Sierra (1950)

Ring Hassard and father Jeff, wild horse breakers, live in a hidden mountain eyrie because Jeff is wanted for a murder he didn't commit. But things change when they take in a lost young ... See full summary »

Director:

Alfred E. Green

Writers:

Stuart Hardy (novel), Edna Anhalt,

Stars:

Wanda Hendrix, Audie Murphy, Burl Ives

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Wanda Hendrix	...	Riley Martin
Audie Murphy	...	Ring Hassard
Burl Ives	...	Lonesome
Dean Jagger	...	Jeff Hassard
Richard Rober	...	Big Matt Rango
Tony Curtis	...	Brent Coulter (as Anthony Curtis)
Houseley Stevenson	...	Sam Coulter
Elliott Reid	...	Duke Lafferty
Griff Barnett	...	Dr. Hank Robbins
Elisabeth Risdon	...	Aunt Susan
Roy Roberts	...	Sheriff Knudsen
Gregg Martell	...	Tom Hogan
Sara Allgood	...	Mrs. Jonas
Erskine Sanford	...	Judge Prentiss
John Doucette	...	Jed Coulter

Storyline

Ring Hassard and father Jeff, wild horse breakers, live in a hidden mountain eyrie because Jeff is wanted for a murder he didn't commit. But things change when they take in a lost young lady, Riley Martin, who finds that Ring has "never seen a woman close up." Jeff is injured, Ring runs afoul of horse thieves and the law, and Riley (who turns out to be a lawyer) labors to clear the Hassards; but others would prefer them dead.

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Plot Keywords:

horse | remake | based on novel

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Genres:

Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 June 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bandidos en la sierra

Filming Locations:

Kanab Movie Ranch - 5001 Angel Canyon Road, Kanab, Utah, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Biography: Audie Murphy: Great American Hero (1996)

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Soundtracks

"HIDEAWAY"
Music by Arnold Schwarzwald (as Arnold Hughes)
Lyrics by Frederick Herbert
Performed by Burl Ives (behind credits)

User Reviews

light, colorful, entertaining, naive and worth seeing.

Even though Sierra was not written by Zane Grey, it has all the elements of a typical Grey story, like hidden places and horse stampedes. Most Audie Murphy films were made to measure for him but not this one and the fact is that he comes out quite well. The main character is Wanda Hendrix, who was married to Murphy for a certain time. She is Riley, a girl who gets lost in the mountains when trying to look for Lonesome (Burl Ives). Instead she finds hundreds of horses and Murphy. Murphy has been hiding with his father Jeff (Dean Jagger) who is a fugitive. Jeff gets hurt trying to tame a horse and when he thinks he might die, he tells his son to always remember that he is innocent. Hendrix overhears it and will do everything she can to help them. Burl Ives as the singing Lonesome adds a lot to the film with his music and personality, completely different from the serious and bitter men he used to play in many films. Sierra is a light, colorful, entertaining, sometimes naive western worth seeing.