The Saga of Hemp Brown (1958)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Better Late Then Never

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

The movie was getting a little tedious for me until Victor Sen Yung showed up as the Chinese bartender Chang uttering that great line to Rory Calhoun's Hemp Brown quoted in my summary above. It brought to mind another terrific line from the comedy Western "Blazing Saddles" when Gene Wilder says to Cleavon Little - "What's a dazzling urbanite like you doing in a rustic setting like this?" The story here has a bit of the "Branded" TV show story line, in that Lieutenant Hemp Brown is discharged from the Cavalry after his contingent of soldiers is wiped out and an Army payroll strong box is stolen under his command. Convicted of cowardice, Brown puts on his civilian duds and sets out to find the former soldier (John Larch) who ambushed his squad, who was presumed already killed in action some months earlier when his soldier uniform and ID wound up on a corpse. I don't think I've come across that ruse before in a Western.Brown had his man too until he made a rookie mistake and took his eye off the ball at the Slaughter House. Rory Calhoun's not supposed to make those kinds of errors; I guess he had to take a hit for the sake of the story. But then he makes another one when he goes to sleep in the Bolanos show wagon and Mona (Beverly Garland) grabs his gun. Like I say, the back and forth manner in which Hemp Brown lost and regained the upper hand got a little tedious after a while.I'll say this for Beverly Garland though, she generally doesn't look as good as she did in this picture and those legs! - man, they went all the way up to there! The red saloon gal outfit helped too, so much so that after a while watching her get ready for the show, Hemp ran out of conversation topics.

After a botched robbery, an ex-cavalry lieutenant struggles to regain his good name by catching the real robber.The first part—the robbery and the cashiering—made me think this would be a superior western. But then Brown (Calhoun) meets up with Mona (Garland) who falls for him immediately Hollywood style, and it's murky time from there on, especially when it's trying to figure out who's on what side and why. One thing about these Universal oaters of the 50's—they're always well photographed in Technicolor. So when the story flounders, as it does here, there's still lots to look at. I'm just sorry that two of the best B-actors of the period, Garland and Larch, don't get to do more. I was looking forward to Garland's hoochie-koochie before she wrapped herself in a cloak. Anyhow, if you can figure out the latter part of the plot-line, you might enjoy this otherwise routine oater.

A rather decent U-I western from 1958.Rory Calhoun is properly vengeful as the wronged soldier who goes after bad guy John Larch and his gang. Beverly Garland was an interesting actress as she really was not beautiful in the traditional, glamorous girl or pinup way. I note this because she looks really 'hot' in this movie. I wonder if Director Richard Carlson had anything to do with this as he added a strong dose of heated passion in another U-I western that he directed four years prior ('Four Guns To the Border'); also with Calhoun. This is a good western and I don't think that you will be disappointed at all. For fans of Ms. Garland, I strongly recommend, 'Gunslinger' (1956) which is a very early directorial effort from Roger Corman. This is a bizarre western (also with John Ireland) which was completed on a shoestring budget and a one week shooting schedule.

Rory Calhoun is a disgraced army officer trying to track down the only man who can clear his name in this bland western with all the standard elements. It does feature the World's most inept lynch mob. So that's something, I suppose. Poor: [4/