Tonight's Movie: Tumbleweed (1953)

I've had the Audie Murphy Western TUMBLEWEED (1953) in my "watch" stack for quite some time now. I was inspired to get it out this week by my friend Kristina, who just saw it and was enthused. It delivered as promised, a nice solid Western.

Murphy plays Jim Harvey, who is guiding a wagon train for Seth (Ross Elliott) and Sarah (Madge Meredith) Blanden and Sarah's sister Laura (Lori Nelson), along with several men. When Indians attack the train, Jim tries to use the fact he'd saved the life of one of their tribesmen to negotiate, but he's held prisoner while most of the wagon train is massacred. Only the women survive by hiding among the rocks along with Sarah's baby.

Sarah doesn't believe Jim risked his life to try to help them, and her brother-in-law Lam (Russell Johnson) whips the townsfolk into a frenzy, inciting a lynch mob against Jim for dubious reasons. Only the calm sheriff (Chill Wills) is able to keep Jim alive.

Jim is later helped by the Indian (Eugene Iglesias) whose life he'd saved, along with a farm couple (Roy Roberts and K.T. Stevens) who also have faith in Jim. Meanwhile Laura must decide whether to fall into line with her sister and brother-in-law or trust in Jim, who must find a way to clear his name...

This is a compact 79-minute film which does a nice job telling its story in a brisk, entertaining fashion. The cast is quite enjoyable; in addition to the actors already named, the movie features Lee Van Cleef and I. Stanford Jolley as part of the sheriff's posse and Lyle Talbot as a townsman.

Part of the fun of a movie like this is enjoying the different spins on a familiar theme. I especially liked Roberts and Stevens (seen with Murphy above at left), who we learn have special reasons for wanting to help Jim. They provide him with a horse who's as smart as he is ugly, becoming an important ally for Jim.

The movie is as much a love story between man and horse as it is between Jim and Laura, who clearly love each other yet never manage to kiss before the final fadeout! Murphy is good, as always, as a somewhat tightly wound hero who must contend with a long line of life-threatening problems, and Nelson looks lovely in Technicolor.

The movie was directed by Nathan Juran and filmed by Russell Metty. The majority of the film was shot outdoors, with locations including Southern California's Vasquez Rocks and Red Rock Canyon, plus Death Valley further north.

Like too many Murphy Westerns, TUMBLEWEED has not been released on DVD in the United States. It's had a Region 2 release in Europe.