Lawbolisted Powerful

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Spikeopath Yuma is directed by Ted Post and written by Charles Wallace. It stars Clint Walker, Barry Sullivan, Kathryn Hays, Edgar Buchanan, Morgan Woodward and John Kerr. Music is by George Duning and cinematography by John Stephens.Walker stars as Marshal Dave Harmon, a no nonsense lawman sent into Yuma Territory to clean house. Straight away he is fronted up by the King brothers, something which puts him into conflict with the town bigwig, their father, Arch King (Woodward).It's a familiar tale, certainly one that any Western fan would have seen numerous times. A TV movie and an intended pilot for a show, the budget is obviously not that high, but there's some good star appeal (Sullivan & Buchanan reassuring presences for Western lovers) and there's a lot crammed into the hour and fifteen minute running time.Big Bad Clint Walker is a mighty presence, giving us a character that is easy to like and respect, he's not only tough and handsome, but he also turns into a Sherlock Holmes type as well! Into the basic town tamer plot also comes the issues of the Indian Beef treaty, or lack of in this instance, the crafty tactics of the Raiders and their crimes, while there's the cute/annoying kid and a gorgeous lady circling our hero.It doesn't pull up any trees, but it's well performed, has nice location scenery (Old Tuscon), and the action is well staged (pic opens with a very nifty stagecoach stunt). While of course for Walker fans it's always going to have a watchability factor. 6/10

thinker1691 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. ****

FightingWesterner Yuma is passable enough entertainment but something directed by Ted Post (Hang 'Em High) and produced by Aaron Spelling (who made some of the best low budget TV movies of the seventies) should have been a bit better. This seems like a television pilot that never materialized into a series.Clint Walker, the new Marshall of Yuma is forced to deal with the two brothers of a powerful cattleman, shooting one in self defense and jailing the other. Later, two mystery men break him out and shoot him in the back, framing Walker for the death and leading to a confrontation with the cattleman and the uncovering of a larger conspiracy.Some familiar stars and a good bit of intrigue make this worth watching if not a must-see.

Poseidon-3 Following his lengthy run on "Cheyenne", Walker found fairly steady work in a series of TV movies, usually of a western variety. In this one, he's a no-nonsense US marshal, fresh into the town of Yuma with instructions to sustain order. The previous marshals only lasted about a week apiece, but Walker is so confident that he pays his hotel bill in advance for a month. This is after, of course, he's already shot down one troublemaker mere moments after entering the town! Unfortunately, the man he shot is the younger brother of fat cat rancher Woodward who is ready to blow Walker away for it, especially after his other brother is mysteriously killed as well. However, there's much more going on towards complicating things. Someone is cheating the local Indians, led by chief Diaz, out of their treaty-arranged beef and this ties into Yuma's deep-seeded corruption. Walker, a towering hunk of a man whose voice alone would make anyone feel safe and warm, has a decent role to play here with several stand-offs in which he shows his determination and some more tender moments with spunky Mexican orphan Alejandro and pretty hotel owner Hays. The cast includes several well-known faces such as Sullivan as the owner of a freight carrier, Buchanan as the local porch-sitting gossip, Kerr as an Army lieutenant and Richman as his superior. Produced by Aaron Spelling, who was always quick to use pals from old Hollywood and directed with assurance by Post, it's a decent little western with a mild twist ending. Spelling crony Nolan Miller designed Hays' dresses. She would, soon after this, join the cast of "As the World Turns" and stay there until the present. The music is by Charles Duning who composed the theme for "The Big Valley" and that series' house servant, Whiting, appears here in a brief, but amusing cameo.