I've seen and reviewed over two dozen Audie Murphy movies here on IMDb, almost all of them Westerns, and they generally range from pretty good to run of the mill. This one falls just shy of cracking the top third tier, but I have to say, there were a lot of things in the story that just didn't make sense to me. The main one was the motivation of the deranged marshal Harry Deckett (Stephen McNally) in his pursuit of Clay Santell (Murphy). He was so over the top in trying to hunt down and kill an innocent man that it made me wonder how he ever got to be a lawman in the first place. OK, late in the story it was posited that this was his one chance for glory by bringing in a notorious outlaw, but he was just as determined to kill Janet Gifford (Felicia Farr) as part of the bargain if she got in the way.

Then there was the relationship between Santell and Janet. There was that close call at the Gifford farmhouse when the town posse just missed him, but Miss Gifford had the opportunity to blow the whistle at a time when Clay had just snuck into the house and could have been a real threat; she just didn't know. Clay proceeded to treat her pretty harshly by making her a virtual kidnap victim, leading the inept town citizens on a buckboard chase through the desert. That was actually a pretty dumb move on Santell's part, the men pursuing him were still close by and it didn't take much for them to see the pair try to make a getaway.

And what's with the brother trio led by the injured bully Ambrose (Robert Middleton)? After terrorizing Clay and Janet in the mountain cabin, Ambrose wound up taking heat for the couple when Deckett arrived even though he had no motivation to do so, getting slapped around while brothers Shad and Grover hung around doing nothing. It would have been just as easy to say 'they went thataway' and no one would have been any the wiser. I didn't get that scene at all.

And here's a good one. After paying forty dollars to Ambrose for one horse, Clay jumps the other two brothers to make his getaway after they steal his gold pouch. But later, on the trail to Paradise, they have only the one horse Janet is riding on. What happened there?

Well most of the other reviews for the picture here are generally favorable, and I don't have a problem with that. I like Audie Murphy, but most of his films weren't written for mensa candidates, and this one is a pretty good example. What did get my attention in the story was a very minor occurrence at the hotel bar in Paradise when a customer came in and ordered some 'scamper juice'. That sounds just like what I could have used while watching the movie.

In Hell Bent For Leather Audie Murphy has the misfortune of running into Jan Merlin on the trail who robs him of his horse. Merlin is a man on the run and known to carry a distinctive shotgun as his weapon of choice. Murphy wounds Merlin fleeing and Merlin drops said shotgun with some fancy carving on the stock.

Which is enough to give the townspeople the idea he's Merlin. That's further reinforced by Stephen McNally who represents the law on Merlin's trail.

But McNally is tired of chasing Merlin. Since he is the only one who really knows Merlin and he's tired of chasing him, McNally is willing to take credit using Murphy, preferably dead and get credit for stopping the outlaw killer.

Hell Bent For Leather is a lot like another classic western where McNally is the pursued instead of the pursuer Winchester 73. This film is tightly edited and the tale well told, not a minute of footage is wasted. Note also good performances from Felicia Farr as the woman who by circumstance becomes Murphy's hostage and then ally. And another from Robert Middleton as an old outlaw, not the most noble of characters but one with his own ethics.

This one is a must for Audie Murphy's fans.

Audie Murphy is a horse trader. He wanders into town on his latest assignment, where Marshall Stephen McNally accuses him him of being a dangerous criminal. At first Murphy thinks it's a gag to get him out of town before the townfolk can hang him, but it turns out that McNally is a glory hound who intends toshoot Murphy and take the credit.

McNally tries to steal the movie with his sweating lunatic, but Murphy's low-key approach ande the approval of Felicia Farr ake the cake. Director George Sherman does his usual competent job, and cinematographer Clifford Stine shoots the Alabama Hills so they are instantly recognizable, and beautiful in a new way. It's a standard psychological western, but very well done.