Audy Murphy was always good at what he did and carries this oater along its familiar ground. The story is patchy and was given a far better treatment in 1948 with the more interesting "Relentless" (recommend this one in preference) The IB Technicolor that Universal often used is superb, as is the classy Cinematography by Award-winner Russel Metty ( Spartacus '60, The Misfits '61, A Woman's Vengeance '48). The cast are OK with some exceptions but the unusual horse offers the best element of interest. There are far better Murphy westerns out there but those not overly demanding may enjoy this - if nothing better on offer.

Audie Murphy finds himself in desperate trouble in "Land Raiders" director Nathan Juran's exciting western "Tumbleweed" when he tangles with hostile Yaqui Indians and treacherous whites. Murphy gets himself mired deeper into danger to clear himself as this adventurous 79-minute oater winds down to its finale. What sets this Murphy horse opera apart is "Red Mountain" scenarist John Meredyth Lucas' audacious screenplay based on Kenneth Perkins' novel "Three Were Renegades." Appearances are not always what they appear; this serves the overarching theme of this entertaining dust-raiser. Added elements that bolster this horse opera are some bits of humor involving the eponymous animal and some mystery surrounding the development of the narrative.Initially, our resourceful hero displays benevolence when he comes to the aid of a wounded Yaqui brave in the desert. Apparently, an unknown white gunman shot the Yaqui in the left shoulder and left him for dead. Jim Harvey (Audie Murphy of "The Kid from Texas") digs a bullet out of Tigre (Eugene Iglesias of "Apache Rifles"), the son of Yaqui chieftain Aguila (Ralph Moody of "Reprisal!") who abhors whites with a passion. At one point, a hateful Tigre tries to stab Harvey, but our hero manages to deflect this futile effort. After saving Tigre's life, our hero accepts a job as a guide for a group of pioneers. At first, when he meets Harvey in the town of Mile High, wagon train master Seth Blanden (Ross Elliot of "Never So Few") thinks Harvey is too young to provide them with adequate guidance. Attractive Laura Saunders (Lori Nelson) is the sister-in-law traveling with relatives. She likes the sight of Harvey, but Seth's wife Sarah (Madge Meredith of "Trail Street") disapproves of a drifter like Harvey. Sarah wanted Laura to marry Seth's brother Lam (Russell Johnson of "Gilligan's Island") because he is a stable individual. Harvey does a good job as a guide until the Yaquis box them in and try to burn their wagons. Harvey sends the two women into hiding, and then he rides under a white flag of truce to parley with Aguila. As it turns out, Aguila doesn't believe that his son would befriend a white man. The Yaqui chief ties Jim down between two spears and promises to carve his eyelids so he can watch the sun burn out his vision at dawn. Tigre's mother (Belle Mitchell of "Soylent Green") lets Jim escape. Afterward, Jim catches a ride back into the town of Borax. He discovers that he is a persona non grata because the Yaquis scalped and killed the men, but the two women and a baby in the wagon train survived.Ironically, Sheriff Murchoree (Chill Wills of "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid") keeps the townspeople from lynching Harvey when he shows up in town and generates controversy with his unaccounted for presence. The citizens have a noose around Harvey's neck and they have Murchoree crowded, so he cannot get to Harvey until one of his deputies, Marv (Lee Van Cleef of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"), armed with a Winchester intervenes, and Murchoree can extract his six-gun from his shoulder holster. Murchoree puts Harvey into protective custody. Later, during the night, Tigre breaks into the jail where Harvey is being held, stabs the guard that Murchoree left in charge, and the Yaqui explains that the guards were going to let the townspeople into lynch him. Not long afterward, they are pursued by the townspeople and Tigre takes a bullet and dies. Before the Yaqui dies, he informs Harvey that a white man had a hand into the massacre. Eventually, a posse pursues Harvey. Meantime, he finds himself afoot again when his horse goes lame. Initially, he tries to steal a horse from a rancher, Nick Buckley (Roy Roberts of "Kid Galahad"), but Buckley's ranch hand catches him before he can. Harvey meets Buckley and his wife Louella (K.T. Stevens of "Vice Squad") and explains his awful predicament. Buckley takes sympathy on him and loads him calls the decrepit looking horse called 'Tumbleweed.' An incredulous Harvey is surprised when the animal displays amazing mountain sense and enables him to elude the posse. At one point, when Harvey is about to die of thirst, 'Tumbleweed' scrapes a hole into the dirt that yields water. Murchoree catches up with Harvey, but he is dying from thirst, too, when our hero finds him. Strangely enough, Harvey wants to find Aguila because he is the only man who can clear him. The revelation as to the identity of the white man who worked with the Indians is a surprise. Our hero and the villain battle it out with their fists and the fight progresses from the desert floor up atop a mountain where the villain tries to crush Harvey with a rock. Lee Van Cleef has a bigger than usual role and he isn't a slimy villain like he was during his usual 1950s westerns. "Tumbleweed" qualifies not only as an above-average Audie Murphy oater but a welcome departure from his more straightforward routine sagebrushers.

