zardoz-13 "The Burning Hills" marked director Stuart Heisler's final big-screen western after the well-made Clayton Moore & Jay Silverheels "Lone Ranger" in 1956. Heisler helmed other oaters, such as "Dallas" with Gary Cooper, and they had worked together before that on the parody horse opera "Along Came Jones." The Susan Hayworth oil field drama "Tulsa" qualified more as a western owing to its setting, and Heisler had handled some uncredited chores on an even earlier Cooper epic "The Cowboy and the Lady," but it too was more contemporary. Heisler spent the 1950s and 1960s calling the shots on a variety of cowboy television series such as "Lawman," "Tales of Wells Fargo," "Gunsmoke," "The Dakotas," "Rawhide," and "The Virginian." Indeed, the Los Angeles native, who earns his spurs as a film editor, knew the difference between a stirrup and a pommel so his westerns were as authentic as the times allowed. Future bestselling author Irving Wallace adapted the Louis L'Amour novel "The Burning Hills," and this straightforward outdoors opus reunited Heisler with Tab Hunter, who had starred in "Island of Desire," as well as Natalie Wood, who had appeared in the 1952 Bette Davis soaper "The Star." "The Burning Hills" opens ominously as three gunslingers stroll stealthily into a man's camp and shoot him the back. The fellow they kill is Johnny Jordan, and Johnny's younger brother is not around when the murder takes place. Trace Jordan (Tab Hunter of "Battle Cry") rides back to discover his brother dead. The Mexican ranch hand and he examine the scene of the homicide and ferret out clues. They know three dastards came after Johnny. Trace notices that one walks with a limp, another wears heavy Mexican spurs, and the last chain smokes cheroots. Trace rides into Esperanza to report his brother's murder, but he finds the sheriff's office empty and in shambles. Eventually, he rides to the Sutton Ranch where he confronts the patriarch, Joe Sutton (Ray Teal of "Ace in the Hole"), who refuses to help him. Trace vows to visit the nearby U.S. Army installation Fort Stockwell and bring back blue-uniformed horsemen. Joe pulls a revolver out of his desk drawer, and they exchange gunfire. Trace wounds Sutton in the chest and escapes. Sutton's foreman Ben Hindeman (Claude Akins of "Rio Bravo") wounds Trace with a lone rifle shot as our hero is galloping away on horseback. Initially, Sutton's men cannot find him. Trace's horse lugs him to an abandoned mine shaft with a water hole. Trace falls off his pony and rolls near the waterhole. He blocks the stream with his inert body that nourishes the sheep at a small Mexican ranch below. Maria Cristina Colton (Natalie Wood of "Rebel Without A Cause") tends Trace's wounds and then conceals him from Sutton's men. Sutton's hot-tempered son, Jack Sutton (Skip Homeier of "The Gunfighter") and his foreman Hindeman assemble a search party. They acquire an expert tracker, Jacob Lantz (Eduard Franz of "Hatari") who can follow a trail anywhere through anything. They question Maria, and she fires at Jack but misses him. Narrowly, Trace and Maria manage to escape from Sutton's squad of six-gunners in the mine. Fortunately, the mind caves in before the bad guys can pursue our hero and heroineMaria has no love lost for the villainous Suttons. After all, the Suttons murdered her father. As a result, she is more than happy to help Trace. Sutton's worthless, no-account, son murders his own foreman when they lose track of the hero. Jack shoots Ben in the back in cold blood and assumes command of the rabble. He knows that if Trace ever reaches the army fort that his father and he are cooked. She slows down Jack and company by spiking their coffee with Jemison weed. Maria manages to find Trace, but the villains recover and follow her. Mort (Earl Holliman) has been drinking moonshine when he spots Maria leaving her ranch. He finds Trace and they have a knockdown, drag-out fight. Our hero and heroine escape from the bad guys a second time.Actually, there isn't much to "The Burning Hills." Heisler stages the action with suitable flare, particularly in the opening scene where Trace's brother is gunned down without a chance to defend himself. He should have kept his holstered revolver closer to him. He shows very little of Johnny's three murderers. Essentially, this is a small potatoes shoot'em up. Ray Teal and Skip Homeier make ideal villains and Tab Hunter is a standard-issue hero with the beautiful Natalie Wood along as a fiery heroine. David Buttolph provides an atmospheric orchestra score to heighten the tension and suspense.

