Audie Murphy Leads a Good Cast in front and back of some Outstanding Scraggy Rock Formations that make this a slightly Edgy Entry in the "Murph" Filmography.By 1960 the Western was Waning in Popularity due to an Overexposure of Movies and TV Titles that became Exponential as the Decade Unfolded. This is a Strong "B" Entertainment that Delivered Color, CinemaScope, and an Adult-Theme Touch.Some of the Dialog is Cutting Edge for the 50's, and the Leering Looks that Felicia Farr gets in the Cabin as She is Verbally Raped and Forced into Servitude is a Standout.Some of the Back-Stories are Complex as Murphy is on the Run from a Psychopathic "Lawman" and some Revengeful Townsfolk, that the Script is Quick to Call Religious Hypocrites (you wouldn't find that on TV).Steve McNally is Memorable as the Cold-Blooded "Marshall" and Jan Merlin makes His Mark as a "Smile-Happy" Shotgun Killer. Fast Paced and Thoughtful Western that is Slightly Above Average in the Decade's Outlandish Output of Westerns and another Solid Outing for Audie Murphy Fans to Appreciate.Note...Audie Murphy's Career mostly ignored by Film Historians deserves another look and deeper analysis. As a consistent entertainer, especially in the Western Genre, it has been passed over and underrated.

Hell Bent for Leather is directed by George Sherman and adapted to screenplay by Christopher Knopf from the novel Outlaw Marshal written by Ray Hogan. It stars Audie Murphy, Felicia Farr, Stephen McNally and Robert Middleton. A CinemaScope production in Eastman Color, it features music jointly scored by William Lava and Irving Gertz (Joseph Gershenson supervising) and cinematography by Clifford Stine.Audie Murphy plays Clay Santell, a horse trader who is wrongly accused of murder and goes on the run pursued by a vengeful Marshal. The Marshal (McNally), knows Santell is innocent, but he doesn't care and figures that killing a wanted man that nobody has seen before can only earn him glory.There is often a tendency from Western film critics to undersell a "B" Western, it's like you are not allowed to rave about or rate a "B" the same as an Oater from the well regarded and well known movers and shakers in the genre. This happens to be more the case where Audie Murphy's output is concerned. Not blessed with great acting talent, Murphy none the less knew how to make a scene work, to imbue a passage of play with great presence, never once trying to hog the limelight from co-stars, he remains more so today a Western star whose values should not be easily dismissed. His CV contains quite a few bad or ordinary films, but he was in some very good ones as well, and one such film is Hell Bent for Leather. Plot is essentially standard fare, a wronged man is on the run and he is saddled with a pretty gal for the journey. Posse are in pursuit and wronged man has to prove his innocence before he is killed by a sadistic sheriff out to feather his own nest. Yet the locale and well written characters mark this out as a tough little Oater. Sure there's little action to pump the blood of those who need such passages, though some good chase scenes are here and one finishes with a great bit of stuntery, but the neat trick here is having Murphy and Farr's characters run off/up into the rocky terrain; the magnificent Alabama Hills rocky terrain. As Anthony Mann had a knack of marrying up surroundings to psychological aspects of his protagonists, so it be here with Sherman, but of course this is a "Audie Murphy B Western", so such things aren't possible...Hey, it's no Naked Spur et al, far from it, but it is far better and grittier than some think it is purely because of the director and star who made it. It also has a great finale, where up in the jutted rocks we get a tense situation that sees the wronged man, the guilty man, the spunky girl with a substantial back story and the unhinged glory seeking Marshal, all brought together in a moment of reckoning. You will not die of shock with the outcome, but it's a finale rewarding us for having spent the time with these deftly etched characters. Acting is safe and sound, with Middleton the stand out performer, and the music score is "B Western" 101 stuff. But if only for Stine's CinemaScope photography then the Western fan should see this, the Alabama Hills, so prominent in many a great and classic genre offering, are beautifully captured and very much a critical character in the story. 7.5/10

This western opens with a man carrying a fancy shotgun staggering through the brush into the camp of a man and his horse... the second man gives him water and is about to give him a much needed meal when the first man strikes him with his gun and steals the horse. The second man fires a single shot and the thief drops his gun but gets away... The first man is Travers, a wanted killer and the second, the hero of the story is Clay Santell. Without a horse Santell walks to the nearest town and to buy a new one and get something to eat; the town is fairly empty though as almost everybody is at the funeral of Travers' victims. The two people he does see are friendly enough until they see the distinctive shotgun he is carrying... clearly they believe he is Travers. Soon more men turn up and it looks as though Santell is going to be lynched; then the marshal arrives and says he is going to take him to Denver for trial. Something is wrong though; the marshal knows he isn't Travers but he as decided that he is fed up of tracking the real killer so will settle for a man who a town full of people have identified as the killer. Santell manages to escape and ends up in the company of a local woman who he forces to help him; in time she comes to realise he is telling the truth... the problem is there is a posse after them and the marshal will kill them both to keep the truth from coming out! This is a quality B-western; the plot may be simple but it is well executed; little time is wasted and once the action gets started it doesn't let up until the final scene. Audie Murphy does a fine job as hero Clay Santell; an unusual western hero as he has no gun for most of the film. Stephen McNally, who puts in a good performance as Marshal Deckett, makes an equally unusual antagonist; he is a lawman who is willing to murder innocent people to attain glory. The romantic interest is provided by Felicia Farr; she is the only standard main character; most westerns seem to have a woman who stands by the hero even if she distrusts him at first. The film is helped by a decent amount of action and plenty of tense scenes set amid some stunning scenery. If you are a fan of westerns this is certainly worth watching.

The most decorated combat soldier of the war,Audie Murphy, plays the part of a man,falsely accused of being a gangster by a marshal .This embittered cop has been searching for the true culprit for months and he needs to find one ,his claim to fame.Stephen Mc Nally is the stand out ,the audience realizes little by little he has gone completely nuts ,heading the posse on his victim's trail.The girl the horse-trader meets (Felicia Farr,better known for her part in " kiss me ,stupid" )and who takes up his cause is some kind of outcast for her father was not a good man .She was taken in by neighbors but she has not really been received at the community :she takes care of the children when the inhabitants attend the service.This is a modest but entertaining western with good suspense and a great finale when the wrong and the right man meet in the mountain.