Tonight's Movie: Ride a Crooked Trail (1958) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

RIDE A CROOKED TRAIL (1958) is another winner in the new Audie Murphy Collection from Kino Lorber.

This Blu-ray set, releasing this week, also includes the previously reviewed THE DUEL AT SILVER CREEK (1952) and NO NAME ON THE BULLET (1959), which I'll be reviewing at a future date.

RIDE A CROOKED TRAIL is a really well-done film, written by top Western writer Borden Chase (RED RIVER and BEND OF THE RIVER), based on a story by George Bruce.

Audie plays Joe Maybe, who as the movie opens is a bank robber on the run from the law.  Joe's horse is shot out from under him, but when the marshal following him dies in an accidental fall, Joe rides the man's horse into the nearest town.

Through a series of circumstances, Joe is mistaken for the man who died, Marshal Noonan, and Judge Kyle (Walter Matthau) immediately hires him to keep order in the town.  The gunman turned lawman was a familiar Western theme around this time, including THE BADGE OF MARSHAL BRENNAN (1957) and FOUR FAST GUNS (1960), but like the other films, RIDE A CROOKED TRAIL gives the story a very original spin.

Joe's old flame Tessa (Gia Scala) shows up in town; she's now the girlfriend of bank robber Sam Teeler (Henry Silva), who's on his way to the town as well, but she finds herself posing as "Mrs. Noonan," the marshal's wife.  Before long Joe and Tessa have also taken in the Judge's young ward, an orphan named Jimmy (Eddie Little), not to mention his dog.  And though they're slow to admit it, both Joe and Tessa find they like being thought of as nice people in a nice town, with a family.

Would-be robbers coming to prefer their "cover" over a life of crime is another familiar tale, at least as far back as LARCENY, INC. (1942) and as recently as the previous year's THE BIG CAPER (1957) with Rory Calhoun.

In this case I found the story particularly heartwarming, as Joe recognizes himself in young Jimmy and realizes that if he'd had someone to take an interest in him, as the judge has done with Jimmy, perhaps his life would have gone another direction. And with Jimmy now looking up to him along with the judge, perhaps it's not too late.

Murphy is just terrific in this, regularly trading quips with Matthau and Scala but then having a quiet, painful talk one evening with Jimmy in which he opens up and shares his story.

As with so many of Murphy's movies, it's a well-constructed film which includes a key performance by an excellent supporting actor, in this case Matthau. Some writers give Murphy's best costars, such as Matthau, Dan Duryea, or Barry Sullivan, credit for carrying his films, but I don't see it quite that way; it's a real partnership, with Murphy and each actor drawing out the best in the other.  

Matthau's wonderful as the wily judge, whose hard drinking doesn't interfere with him being an ace with a gun, but he wouldn't be nearly as good without Murphy and his laconic line readings to play against.  The evolution of their relationship over the course of the movie is probably the best thing about the film.

Scala is excellent as the fiery Tessa, who finds herself falling for not just Joe but young Jimmy; she and Murphy have a good "fire and ice" chemistry, with Murphy dealing with her temper tantrums with some amusement.

Among the supporting cast I especially like Mary Field as the banker's wife; she's become a favorite character actress I always enjoy seeing. Field had a particular chance to shine in Universal Westerns such as this and FOUR GUNS TO THE BORDER (1954), in which she played a nervy, gun-toting dressmaker.

RIDE A CROOKED TRAIL is a very solid Western which has a little bit of everything, including well-staged action scenes, humor, suspense, and family drama.  I see the film as having a lot of what I call "rewatch value" and will be returning to it in the future along with the other two films in the set.

RIDE A CROOKED TRAIL runs 88 minutes.  It was directed by Jesse Hibbs, who also headed another of Murphy's very best films, RIDE CLEAR OF DIABLO (1954).  It was filmed by Harold Lipstein.

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray is an excellent print of this CinemaScope picture, including a strong soundtrack.

Extras include a commentary track by Toby Roan; the trailer; and two additional trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.