Excellent film with a gripping story!

The first must-see film of the year.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

RELEASED TO TV IN 1971 and directed by Ted Post, "Yuma" covers events in Yuma, Arizona, when a new Marshal (Clint Walker) is sent to tame its lawlessness. Morgan Woodward plays a tough cattleman who blames the marshal for the deaths of his two brothers while Kathryn Hays is on hand as a winsome hotel owner/operator. Peter Mark Richman and John Kerr appear as two officers at the local Army fort while Barry Sullivan plays a shady proprietor of a freight company and Edgar Buchanan the owner of a lesser one.This was the pilot movie for a potential series that was never realized. Its short runtime gives away that it would've fit in a 90 minute slot with commercials. Walker is likable as the towering laconic Marshal whereas sweet Hays shines in her role. The tone is serious & realistic while the story is rather contrived, in the manner of TV Westerns of the 60s (e.g. The Big Valley), yet the latter makes for a brisk viewing with almost zero filler. The story even throws in Natives from a local reservation and the scenic locations (outside the town) lend authenticity. THE FILM RUNS 73 minutes and was shot in Arizona (Old Tucson, Sonora Desert, Ironwood Forest National Monument, Silver Bell and Riggs Flat Lake) with studio work done at Paramount Studios, CA. WRITER: Charles Wallace. GRADE: B-/C+

"Yuma" was a pilot movie for a television series that never was made. Apparently, it failed to convince the right folks that they should make another western television show...which isn't surprising since westerns were already falling out of fashion.When the film begins, two of the King brothers come into town causing trouble...and firing their guns indiscriminately. When Marshall Harmon (Clint Walker) tries to get them to surrender their guns and come along peacefully to jail, the dumber brother takes several shots at Harmon...and Harmon blows him in half with his shotgun.Later, that night, two guys sneak into the jail and free the other King brother. Are they members of his gang or just doing a bit of charity work? Nah...one of them shoots King dead with the Marshall's shotgun...hoping to get the Marshall blamed for it. A young boy saw what happened and identified one of the men as a soldier. Harmon investigates and finds that the nearby natives are about to rise up because the peace treaty has been broken--they were supposed to receive cattle to help them survive. It seems that the same officer in charge of taking care of this might just be the guy in on the murder. And what of the third King brother? Surely he'll want to pay someone back for the murder. How is Harmon to prevent the town of Yuma from exploding?Clint Walker was a good actor and was just fine as the Marshall....which is hardly surprising. As for the plot, it's pretty good as well. But I really think the reason this never became a series was that westerns were huge in the 50s and 60s...but the 70s were big for realistic modern programming and not this sort of thing. Good and watchable but nothing more. I did, however, like watching Harmon cross-examining a guy who has broken into the jail.

Ted Post directed this Charles A. Wallace story which was created most likely as a pilot for a T.V. Series. I suppose that's why Clint Walker was selected. He looks tall and Majestic in the saddle. The story as Wallace wrote it has Marshal Dave Harmona (Clint Walker) arriving in town and no sooner does he arrive, when a couple of rowdies challenge his authority. Unable to talk one cowboy out of his gun, the Marshal is force to kill the other which does not sit well with the older brother. (Morgan Woodward) In addition to taking charge of the law in town, Harmon is given a murder mystery to solve and some restless Indians who are threatening to go on the warpath to placate. Finally, there a hotel owner who is set on winning a place in the marshal's heart. All in all the series would have begun as part western, part who-done-it, had the option been picked up. As it is, the movie moves into the what-if category and Walker rides into the sunset. It would have been interesting to see the film pan out as several other notables were included in the cast. Such actors as Barry Sullivan, Edgar Buchanan and Peter Mark Richman as Major Lucas. Otherwise, it's a good movie which never ever matured. ****

