Sierra Stranger (1957) User Reviews

Help goes to the wrong party

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 22 March 2015]

I've noticed that in many a B western the cowboy hero will 95% of the time see someone in trouble and instinctively help the underdog. You see that God knows how many times with Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and the rest. Sierra Stranger is a B western with a different proposition. Help goes to the wrong party.

Howard Duff is in the title role, he's the stranger and he helps Ed Kemmer when he sees Barton MacLane and Robert Foulk roughing him up and about to tie him to a horse to be dragged. Kemmer is of course grateful and tells him to look up Dick Foran when he gets to town for a grubstake.

But when Duff gets to town he has quite a reception awaiting him. Other than Dick Foran who turns out to be Kemmer's half brother and who owns the saloon public opinion is that Kemmer's a no good rat and probably guilty of the claim jumping that MacLane and Foulk claim he is. Even Eve McVeigh who is Foran's wife and Gloria McGhee who is Kemmer's girl friend don't have much good to say about Kemmer.

It all does end quite tragically.

Sierra Stranger is a no frills B western that Columbia Pictures released to fill some bottom bills in the Fifties. This was the kind of story that you could find in a Gunsmoke or a Have Gun Will Travel episode on television which was why the B western was rapidly going into extinction. The next decade would see the last of them.

Howard Duff, Dick Foran and the rest of the cast fit nicely into their parts. But it's Ed Kemmer who has the best role in the film as the unregenerate no good who everyone, but Dick Foran sees for what he is.

Not Great But Very Watchable

[csmith-99615 · 7/10 · 5 September 2019]

Like another reviewer said " I'll watch any western ". That fits me to a T. I'm not going to review the plot. Others have done that and like most westerns made in the 50s the plot was fairly simple. I guess what I didn't like about this movie is that a couple of the main characters acted unlike any person would. Meg, engaged to another man, meets Jesse and after 10 minutes is sure she's in love with him and not her fiance. Bert, refuses to believe his half brother is no good even after eye witness ' say he robbed a stage and shot the guard. Things like this ruin a movie for me, even a 50s western

The Stranger of the Sierras

[Oslo_Jargo · 5/10 · 26 February 2019]

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

*Plot and ending analyzed*

Howard Duff stars in this bland and average Western that doesn't excite or entice much. He did quite a few of these commonplace Westerns. They don't have the stories that are very powerful and the direction is entirely conventional.

Still, I'll watch any Western.

Here he plays a cowboy who saves another cowboy and gets a 'stake' in a mine. But when he goes to town he encounters opposition and hostility because a few folks think he's a claim jumper (one who occupies illegally someone's property to which another has a legal claim).

He gets some help from a well-off man but then even that goes downhill when the guy that Howard Duff saved, robs and kills a stage and its driver. The well-off man doesn't believe his friend killed or robbed anyone. Howard Duff goes looking for him to clear things up but has to shoot him.

Don't except much. Not a complete loss though.

Very below average Western

[bux · 14 May 2002]

Duff and a nice supporting cast cannot propel this western quickie above borderline mediocre. From the opening scene it is obvious that this one was done fast on a small budget. Fast and small is not always bad, but the makers here lacked that talent to belie shortcomings, and what we see is a cheapie western at it's worst.

minor spoiler ... duff, foran in okay western

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 13 September 2022]

This western has it all... stage holdups, fist fights, horse chases, shoot outs. When collins (howard duff) helps sonny (ed kemmer) out in a fist fight, he heads to town to help file a claim. And that's where the trouble begins. Everyone in town seems to be against him, but he's not sure why; no-one will tell him the real story, and the viewer is led to believe collins is one good guy helping another good guy. The townspeople all know that sonny is really the bad guy. Co-star dick foran was in so many westerns. Even sonny's girl (gloria mcGehee) knows he's not a good guy, but doesn't say anything. The weakness in this story is that for some reason, people who know sonny's history take a really long time to fill in collins, apparently to mislead the viewer. The townies act more like thugs, and keep starting fistfights, instead of filling collins in on how bad sonny really is. Was the original plot too close to another story, or was it just weak writing? Directed by lee sholem, who is called "roll em, sholem" on his own wikipedia page. He didn't direct many films after making this, moving mostly into television. I'll give "stranger" just an okay... there are so many better westerns, with stronger storylines.

Much Better Than Advertised

[gsfsu · 8/10 · 8 September 2022]

I accidentally left this movie running but after the initial 10 minutes I was intrigued. There were some obvious unnatural passages but nothing in excess of what a normal Western movie would have. The only real poor part was how quickly Sonny's girl got attached to our hero (Howard Duff). It was great seeing those mostly late actors in their prime especially Duff and Matt the bartender, and the sheriff (who later played 'Gus' the fireman on the Leave it to Beaver show.

I'd only seen Howard Duff in his cop show years later and never knew he appeared in Westerns.

Lots of characters in this one. It is worth a look If you are into Westerns.

Fast food western

[searchanddestroy-1 · 27 June 2023]

This kind of stuff is for western what fast food is for gourmets. This is a western not that crap but a movie that you'll rapidly forget after viewing. Howard Duff is totally bland, giving a wooden performance in a plot which you already know the whereabouts, the ending, everything. But it remains an acceptable time waster, and from Lee Sholem, the director, that's already a performance. A rare film too, so a good reason for western buffs not to miss it. This film maker Sholem was a real yes man but there was worst than him. He lacked more ambition than talent, but that doesn't mean he was a gifted director.