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RIDE A CROOKED TRAIL is an Audie Murphy western distinguished by good writing and a flamboyant early role for Walter Matthau as a silver-haired, hard-drinking, shotgun-toting judge in a growing river town. It has surprisingly little action for a Murphy western, but it's consistently engaging thanks to a group of interesting, well-etched characters, a strong cast, some welcome humor, and a script by western veteran Borden Chase (WINCHESTER '73, BEND OF THE RIVER, THE FAR COUNTRY, BACKLASH, etc.).

Murphy was always at his best when surrounded by solid co-stars and here he's got Matthau as a persistent father figure; Gia Scala as a femme fatale ripe for reform; and Henry Silva as an outlaw gang leader. Murphy plays a wanted outlaw himself who is mistaken by Matthau for a missing marshal (who'd fallen off a cliff while pursuing Murphy) and soon has to assume the functions of the marshal's office in order to keep up the charade and escape detection. When Scala gets off the riverboat from New Orleans, she recognizes Murphy and calls him by his real name, "Maybe," forcing Murphy to cover up by telling Matthau Scala is his wife. But Scala is there to case the town's bank for Silva, so she has to act the respectable lady for a few days till Silva and company come to town. Both she and, later, Silva expect Murphy to help with the bank job. After a while, Matthau starts to get suspicious, even as Murphy begins to grow comfortable in the marshal's job. Added to the mix are a precocious orphan boy (Eddie Little) and a dog who, true to form, gradually tug at Audie's and Gia's heartstrings.

Murphy seems more relaxed here than usual. Perhaps he was grateful for the opportunity to turn the more attention-getting dramatics over to Matthau. Murphy also has good chemistry with Scala, who is quite attractive and confident here in a way that looks forward to Isabella Rossellini (who played a similar role in Lawrence Kasdan's WYATT EARP, 1994, with Kevin Costner).

Joanna Moore (mother of Tatum O'Neal) makes an attractive saloon girl. Mort Mills has a small, vivid part as one of Silva's gang and his appearance will be enjoyed by those who recall him as Charlton Heston's sympathetic colleague in TOUCH OF EVIL the same year and as the highway patrolman who stops Janet Leigh in PSYCHO.

Most of the film was shot in a western town set on the Universal Pictures backlot, although a few chase-and-cattle scenes take place on location late in the film. It's a relatively light-hearted film for screenwriter Chase, who wrote or co-wrote so many harder-edged westerns, but it turns out to be among the best of the roughly two dozen westerns Murphy made at Universal.

This director, who worked frequently with Audie Murphy, and not only for westerns, has never reunited such a cast: Wally Matthau, Audie Murphy, Henry Silva. This is an above average Audie Murphy vehicle, despite some humor touches, but that doesn't smash the story. It may look like a comedy oriented western, from time to time, but the presence of villians such as Hank Silva finally saves the whole. WALK THE PROUD LAND, another Audie Murphy costarring a then young Anne Bancroft was powerful, maybe more than this one. Great production design, care in the amosphere and overall directing obviously delightful.

This is quite a good, light-hearted little western featuring Audie Murphy as an escaping bank robber who arrives in a town only to be mistaken by the local judge - a feisty Walter Matthau - for a likely candidate for sheriff. When Gia Scala - Murphy's old flame gets off the river boat she almost lands him it, so to avoid discovery he claims that they are married so as he can carry out his own nefarious plans. When her real beau and his gang arrive in town things all start to get a bit complicated... It's an entertaining hour and a half; with a good rapport between all three principals and Eddie Little as the young "Jimmy". It's got an half decent script and some good action thrown in too. The ending is a bit poor, but I suppose it was inevitable...

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

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.