weezeralfalfa
A standard western, in which Don Murray plays Tod, who is wandering around looking for his long lost father, who abandoned him and his mother. He has recently gotten into trouble with local cattle baron Hunter Boyd(R.G. Armstrong), being blamed for killing his son Shorty. Tod claims that Shorty fell on his own knife. Apparently, they were fighting over something, we are never told what.Hunter and a posse of some of his hands plus his 2 remaining sons have been trailing Tod, who has stopped at a stream to check on his horse's leg. Hunter decides to stampede a herd of wild horses toward Tod. But this backfires, when Tod shoots his rife in the air several times, making them turn around and stampede toward Hunter's bunch. Another of Hunter's sons: Otis(Ken Scott)is badly injured, maybe fatally, trampled by the horses. A little later, Tod faces another brother: Tom, alone. Tod gets the drop on Tom, and tells him how the death of Shorty happened. Tom doesn't particularly believe it. Tod tells Tom to get on his horse and vamoose. Very strangely, Tod didn't take Tom's gun, so Tom shoots Tod's horse before leaving. Tod has to walk over rocky and flat desert to who knows where. Fortunately, he comes upon an elderly man(Chill Wills, as Amos Bradley) and his adopted daughter Juanita(Diane Varsi), by a stream with a hot spring nearby. Surprisingly, they quickly warm up to Tod, although Tod and Juanita have a humorous argument about taking a bath in the hot springs or stream. When Tod refers to her as a lady, she denies being such. She presents herself as an all around cowgirl: the equal of any man. Later, while Tod is sleeping, she sneaks over and kisses him, before quickly disappearing under her blanket...Just then, Hunter shows up with his gang, with an extra horse, saying Boyds don't shoot men's horses. Then, Hunter gives him 4 hours to clear out of this area. before they come looking for him. Tod has a gun battle in the rocks with one of Hunter's men, then encounters a grizzled trader(Jay Flippen, as Jake), who invites him to ride inside his wagon, after hearing his story. Pretty soon, a couple of Hunter's men are trailing behind, then hostile Comanche show up. We have a three way gunfight, while on the run. Tod stops at several other places, looking for his father. Eventually, he happens on the Bradley's house, and is invited in for dinner. Juanita had told her father about her feeling for Tod, thus the idea is to have them get to know one another better. After beating around the bush for a while, they have a couple of impressive kisses. Amos suggests Tod might like to stay on and help run the ranch. Tod accepts provisionally, but says he has to keep running from Hunter's bunch in the meanwhile.... I leave the final portion for you to see. The film is currently on YouTube.Anyone familiar with the Alabama Hills, used extensively in westerns and adventure films, will recognize them and the Sierras in the background, for part of the film. Other parts were filmed in Death Valley. The segment with the hot spring and stream was filmed in Inyo National Forest, near Mammoth Hot Springs. The central cat and mouse game between Hunter's bunch and Tod doesn't make much sense to me. Sometimes they desperately want to kill him. At other times, they just want to talk, like a cat playing with a mouse before eating it. Diane Varsi, as Juanita, and Don Murray, as Tod, seem to have difficulty expressing their attraction verbally. Diane lacks one ounce of the natural charisma of Margo, who plays her mother, with gusto. It's the standard formula: boy meets girl, girl hates boy initially, girl gradually warms up to boy, girl madly in love with boy.It's usually a treat to have Chill Wills and Jay Flippen play major secondary characters, and this film is no exception.
dbdumonteil
Henry Hathaway's westerns are more ambitious than simple action films,their high moral standards favorably compare to those of John Ford ,Henry King or Delmer Dames.At first sight,"from hell to Texas " seems a plea against violence ,but it's not only that.Although a sharpshooter ,Don Murray's character is nothing more than a child who is clueless.The scenes by the river are revealing:he's a shy prudish lad ,whose only guide is his bible and his mother's photograph .In fact,he's desperately searching for a father.On his way,he will meet two older,wiser men for whom he's only a kid . It's really amazing how much these characters feel the hero's weakness and how they want to protect him.Another father is his fiercest enemy because this man thinks he's responsible for his son's death.The screenplay smartly avoids the events that led to the chase.On one hand,a young man trying to find a place he can call home (you do not like solitude,don't you,he says to a horse ),on another a blind father who destroys his family because of a false revenge.The rebuilding of a family,with ,in parallel ,the nearly destruction of another one.
Wilbur-10
Despite the directorial reins of Hathaway, there is nothing on show here to lift 'From Hell to Texas' above the multitude of Western fodder released in the 1950's. Murray plays a young man who is on the run from the Boyd family who think that he murdered one of their brothers. On the way he runs into the kindly father-figure of Amos Bradley and his fiery daughter, Juanita, who take him under their wing.The main character of Tod Lohman isn't particularly interesting - he has a bible in his backpack so we know he's really a good kid - and he is developed along the lines of a Billy the Kid-type misunderstood youth who only needs a bit of parental care to become a model citizen.
By midway the film has played all of its cards and can only manage a low pair, as the story wanders towards a conclusion which offers no surprises. A stagecoach chase (complete with jumping from horse to horse in true Yakima Canutt style) and an Indian attack are added in an attempt to add some spice to what the producers must have realised was a pretty dull affair. When even Dennis Hopper comes across as square you know you're not in for an edge of your seat ride. A film of interest to anyone studying Western themes and trends, but for the mainstream fan this is inoffensive but very forgettable.
