Yuma

Could be you heard part of the story wrong! Yuma is directed by Ted Post and written by Charles Wallace. It stars Clint Walker, Barry Sullivan, Kathryn Hays, Edgar Buchanan, Morgan Woodward and John Kerr. Music is by George Duning and cinematography by John Stephens. Walker stars as Marshal Dave Harmon, a no nonsense lawman sent into Yuma Territory to clean house. Straight away he is fronted up by the King brothers, something which puts him into conflict with the town bigwig, their father, Arch King (Woodward). It's a familiar tale, certainly one that any Western fan would have seen numerous times. A TV movie and an intended pilot for a show, the budget is obviously not that high, but there's some good star appeal (Sullivan & Buchanan reassuring presences for Western lovers) and there's a lot crammed into the hour and fifteen minute running time. Big Bad Clint Walker is a mighty presence, giving us a character that is easy to like and respect, he's not only tough and handsome, but he also turns into a Sherlock Holmes type as well! Into the basic town tamer plot also comes the issues of the Indian Beef treaty, or lack of in this instance, the crafty tactics of the Raiders and their crimes, while there's the cute/annoying kid and a gorgeous lady circling our hero. It doesn't pull up any trees, but it's well performed, has nice location scenery (Old Tuscon), and the action is well staged (pic opens with a very nifty stagecoach stunt). While of course for Walker fans it's always going to have a watchability factor. 6/10

Clint Walter heads up this rather routine western television movie as the marshal "Harmon" who is drafted into the lawless Yuma territory by the state governor. His arrival immediately leads to bloodshed and that sets him against local kingpin "Arch" (Morgan Woodward) whose brother is no longer amongst us. Feeling just a bit outnumbered, he seeks help from a nearby army post but he gets short shrift from them too - seems he has some history with the army and his murdered family. Edgar Buchanan chips in entertaingly enough as "Mules" but the rest of this is all something we have seen done better before. Indeed, it could easily be an episode of something like the "The High Chaparral". That said, there's plenty of action - shoot outs and gunfights, there's a minimum of romance and the ending, though predictable, is acceptable. You will never remember this film, but it passes the time if you're doing the ironing.