Yuma (1971)

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.

Aaron Spelling produced this made for television western that gets awfully plotty for a seventy three minute film. It plays like a probable failed series pilot.

Clint Walker is U.S. Marshal Dave Harmon, who wanders into Yuma, Arizona Territory in time to kill one of the brothers of the local bigwig rancher who is out on a trail drive. Harmon takes another brother to jail, and meets "cute" homeless kid Andres (Miguel Alejandro), who sleeps at the jailhouse. One night, Andres is snoozing when a villain and another man dressed in Army blue take the remaining brother into the street and kill him, pinning the murder on Harmon. Not good for your first twenty four hours on the job. Harmon visits the local Army fort, and rankles the chains of the commander. The bigwig hears of his brothers' deaths, and rides back to town in time to get his chains rankled as well. The local native population, who get short-changed by the Army on their beef, also get rankled in the chains area. With all these chains getting rankled, Harmon still has time to woo the local hotel owner. The Army guy involved in the murder ends up dead, the local cattle buyer is implicated, the Indians do a lot of hesitant speechifying, and the climax brings about an unlikely showdown as Harmon must prove to the town that the villainous cattle buyer had a boss, someone we have suspected as being too helpful all along.

There is a semi-subplot involving the death of Walker's family at the hands of Army raiders, and I think this would have been the force behind the series, had it been picked up. Instead, the film ends abruptly, and I kept waiting for scenes from next week's exciting episode. Because of the fade-outs for nonexistent commercial breaks, the pacing is off and its story jumps in fits.

Walker is handsome, rugged, and has a voice deeper than a well. The rest of the cast is full of television actors you have probably seen before. Much of the action is pretty lame, and the violence is tepid. The first brother killed gets a shotgun blast mid-torso, and falls without a scratch on him. I did not expect a Tarantino movie, but this is the wrong film to use to teach children about the evil of guns. Speaking of children, the Mexican kid here goes from "cute" to "aneurysm-inducing annoyance" very quickly. If you dislike westerns, then you will dislike "Yuma." If you like westerns, then you will still dislike "Yuma." I cannot recommend it.