Ride a Crooked Trail (1958)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Truly Dreadful Film

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

In Ride A Crooked Trail a young fugitive Audie Murphy is forced to assume the identity of a famous US Marshal when he's seen with a broken badge that this marshal was known to wear. The marshal was killed on the trail, but Murphy had no hand in that.This film is a treat for fans of Walter Matthau who plays a Roy Bean like judge who enforces his decisions with a shotgun that he wields to deadly effect. Being fast on the draw does nobody any good with Matthau having it out and ready to splatter an entire saloon full of outlaws.But Murphy goes along as it fits into his plans to rob the town bank at an opportune moment. Gia Scala an entertainer from New Orleans and her outlaw boyfriend Henry Silva may spoil things. But Murphy has plans for both of them.This is a decent enough Audie Murphy western, but Walter Matthau as the judge really makes this one special. Matthau did all kinds of roles before he became a star after the Oscar he received for The Fortune Cookie, some serious, some comic, some good guys, some bad. Here like Roy Bean he's the symbol for law and order in his part of the frontier, but like Roy Bean he makes it up as he goes along.Audie's fans will like Ride A Crooked Trail, but for fans of Walter Matthau here's a chance to discover one of his more neglected performances.

the cast makes difference in this case. the story, the end, the little tricks are old ingredients of genre. and performance, it can be only correct because it represents only part of machine. so,for not to be another western, this film search be a different game. the nice Audie Murphy gives all necessary nuances to his bad guy with good soul, Eddie Little represents ideal spice for a story of masks, using the Puck place and remembers from Lassie, but the key of film are Gia Scala in a splendid role and , sure, Walter Mathau.and this is the secret of this little film - the balance between humor and drama, the expected events in soft package. in same measure, good occasion to remember the "roots" of Henry Silva.

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 hearti wish they would show this, other audie murphy movies and all the 50's westernsfrom 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

I would have to say, walter matthau in this early supporting performance was truly a stage presence to have in a film like this. This movie being one that shows the lines and decisions that a born tough guy must make to decide whats really whats truly dear to him. Sort of a shadow to Audie Murphy's character was the young boy, who grew up also in a saloon, but never stood a chance to grow up straight until a man, such as himself took a stand against injustice and only then, was the young boy cured of the sins he was born into...Excellent choice if you want to know what moral 50's Hollywood wanted to put out there.Ritchie Fontaine