A young scout named Jim Harvey(AUDIE MURPHY)leads some wagons through treacherous Indian territory. As Harvey fears an attack, he has the wagons take shelter by some rocks whilst he goes to the Yaqui Chief to secure safe passage for the civilians. His efforts are in vain as the Chief has him knocked unconscious and tied up. With Harvey now helpless, the Yaquis ride off and massacre the civilians. The next day, Harvey manages to escape and gets back to the nearest town where he is met with anger by the townsfolk, who believe he conspired with the Yaquis to murder the civilians. As a lynch mob is formed, the Sheriff arrests Harvey. That night, the Yaqui Chief's son, whose life was previously saved by Harvey, breaks into the jail and helps Harvey escape. As the Indian is killed in the ensuing shootout, Harvey learns the shocking truth behind the massacre and rides out into the wilderness pursued by a posse to find the individuals responsible.A B western from the vaults of Universal is always a delight, no matter how bad the script, acting or production values. I've seen quite a few such westerns over the past few years and I will admit, Tumbleweed is one of the weaker ones. Still, that does not mean that it is a terrible film, the standard for the westerns made by Universal is set rather high for me personally, it is an enjoyable effort with spellbinding action scenes. The storyline is a competent and intriguing one and will keep you watching until the very end. The main problem is that the film is rather hollow and dry. It's starts off well but then slows down in the middle before picking up in pace towards it's climax. The middle of the film mainly consists of Harvey riding across the desert on his horse and talking to it, which gets very tedious after a while. The vistas of the parched sands and craggy mountains were pleasing and the cinematography was effective. The acting is usual standard for a B western with Audie Murphy doing what he does best, which I've seen in most of his other westerns. Chill Wills gave a decent performance as the Sheriff and look out for a significant turn from a young Lee Van Cleef as a deputy, a far cry from his roles as Colonel Mortimer and Sabata. It was great to see him progressing in the genre that suited him best. Although there were few, the action scenes were fantastic and gave the film a satisfying bodycount. There were some awesome stunts in the Indian fights and the horseback chase and subsequent fistfight among the rocks was particularly thrilling.Enjoyable time passer if you're bored on a cold winters afternoon. 7/10.

10 years ago, as a forty-year-old, I "discovered" Audie Murphy, and since then have tried to tape as many of his movies that are shown. Why? Because they entertain, and they also show the imperfect people that we all are, and even so, the good that can come out and how we can move on with our lives. Too bad Murphy had a sad personal life, for all the good messages he gave to us through his films over the years. But "Tumbleweed" is one of my favorites, and also of my 6 year-old granddaughter! It's the horse. Give credit to the horse for his quiet role in ALL westerns, without which they could not be made. This Tumbleweed horse shows the intelligence and stamina and unsung heroism that has lived in the breed, since early times. Add that to the HUMOR and the melodramatic "give a guy a chance because I was given a chance once myself" plot, and you have a nice mix of all the Western elements of the the wild, vast, half-civilized country we used to long for. I know Audie loved it, and understood the conflict in all our souls when faced with our raw natures and the better person inside. I pray he finally found rest from that conflict. So thank you, Audie, for giving the horse his due, and giving us some fun, in "Tumbleweed"!