Tweekums This western opens well enough; we see three men from the waste down as they sneak up on a fourth man, who is chopping wood, and shoot him in the back. The man's brother, Trace Jordon, looks at their tracks and sees from their footprints that one is lame and another wears fancy Mexican spurs, the third left a cigar butt. He follows them into town with the intention of seeing the sheriff; however his office has been destroyed. He soon learns that the men all work for Joe Sutton; the local major landowner who is trying to clear everybody else from the area so he owns the whole valley by the time it comes to register ownership. Trace confronts Sutton and in the ensuing gunfight Sutton is wounded. Trace rides off but is shot in the back. When he wakes up he finds his horse has carried him to the well of a local sheep farm. Here he is helped by Maria-Christina Colton, a woman whose father was murdered by Sutton. When the posse of Sutton's men arrives she claims to have no idea where Trace is. She drugs their coffee then escapes to meet up with Trace. From then on they struggle to keep ahead of the posse so they can get to the nearest army outpost and report the murder of Trace's brother.There are plenty of clichés in this minor example of the western genre; a brother seeking revenge, a woman who eventually falls for his charms and a gang of vicious thugs who will shoot a man in the back or force themselves on a woman given half a chance; the only ones in the group with any standards were the half-Indian tracker and their leader and the latter was shot in the back by Sutton's son fairly early into the pursuit. The acting was good enough; Natalie Wood was suitably feisty as Maria although I don't think her accent would fool any real Mexicans! Tab Hunter was a decent enough lead but Skip Homeier made more of his role as the unpleasant Jack Sutton. The action was decent and the final fight between Trace and Sutton looked genuinely painful at times; of course being made when it was the shootings look a little unbelievable; I'm sure even a minor wound would leave a bigger blood patch than we saw here! Overall it was a reasonable will that fans of the genre may like, it contains nothing to offend so is suitable for younger viewers who like a bit of action too.

wes-connors Soon after his brother has been shot to death, handsome Tab Hunter (as Trace Jordan) arrives in the western town of "Esperanza". Along with Mr. Hunter, we quickly learn the man responsible for murdering brother is young cigar-stomping Skip Homeier (as Jack Sutton). As it turns out, Mr. Homeier and his gang have run the sheriff out of town; they also shoot anyone who tries to stake a claim in the area. Hunter is advised to leave town immediately, but refuses. With his muscular frame and quick draw, Hunter easily infiltrates the Sutton ranch, to demand justice.Wounded in a shoot-out, Hunter barely escapes from the ranch. He collapses near the home of sexy sheepherder Natalie Wood (as Maria Colton). Taunted by the "Sutton Gang" due to her mixed heritage (English father, Mexican mother) and preference for dresses that accentuate her beautifully-shaped breasts, Ms. Wood hides Hunter from Homeier, and nurses him back to health. Hunter and Wood are mutually attracted to each other. Hunter hopes to report Homeier and his gang to the United States Cavalry at nearby Fort Stockwell. Will he get there? Warner Bros. must have known putting popular but unproven Hunter in this high-budgeted CinemaScope western would be a gamble - but, it pays off. He always fit the genre like a glove, and it's too bad a long string of Hunter westerns wasn't forthcoming. Hunter's greatest asset, herein, isn't really his handsomeness; rather, it's that he adds a muscular athleticism to the usual western antics. As you'll plainly see, there was no need to fear Hunter would snap a girdle, or slip a toupee. Trying on a Spanish accent, Wood is tightly outfitted, and highly arousing.Homeier turns in a wonderfully nasty supporting performance. Mixed-raced "Indian" tracker Eduard Franz (as Jacob Lantz), limping liquor-soaked Earl Holliman (as Mort Bayliss), and foreman Claude Akins (as Ben Hindeman) lead a strong supporting cast. With sexless romance and Spanish stereotypes, writer Louis L'Amour (book) and Irving Wallace (script) break no new ground, but you know how these western stories go. Director Stuart Heisler corrals the young stars well; he left feature films for dependable work on episodic western television.******** The Burning Hills (8/23/56) Stuart Heisler ~ Tab Hunter, Natalie Wood, Skip Homeier, Earl Holliman

moonspinner55 Bubblegum western marketed at the time as if it were "Rebel Without a Cause" on the range (one of the tag lines read: "People would say, 'But they're only kids!'"). Half-breed girl (Natalie Wood, heavily pancaked and miscast, but still not bad) shelters a cowboy (Tab Hunter) embroiled in a vengeful feud with a scurrilous gang. Good, trashy fun; supporting cast including Earl Holliman and Claude Akins is solid, direction by Stuart Heisler fast-paced. The screenplay adaptation (by Irving Wallace, of all people) slants Louis L'Amour's story in favor of showcasing the teen heartthrobs of the day, but it has good action scenes and a satisfying wrap-up. **1/2 from ****