The Burning Hills (1956)

The Age of Commercialism

Good start, but then it gets ruined

An Exercise In Nonsense

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

I wouldn't have bet on Tab Hunter involved in one of the better Western movie brawls to come along, but surprisingly, he's got two to his credit here in the latter part of the story. He goes hell bent for leather against Earl Holliman in a rousing battle in the barn at the Old Sampson place, and not long after has a decent tussle with Skip Homeier in which both fall off a cliff ledge into a river below. OK, I know it was their stunt doubles doing the heavy lifting, but they were the principals, so you have to give 'em credit for the close up work.Not only that, but Trace Jordan (Hunter) was also clairvoyant in the picture as well. When the Sutton posse makes it's way to Maria Colton's (Natalie Wood) place, foreman Ben Hindeman (Claude Akins) sends one of his henchmen out to locate a tracker by the name of Lantz (Eduard Franz). Later in the story, Jordan makes reference to Lantz tracking him, but how would he have known that? He wasn't at the Colton place to hear what the foreman said.Ah well, not to worry about that too much. Hunter and Wood make for an engaging screen couple for the teen crowd, though I don't know how many teenagers would have been Western fans in the fifties. I guess if you were a fan of the principals you might show up. Both stars looked good on screen, with Hunter doing a beefcake scene when Maria patched up his bullet wound. For her part, Wood showed some leg when Hunter's character needed her petticoat to make camouflage boots for their horses. That's something I hadn't seen before; it sounded logical enough but not that practical. Tracker Lantz figured out the ruse, but how did he know it was a petticoat? An old, cut up blanket might have worked just as well.

The Burning Hills is directed by Stuart Heisler and adapted by Irvin A. Wallace from the novel written by Louis L'Amour. It stars Tab Hunter, Natalie Wood, Skip Homeier, Eduard Franz, Earl Holliman, Claude Akins & Ray Teal. It's a CinemaScope/Warnercolor production, with Ted McCord photographing primarily out of the Warner Ranch at Calabasas, California, and David Buttolph scores the music. Plot sees Hunter as Trace Jordan, who after finding his brother murdered seeks revenge on the killers. He is aided in his quest by Maria (Wood), a half-breed Mexican girl who has her own agenda to fulfill.Stock formula Oater that puts two attractive young actors at the front in the hope that that will be enough to see it home. OK, maybe that's being a touch harsh since the film does have some moments to make a viewing worthwhile, notably McCord's use of "Scope" and Heisler's more than competent construction of action sequences. But there's so much turgid filler in between the good points it just comes across as a movie made to promote Hunter and Wood. Which would have been OK if they wasn't outshone by pretty much the whole supporting cast! There in is the major issue with The Burning Hills, one look at Ray Teal's gang sees fine character actors Holliman and Akins wasted, while I would defy anyone to argue that Homeier would not have given a better performance than that of the blankly wooden Hunter in the lead role. Clearly it's an aesthetic decision by Richard Whorf and the Warner Bros people.However, if able to forgive the "tween" like romance that hangs heavy on proceedings? Then it's a film for genre fans to pass the time away with. The revenge core in the narrative stays true, and the finale raises the temperature for all the right reasons, where, Heisler makes good use of the water based set-up. Look out too for the unsung work of the stunt men, with one particular moment showing how they suffer for their art. The Warnercolor is sadly a bit lifeless on this occasion, but the print of the film that exists is hardly one to write home about, while Buttolph's score is pretty much standard rank and file for a bottom rung "B" Western feature.Recommended to Western fans? Only if it happens to be on the TV and they appreciate Messrs Homeier, Holliman & Akins. 4/10

As his nicely self-depreciating autobiography suggests Tab Hunter was a slightly more complex and perhaps a somewhat less malleable young actor than maybe his studio would have liked him to be. For starters he was gay and was, to all accounts, comfortable with it, determined to have a private life as well as a public one. He was an early victim of the gossip columnists but he learned to live with it and if he never became a star of the first rank, was seldom out of work.This formulaic western was designed as a vehicle for him and his attractive persona is one reason why it is so watchable. There is nothing particularly original about it and it may come as something of a surprise that it was written by Irving Wallace from a novel by Louis L'Amour. Hunter is the young rancher looking to revenge the murder of his brother, (by dastardly Skip Homeier who likes shooting men in the back). Other villains include Claude Akins and Earl Holliman and the romantic interest is provided by an inadequate but young Natalie Wood. Hunter and Ted McCord's cinema-scope photography ensure it is always easy on the eye.

Probably who saw this western in the fifties, would think of it as above average, in great Cinemascope and not with the typical western actors for the main roles. Tab Hunter would usually be in a western in a supporting role and Natalie Wood, besides "The Searchers" where she was still a child, did not make any westerns that I know about. But both of them came out well, and Natalie as Maria gives us a preview of the famous Maria she would be in "West Side Story". The supporting cast is great, Skip Homeyer, Claude Atkins and Earl Holliman. If you like action scenes, shootouts and fist fights, here you will have plenty. Tab is Trace Jordan who sets up to find the killers of his brother who branded his cattle with JJ. He ends up shooting the big boss Sutton (Ray Teal) in self defense and wounded, has to run away to the hills where he is found by Maria (Natalie). Louis L'Amour wrote a lot of westerns, they are all good entertainment and so is this film. It makes you miss the good old days when there plenty of westerns at the movies.