Well this is a new one for me, I'd never seen or even heard of actor Gene Nelson before, so having him show up in "The Purple Hills" was kind of interesting for me. His introduction at the beginning of the story is kind of unusual too because he's tracking down and attempting to shoot an as yet unknown character to the viewer, so you don't get a sense of who's a good guy and who's a bad guy until the story proceeds for a bit more. Even then, it was a stretch to warm up to his character Gil Shepard because of the way he ambushed his victim Beaumont.
You know, eight thousand dollars sounds like a huge sum of money for a bounty on an outlaw, and Beaumont's history didn't sound like he'd done that much outside the law except trade with the Apaches. For a deputy, Harkness (Russ Bender) seemed pretty level headed in his approach to settling the dispute between Shepard and Barnes (Kent Taylor). On top of that he had to contend with the dead man's brother (Jack Carr) out for revenge and his self proclaimed guardian, Miss Amy Carter (Joanna Barnes). I couldn't believe that Miss Carter joined the sheriff's little excursion back to the outlaw's burial place wearing a stylish blue dress. In all other respects, Miss Carter seemed pretty logical, so why she didn't wear an appropriate riding outfit didn't make sense to me. And did you notice, after her dusty tumble down the hill she managed to look good as new in the next scene and for the rest of the picture.
One of the cool things I like to look out for in these older Westerns is the price of goods and any sort of advertising. I got a real kick out of a wooden sign atop one of the barns in Twin Forks that stated 'Insist on Genuine Levi's'. In as much as the Levi Strauss Company produced their first pair of blue jeans in 1873, this was an interesting product placement that might have been historically accurate. You can use that tidbit during your next trivia contest.
I'd have to say there were a few cool twists thrown into the story to keep one guessing, like the way Barnes used the Beaumont belt buckle to enter his own bounty claim, and the grave switch with poor old Chito (Danny Zapien). I don't think I'm buying Barnes' turn at the end when he offered to cover Shepard against the Apaches. It didn't seem likely to me that he'd have a change of heart while cashing in his chips. But then Shepard did him one better by dropping his claim on the eight grand reward. Sometimes you just don't see these things coming.
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