Sierra
Sierra
NR | 26 May 1950 (USA)
Sierra Trailers

Ring Hassard and his father Jeff, wild horse breakers, live in a hidden mountain eyrie as Jeff is wanted for a murder he didn't commit. Things change when they take in a lost young lady, Riley Martin, who finds that Ring has "never seen a woman close up." Jeff is injured, Ring runs afoul of horse thieves and the law, and Riley (who is a lawyer) labors to clear the Hassards (who others would prefer dead).

Reviews
Cubussoli

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

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TinsHeadline

Touches You

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Humaira Grant

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

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Billy Ollie

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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cacorbett

This lesser known Western film features WWII hero Audie Murphy as a young Mountain dweller on the hideout for years with his Dad , played by the great Dean Jagger. As Murphy is forced to confront Horse Thieves and Town crooks, he demonstrates once again that fierce toughness we so often see in all his roles.The great Burl Ives is terrific as a singing troubadour friend of Murphy. The outdoor cinematography is stunningly beautiful and we are also treated to early screen appearances by young Tony Curtis and James Arness as two rough and tumble bad guys. Lotsa action and cool dialogue.The storyline is solid, though a little familiar. An enjoyable film and a treat for those fortunate enough to see this rarely shown film !!

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zardoz-13

"Baby Face" director Alfred E. Green helmed this beautifully lensed but lame oater. This early Audie Murphy western isn't one to remember. Wanda Hendrix is spunky enough as the heroine, and Robert Rober makes an acceptably obnoxious villain. Murphy plays a callow young cowboy named Ring Hassard who dwells with his dad way back in the mountains. Murphy's father Jeff (Dean Jagger of "Bad Day at Black Rock") was wrongly accused of a homicide that he didn't commit years ago. Now, Jeff lives in a sort of self-imposed exile with his fast-drawing son. Nobody can find the Hassard camp tucked as it is far back in the mountains with only a stream threading through the towering rocks to follow. One day, an impetuous young girl, Riley (Wanda Hendrix), sets out to find a quaint character nick-named Lonesome (Burl Ives) who warbles songs on horseback while he strums his guitar. Riley loses her horse, and Ring finds her. He takes her back to his camp. Later, after she loses another horse, Riley realizes she maybe stuck with Ring and his father longer than she wants. She has been gone for about three days. The Hassards are short a horse so the elder Hassard decides to break a bronc for her to ride. The steed throws Jeff and drags the poor guy around the corral before Ring can rescue him. Once Ring has his father back to their camp and in a bed, Lonesome rides up and recommends that Ring fetch a doctor. Ring plans to pay for the doctor with his maverick hores, but Big Matt Rango (Robert Rober of "Port of New York") steals Ring's horses. Eventually, Ring takes Riley back to Sierra. Along the way, Riley is bitten by a rattlesnake. Since he doesn't have a sharp enough knife, Ring shoots Riley. Everybody is overjoyed when Ring arrives in town with Riley. Meantime, Ring and Lonesome try to recover the horses that Big Matt appropriated from them. Big Matt and his gunmen capture Ring and put him in jail. The punishment for rustling horses is hanging. Ring has nobody to represent him. Riley steps in to defend Ring. Incredibly, Lonesome serenades the town marshal's deputy and gets the keys to open Ring's jail. As it turns out, Jeff Hassard was actually innocent of the crime. "Sierra" is nothing special.

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dougdoepke

Until they take in a fugitive girl, a father and son hide out in the mountains to elude a bogus murder charge.Pretty good Murphy western, one of his earliest. When you think about it, his transition from Texas sharecropper to WW II hero to Hollywood actor is remarkable. True, it was hard for him to loosen up on screen, still he delivered his lines well enough, while nobody could do a hard-eyed stare better. Here Murphy does well enough, carrying most of the movie. The role of a hard eyed loner (Ring Hassard) appears tailor made for him. At the same time, diminutive, girlish Hendrix (Riley) manages her courtroom lawyer sequence in pretty convincing fashion. Ironic to think the two were married at the time, but in the process of getting divorced. So there's something poignant about their riding into the sunset at movie's end.Universal popped for a pretty big budget, unlike many of Murphy's later westerns. The red rock Kanab (Utah) locations are really eye-catching. Then too, those wild horse herds are anything but skimpy. And nobody could strum a guitar more soothingly than the rotund Burl Ives. Together they add a lot of color and mood to the dramatics. At the same time, there's not much gunplay, yet quite a bit of suspense to the rather complex story.All in all, it's a picturesque, entertaining Murphy western.

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alexandre michel liberman (tmwest)

Even though Sierra was not written by Zane Grey, it has all the elements of a typical Grey story, like hidden places and horse stampedes. Most Audie Murphy films were made to measure for him but not this one and the fact is that he comes out quite well. The main character is Wanda Hendrix, who was married to Murphy for a certain time. She is Riley, a girl who gets lost in the mountains when trying to look for Lonesome (Burl Ives). Instead she finds hundreds of horses and Murphy. Murphy has been hiding with his father Jeff (Dean Jagger) who is a fugitive. Jeff gets hurt trying to tame a horse and when he thinks he might die, he tells his son to always remember that he is innocent. Hendrix overhears it and will do everything she can to help them. Burl Ives as the singing Lonesome adds a lot to the film with his music and personality, completely different from the serious and bitter men he used to play in many films. Sierra is a light, colorful, entertaining, sometimes naive western worth seeing.

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