Hell Bent for Leather (original title) is a nice Western providing the screenplay allowed him to keep them thrilling at his own moving and relentless gallop . It contains attractive and charming images that , in the eyes of connoisseurs makes one of the most enjoyable of his kind . When Clay Santell (Audie Murphy) stops in the town of Sutterville after having his horse robbed , he is mistaken by townsfolks for a murderous named Travers (Jan Merlin) . The townspeople take Santell, and turn him over to allegedly marshal Harry Deckett (Stephen McNally) . Deckett, who is really tired of inexorable chasing the real Travers, taking care of him . Santell getaways from Deckett who pulls off an implacable hunt . Later on , Clay takes the beautiful Janet Gifford (Felicia Farr) hostage in the process. Janet comes to believe Santell's story , and supports him in his fight to demonstrate his innocence . Along the way Clay attempts to prove his actual identity , that's why he tries to clear his name by find out the real culprit and catching him . Target For Terror!
This exciting Western packs thrills , noisy action , spectacular struggles and lots of gutsy adventure . Brawling , sprawling , almost primitive action in which our protagonist is forced to go on the run , teeming across the screen by means of escapes , attacks , rescues , and ambushes .The picture contains whirlwinds of manic action , fights , sustained energy and often commendable results . The film has a slickness and crude vigour , including impressive outdoors with rocky mountains stunningly photographed by cameraman Clifford Stine . This is a distinctive Western saga with a special look at Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California and other countryside landscapes . Features impressive as well as spectacular crossfire scenes punctuated with great action sequences .This is a stirring story about an agreeable couple and their fight for innocence as well as freedom and director takes a fine penned script by Christopher Knopf creating an agreeable tale that is far from ordinary , exploring the anguish and desperation of an innocent man and villany of the pursuers . Audie Murphy delivers a fine acting as an innocent passer-by who mistaken for a killer outlaw is relentlessly chased . Murphy won more tan 20 medals , being the most decorated American soldier , including the Congressional Medal of Honor and he was also awarded five decorations by France and Belgium . He starred a rendition on his own self-biography titled ¨To Hell and back¨ that was an acceptable picture based on actual events about Audie Murphy who played himself following his Army career in WWII , being professionally directed by Jesse Hibbs and it was a box-office hit for Universal Pictures and its record was apparently not broken until Jaws (1975). Murphy starred a great number of Westerns as ¨The kid from Texas¨, ¨Cimarron Kid¨, ¨Gunpoint¨, ¨Night Passage¨, ¨The Gunrunners¨, ¨Posse from Hell¨, ¨Gunfight at Comanche¨, ¨Rifles Apaches¨, ¨The Unforgiven¨, ¨Red badge of courage¨, ¨Legend of Sam Ward¨, ¨Whispering Smith¨, ¨40 Guns at Apache pass¨ , ¨Texas kid¨ , among others . Being usually directed by Jesse Hibbs who directed various Audie Murphy vehicles such as : this ¨To hell and Back¨ (1955) , ¨World in My Corner¨ (1956) , ¨Ride a Crooked Trail¨ (1958) , ¨Medal of Honor¨ and ¨To Hell and Back¨. He is well accompanied by the woman-star who results to be the lovely Felicia Farr , at the time married Jack Lemmon . Co-starred by Stephen McNally as a nasty lawman who decides to murder Santell and pass him off as Travers . Stephen McNally gives the best acting as a cruel and hysterical villain who carries out a merciless pursuit . Support cast is frankly nice , providing splendid interpretations , such as : Robert Middleton , James Westmoreland , Jan Merlin , Allan Lane , Bob Steele and the usual veteran John Qualen .
The motion picture produced by Gordon Kay/Universal International Pictures , was professionally directed by George Sherman in B-style . Sherman demonstrates a special talent for making the densest action sequences seem uncomplicated and uncluttered and his characters , like the scenes distinguished , often have an unfettered , raw power . Sherman made reliable low-budget fare for Columbia between 1945-48, then moved on to do the same at Universal for another eight years , where he directed this ¨War Arrow¨ . Sherman specialized almost exclusively in "B" westerns there , including the "Three Musketeers" series, which featured a young John Wayne. George directed lots of Westerns as ¨The Last of the Fast Guns¨ , ¨The Lone Hand¨, ¨Santa Fe stampede¨ , ¨Red skin¨ , ¨Chief Crazy Horse¨ ¨Calamity Jane¨, ¨Relentless¨ , ¨Comanche Territory¨ , ¨Dawn at Socorro¨, ¨Border River¨ and many others . He also made occasional forays into action and horror themes, often achieving a sense of style over substance . The only "A"-grade films to his credit were two westerns starring John Wayne: ¨Comancheros¨ (1961) (as producer) and ¨The big Jack¨ (1971) . His last films were realized in Spain as "Find That Girl" , ¨The new Cinderella¨ and ¨Joaquin Murrieta¨. Rating : 7/10 . Acceptable and above average Western . Well worth watching .
