and fires at him, unaware of Carew's presence. He rides back and finds that his dead friend's gun has not been fired, and he throws Larry across his saddle, and escapes the outlaw's ambush. In town, his fiancée, Anne Woodworth denounces the "code of the west" and Hickok agrees to hang up his guns. Carew later rides into town and announces that he is looking for Hickok. The latter, following a bitter argument with Anne, feels he can not refuse to accept Carew's challenge, and straps on his guns and goes to meet Carew.

A quite good Bill Elliott western who as Wild Bill Hickok has a few dilemmas; trying to stop his friend going down the outlaw route and the other is falling for the beautiful Luana Walters who wants him to hang up his guns and not face the bad guy Carew. These elements instills some good drama, eschewing the juvenile strain evident in this 60 mins westerns. There's some good twists, and tense shootout finale.

Happily, this is not strictly a formula western despite the earmarks. Instead it's got some unexpected twists that might surprise the viewer. Plus, of course, Bill Elliott as Wild Bill Hickok, one of the few matinée heroes who could growl, and make you believe it. Then too, there's tubby Dub Taylor as fairly amusing comic relief, and the sculpted Luana Walters as eye candy.

Also, I can't help noticing that Richard Fiske, as the wayward Larry, was one of the few Hollywood actors k.i.a. during WWII. The industry should have commemorated these guys in some fashion.

Anyway, the screenplay contains a pretty good story, where Bill is trying to save Larry from the clutches of bad guy Carew. There may not be much hard riding, or fast shooting, or eye- catching scenery. But it maybe the only matinée where the knock-down drag-out fist fight is between two bad guys! All in all, however, the 60-minutes amounts to generally superior matinée fare.