Former "Rawhide" TV director Ted Post helmed the ABC Made-For-TV movie "Yuma" with Clint Walker between the time that he called the shots for Clint Eastwood in "Hang'em High" (1967) and the second "Dirty Harry" thriller "Magnum Force" (1973). Aaron Spelling of "Charlie's Angels" fame produced this standard-issue, law & order oater about a tough, deep-spoken lawman who tames the town. Undoubtedly, this movie was a pilot for a series that failed, despite its slick production values, good acting, and occasional bloodletting.Dutiful David Harmon (Clint Walker of the "Cheyenne" TV series) finds his hands full the first sun-scorched day that he arrives in bustling Yuma, Arizona. The free-wheeling King Brothers steal an empty stagecoach from the depot, careen it onto Main Street, and turn it over, creating a nuisance and a hazard that Harmon refuses to tolerate. When our hero demands that Rol King (Bing Russell of "The Magnificent Seven") and Sam King (Bruce Glover of "Diamonds Are Forever") surrender their firearms in a local bar, Rol ignores Harmon's orders and starts shooting. Harmon lets Sam have both loads and the impact knocks the villain off the bar, down behind it and kills him. Rol survives the shoot-out, and Harmon lodges him in a cell in the marshal's office.Harmon checks into a hotel room and flirts with the apparent owner, Julie Williams (pretty Kathryn Hays of "Ride Beyond Vengeance"), when he gives her a month's rent in advance. She points out that the last two marshals didn't last a week. Meanwhile, Harmon makes friends with a young, homeless Hispanic teenager, Andres (Miguel Alejandro of "Badge 373"), gives him money for new clothes, and allows him to sleep at the marshal's office. Two men awaken Andres—Captain White (John Kerr of "Tea & Sympathy) and Saunders (Robert Phillips of "Hour of the Gun")—spring Rol from captivity and then let him escape, only to drop him with a shotgun blast on the street where he dies. They flee the scene, and Harmon shows up too late to catch them. Local cattle buyer Nels Decker (Barry Sullivan of "Forty Guns") finds Harmon holding the shotgun that killed Rol and accuses the new lawman of the crime. As it turns out, Andres clears Harmon of any wrongdoing. All Andres can remember is that one of the men wore shiny boots. Harmon deduces that the 'shiny boots' belonged to a U.S. Cavalry officer. He rides out to the fort and demands to see fort commandant Major Lucas (Peter Mark Richman of "Pool Hal Junkies"), but Lucas' orderly explains that the commander has retired for the evening. Nonplussed, Harmon draws his revolver and fires enough shots in the air to rouse every soldier on the premises. Harmon gets his interview with Lucas about Captain White. Later, Harmon learns from the local reservation Indians that they are being cheated in regard to the amount of meat that the Indians require. Eventually, Sanders and Harmon cross paths again when the lawman catches the killer sneaking into his office. Harmon literally shoots the six-gun out of Sander's holster when the villain tries to double-talk his way out of an arrest charge.Ted Post directs with competence and assurance. "Yuma" emerges as a neatly-made, but formulaic little western with enough twists and turns as well as a surprise ending that it ranks a notch above the usual "Gunsmoke" clone that it clearly was. The point of view shots during the opening scene when our hero rides into town are excellent. Clint Walker could walk sleep walk through this role. He gives his usual strong performance and his David Harmon differs significantly from the aimlessly drifting hero in "Cheyenne." Unlike Cheyenne who wore his six-shooter on his right hip, Harmon wears his Colt's .45 with the plow-handle turned backwards in a holster wore for an across-the-waist draw. Not surprisingly, violence is held to a minimum, since it was made for television. Harmon guns down Sam King in the opening scene and later he takes out both Sanders and Nels Decker. Barry Sullivan is adequate as scheming cattle buyer Nels Decker who cares not a whit what happens to the reservation Indians that he is cheating. Morgan Woodward is good as the elder King who wants vengeance. Edgar Buchanan is—as always—superb. Meantime, John Kerr is shamefully squandered in an inconsequential role as a corrupt cavalry officer.