L'étoile brisée

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 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.

.....when I look at Audie Murphy's filmography ;apart from Huston ,Siegel and Mankiewicz,it's mostly B movies .That does not mean they were not good;this actor sometimes got excellent screenplays:"no name on the bullet" is a good example.

Like "hell bent for leather","ride on a crooked trail" -which perfectly depicts the hero's life till...-is a case of mistaken identity.The story may seem trite ,but the characters are colorful and there's more humor than in the average western.

Walter Matthau as the grumpy kind-hearted judge accentuates the comedy side of the film.Henry Silva restores the balance .

In his movies ,boyish Murphy had always had a bizarre Relationship with women (in one of his roles,he's alone in a fort and he's got to teach them the soldier job):here he sleeps in the bathtub and cooks breakfast for his "wife " Gia Scala (the future traitor in "guns of Navarone" ).There's actually a good chemistry between the two stars who must pretend they are husband and wife ,which gives good lines when Murphy says that "this bank is almost his" and his companion,very interested in the place too,has to be involved in women's club ,which is not her cup of tea (in both senses of the term).

Even more interesting is the friendship between Murphy and the little brat ;both are waifs ,raised in bars ,and if the judge considers his marshal a little as his adoptive son,the cute Jimmy feels that he might find a family too .Anyway,both the judge and the kid ,who leaves the house he 'd like to call home,guess there's something wrong: two married persons share the same bedroom and the same bed ,every kid knows that.

Jimmy is a strong kid who knows what he wants : we see him study - which is very rare in westerns-,and finally he plays a prominent part in Maybe's redemption.

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...

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.