Sierra

Director: Alfred E. Green Alfred E. Green

Overview

Audie Murphy and Wanda Hendrix were husband and wife when they co-starred in the Technicolor western Sierra. Murphy plays Ring Hassard, the son of outlaw Jeff Hassard (Dean Jagger), who despite his dad's reputation is basically a good kid. Hendrix portrays Riley Martin, a lady lawyer who hopes to clear Ring's name -- and, eventually, to march him to the altar. The plot hinges on whether or not Ring's father is the ruthless desperado he's cracked up to be. The film's highlight is an extended wild-horse roundup sequence, which helps the audience forget Wanda Hendrix's miscasting as a female legal eagle. Sierra was based on a novel by Stuart Hardy.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/01/2014
UPC:	0025192097577
Original Release:	1950
Source:	ALLIED VAUGHN
Language:	English
Time:	1:23:00
Sales rank:	33,048

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Audie Murphy	Ring Hassard
Wanda Hendrix	Riley Martin
Burl Ives	Lonesome
Dean Jagger	Jeff Hassard
Richard Rober	Big Matt
Tony Curtis	Brent Coulter
Houseley Stevenson	Sam Coulter
Elliott Reid	Duke Lafferty
Griff Barnett	Dr. Robbins
Elisabeth Risdon	Aunt Susan,Aunt Susan
Roy Roberts	Sheriff Knudson
Gregg Martell	Hogan
Sara Allgood	Mrs. Jonas
Erskine Sanford	Judge Prentiss
John Doucette	Jed Coulter
James Arness	Little Sam
Ted Jordan	Jim Coulter
I. Stanford Jolley	Snake Willens
Jack Ingram	Al
Walter Scharf	Composer
Arnold Hughes	Composer

Technical Credits

Edna Anhalt

Milton Gunzberg

Alfred E. Green	Director
Michel Kraike	Producer,Producer
Edna Anhalt	Screenwriter
Milton Gunzberg	Screenwriter
Leslie Carey	Sound/Sound Designer
Glenn E. Anderson	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Universal-International reportedly created this Technicolor western to promote the real-life husband-and-wife team of Wanda Hendrix and Audie Murphy -- and in that order -- but the marriage had ended by the time the film premiered, an unfortunate turn of events that afforded contemporary reviewers plenty of opportunity to contemplate what effect, if any, the filming of what they considered a real turkey may have had on the union itself. With the diminutive Miss Hendrix all but forgotten, a modern viewer may approach Sierra with less presupposition but the western still isn't very good. For one thing, Hendrix, who looks and acts like a teenager, is hopelessly miscast as a lady lawyer, and the beautiful Kanab, UT, scenery is wasted on Edna Anhalt's less than inspired script. Sierra was based on Stuart Hardy's The Mountains are My Kingdom, filmed before, in 1938, as Forbidden Valley.

All Movie Guide - Hans J. Wollstein