When I picked it out of the sale bin, "These Thousand Hills" looked like a routine, unselfconscious western of the 1950's. I bought it because it had a good cast including two actors I really like, Lee Remick and Richard Egan.However after a fairly standard start, the big surprise was that the story took a left-hand turn at the midpoint, exposing darkness within the good guys, and giving the drama psychological shadings that may even have had William Shakespeare shouting, "Author! Author!".Don Murray stars as Lat Evans, an ambitious young cowboy who wants to own a ranch of his own. He partners with Tom Ping, an easy-going cowboy played by Stuart Whitman, who saves his life early in the movie. They encounter Jehu, played by Richard Egan, a ruthless rancher destined to become their enemy. They also meet a couple of saloon girls, one of them, Callie, played by Lee Remick, falls in love with Lat. She gives him her life savings to buy the ranch.With this start, Lat is successful. He begins to associate with the town's classier citizens, and leaves Callie to marry Joyce, a banker's niece played by Patricia Owens. Lat also begins to look down on people, once his friends, who he now thinks beneath him; eventually he falls out with Tom. Events unfold that lead Lat to regret his actions. He sets out to put things right with a final confrontation with Jehu.Not your average oater that's for sure, but the story, obviously condensed from the original novel, plays out over a period of time, and it was a lot to cram into 96 minutes.The opening scenes of the cattle drive are spectacular, which is just as well as the set design of the town and the interiors is uninspired, not much above the look of the studio-bound television westerns of the time.Top-billed Don Murray gives a pretty good performance for an actor who looked perennially youthful throughout his career; he was thirty when he made this but looks younger.Lee Remick is the standout. A year before, she had burst onto the screen in "A Face in the Crowd". That film was in black and white, this one is in colour. The black and white camera loved her, but the colour camera adored her. Great roles were ahead, but it's fascinating to catch her just before that happened.Then there is Richard Egan. While this was a supporting role he was a scene-stealer. He had a great voice and more teeth and muscles than just about any other actor. He had similarities to Burt Lancaster, but he never made it as big. He just didn't exude that sense of danger that gave Burt the edge as a star.I remember reading that Charles Bronson had backed down from a potential fight with Richard Egan while working on the TV series "Empire". Charlie was smart, it wouldn't have been pretty. Egan was not only bigger, but had also taught hand-to-hand combat in the army during World War 2. He may not have exuded Lancaster's sense of danger on the screen, however he really was dangerous."These Thousand Hills" gave complex motivations to its characters, as did many of the urban dramas at the time. It took a different approach than most westerns, and for the most part it succeeded.

This is the story of a cowboy Lat Evans (Don Murray) driven by blind ambition who is not fair to the woman who loves him and helped him (Lee Remick) and his best friend who saved his life (Stuart Whitman). Richard Egan has a good performance as the villain, who is also after Remick but treats her badly. Murray's attitude in relation to Remick and Whitman is so cruel and shocking that even when he tries to redeem himself you are not convinced that he has suffered enough. When the film starts you look at Murray like a standard western hero, and the fact that when the film ends it still tries to make you believe Murray is a good guy who paid for his sins, leaves the spectator with a feeling something is missing. I liked the film, but did not like the ending.

I do agree with the other user's comments. While it was a treat to see the lush cinematography and beautiful landscape, two lovely redhead girls, and a behind-the-scenes look at a bygone era, this is one of those movies that leaves too much up in the air. You wonder whether Callie will be found not guilty at her trial, or whether the fistfight or Lat's seeing Callie will result in a hindrance to his professional or personal life. The film was OK as far as it went, but the filmed seemed to end halfway through.

Don Murray plays Latt Evans, an ambitious cowboy who puts himself in the fast lane for success in Montana's cattle country. There is a very good supporting cast in this story with Stuart Whitman as his friend, Albert Dekker as a banker and Patricia Owens as the banker's niece. Lee Remick plays her usual strong role as Callie, another friend of Evans. Richard Egan plays an uncharacteristically villainous role and does it pretty well."Remember", Evans' trail boss tells him, "people change. They don't turn out like they started." He realizes that people make decisions and that these decisions have implications for them and others around them. The boss knows Evans better than he knows himself.In his desire to get ahead Evans loses sight of what's important in life. He works two jobs on the cattle drive that brings him to Montana. He spends a hard winter poisoning wolves. In the end it is a friend's generous loan which gives him what he really wants, his own ranch. Almost too late, he realizes in a scene reminiscent of "The Virginian" that it is friends that really matter.There are two women in Evans' life and both Remick and Owens do well in their roles. Remick's character is much better developed in the script. She is more than slightly tarnished woman in the traditional Western morality. Albert Dekker advises Evans to stay away from the bordello if he is serious about making something of himself. Callie appreciates her status in the community. "I'm not worth it," she advises Evans at one point when he is about to pick a fight for her. Although she loans Evans the money to get him started she expects nothing for it. The loan is repaid and he owes her nothing more. Even the note Evans receives at the end asking for help was written by someone else.Patricia Owens plays the banker's niece and eventually becomes Evans' wife. Her character is respectable compared to Callie. She doesn't understand Evans' friendship with Callie, but she tries to do so. Unfortunately, the film does not do her character justice. Evans says that he loves her, but her character gets such short shrift that it's hard to tell why. Is it because she's respectable and Callie's not? I'd like to think there's more to it than that and Owens' role certainly hints at some depth to her character.The fight at the end probably ranks in the top ten in screen fist fights. It is reminiscent of "The Spoilers", except that this time the mud is in glorious color.The ending is only partially satisfying. There are too many loose ends. The relationship between Evans and his wife is clarified in the ending, but Callie's fate is left to the imagination. Evans will testify at her trial. "Will it be the truth?", his wife asks. "Yes", he responds. "Then you testify", she says. What happens to Evans' position in the community and his political aspirations in light of his support for a prostitute? The viewer can reach his own conclusions about these issues, too. Perhaps that's appropriate. Evans does what he thinks is right. Who can argue with that?