Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

charleseodell Exceptional film noir - if not one of the ten best of this great genre, then certainly one of the 20 best. Fabulous directing by Sturgis. Great script. Splendid acting, especially by Scott (of course), Raines, and Buchanan. No score, but fine music provided by one of the treasure hunters, played by veteran bluesman Josh White. The group contains a black and an Indian. Both are treated with respect at a time when race hate was the norm. Just a wonderful effort by all concerned.

Reedmalloy The reviews that have thus far been written here about "The Walking Hills" (except for a few clunkers) do it justice. It is a compact piece of good film-making and quality entertainment. The quality of the acting makes the subsequent plot twists believable without hitting you over the head in their revelations.Not much is said about Alan Le May's script, however. He is little remembered today except possibly as the writer whose novel ''The Searchers" was turned into John Ford's great western. I grew up reading everything he wrote and found Le May a skilled story-teller who always remembered that the story was the whole point of it all.Le May crafted subtly complex stories about frontier Texas (despite being from Indiana) before Larry McMurtry was even born. His westerns are an easy-reading blend of his own knowledge of human nature, Louis L'Amour's (whom he preceded) formula romance, and a Hemingway style prose. His characters were given names and personalities that ring absolutely true, and he treats readers as adults capable of putting two-and-two together themselves. The only writer I ever found to rival him in creating an elusive combination of complexity and subtlety in a sagebrush saga is Frank X. Tolbert, much of whose work reads like Le May's.Such is the case with "The Walking Hills". Le May fleshes out his plot with details, but just enough to elucidate motivations while keeping the story moving. He never goes too far or too often, and as others noted, some of the character "back-stories" (such as Johnny's and Cleve's) tell just enough to give them a purpose while others (those of Chalk, Old Willy, and Josh) are left to the imagination of the viewer. Le May didn't throw a detail into the plot that wasn't wrapped up by the end, and in the natural course of events. Pretty good stuff.As a side-note to reviewer "bkoganbing", Ella Raines' husband was ROBIN Olds, a legendary character himself, and he never flew jets in Korea, much less became an ace there. In fact Ella went behind his back and used her friendship with people of influence to keep him out of that war, which may have played a part in their eventual separation when he went on to become an icon in the Vietnam War.

dougdoepke Despite presence of cowboy vet Randy Scott, this is not really a western. Instead it's a modern adventure tale of gold fever. A bunch of disparate saloon characters goes hunting for buried treasure amid treacherous sand dunes of the Southwest. Each has his own reason for going and his own past, so naturally conflicts develop. And, oh yes, lovely Ella Raines shows up on horseback as relief from the ugly guys. Scott's the most level-headed of the bunch, but he's no paragon— is his willingness to abandon the wounded Johnny because of hard-headed realism or selfish greed.It's an unusual collection of distinctive Hollywood players, including a shifty Kennedy, a nasty Ireland, a sneaky Collins, and, of course, a jovial Buchanan. Too bad the star-crossed William Bishop died too young to establish a screen persona. And how unexpected for blues singer Josh White to turn up as one of the fortune hunters. His musical interludes may seem artificially inserted but are pleasantly entertaining.For me there are two highlights. The sandstorm, of course, is really well done-- on a set I would assume, but still a marvelously staged effect. The other is that battle of shovels atop a swirling dune, (move over Japanese martial arts). It's like nothing I've seen. Then too, the location staging in Death Valley may send you out for water, so bring a canteen.Including flashbacks, the narrative itself is pretty crowded for a 78-minute runtime. So don't expect a tight format. Action and characters tend to be sketched through the proverbial glass darkly. Nonetheless, the movie's an unusual production that's remained oddly memorable since my first viewing, lo, so many years ago.

ashew This is John Sturges' movie. It is beautifully directed, with some shots that are truly stylistic, artsy, and beautiful...all the more so since this is in black & white and one can enjoy the symmetry of the shots instead of running the risk of being distracted by vibrant colors.The cast is loaded with big name B stars and is more of an ensemble piece than a traditional Randolph Scott film. Scott has some of his nicest on-screen moments in this film, along with the always fantastic Edgar Buchanan. Two actors I had never seen before, Jerome Courtland and William Bishop, both give very good performances...especially Courtland. John Ireland, and even moreso Arthur Kennedy, are completely wasted in roles that are one-dimensional and truly go nowhere. The worst of the entire group is Ella Raines. She is not a strong actress, had no chemistry with either Scott or Bishop, and there was really no reason for her to be in the film at all.This leads me to the script, which is where the movie falls down...it is a collection of missed opportunities. The plot is simple, the motivations extremely flimsy, the tension non-existent, and the ending unsatisfying. A similar "group stuck in the desert" film, James Stewart's version of "Flight of the Phoenix", had some real uncomfortable moments, surprises that worked, deaths that we felt, characters we were interested in, plot twists that pulled us to the edge of our seat...and their group was all focused on a common goal! In "The Walking Hills", the group is ostensibly working toward the same goal (uncovering the gold), but there is the added plot element that they are actually competing against each other at the same time. That element is never fleshed out in a satisfying way. The relationships don't go anywhere, the conflicts never reach a crescendo, the plot twists fizzle out, the promise of double-crosses and triple-crosses never materialize, everyone's hidden agendas don't pay off as they should, and out of the entire group only one character has any kind of arc where something is learned, personal growth takes place, and he is a different person by the end of the film. It's just a boring trek through the desert, with lots of digging, and not a lot of much else going on.Actually, one other thing does go on: a lot of singing. Fortunately, it's good singing. Josh White sings a few original songs and accompanies himself on the guitar. They are pleasant songs, but do not move the plot along, reveal character elements, or underscore on-screen action, so they are strictly time-killers meant to draw out the running time. As musical numbers, they are fine, but they certainly do nothing to advance the film."The Walking Hills" is not what I would necessarily call a bad film...it's just an uneventful so-so experience. As stated, several of the actors do have a moment or two where they shine, and the directing is beautifully done, but the film on the whole is a bit of a dud. Randolph Scott, Edgar Buchanan, and John Sturges fans will enjoy this, others will fall fast asleep.