Les cavaliers de l'enfer

Another Audie Murphy Western from 1961. A group of men ride into a town & proceed to rob & kill w/o abandon w/the sheriff being one of the victims & a woman kidnapped (& raped repeatedly). Enter Murphy, a newly hired deputy, thrust into a situation where a posse has to be formed to go after the killers. Murphy is not too pleased w/the motley crew assembled (the uncle of the kidnapped girl, a former military man, a bank representative sent along to recover the money, et al) but he's a professional & along w/an expert tracker, they stay within killing distance of the murderous pack. After a time, the posse members are killed off or leave so Murphy soon comes to the realization he'll have to overcome his own hang-ups to get the job done which works well since the prey they're after is more metaphoric than anything finally. W/a supporting cast consisting of John Saxon, Frank Overton, Royal Dano, Lee Van Cleef & Vic Morrow (Jennifer Jason Leigh's dad) as the head of the killing crew.

A reluctant deputy takes an even more reluctant posse after 4 dangerous thugs who killed several townspeople and left with a hostage. The posse is so inept that several of them are gunned down while engaging the enemy on 3 or 4 occasions. Ol' Murph tried to keep them in line but they were mostly pretty hopeless. Lots of gunplay made for a good western, even if it was a little lame.

better than average Audie Murphy western with more sharply defined characters than usual - plus a good script that brings freshness - and even fun - to the heavily traveled chase 'em plot the actors help a lot - Robert Keith as the grizzled ex Civil War soldier who keeps trying to take over the posse - Rudolph Acosta as an Indian trying to be accepted - John Saxon as a soft Easterner reluctantly shoved into posse duty - Paul Carr as an eager young man handy with pistols - to name a few - somehow the script makes this diverse group interesting without making them annoying - the one notable exception is the 1-dimensional quality of the kidnapped girl as written - fortunately - the role was given over to the way-too-talented Zohra Lampert - and she brings this small part to life the represents the type of effort that makes genre enjoyable

I've long been a fan of Audie Murphy and event his lesser movies are better than most of the drivel that comes out of Hollywood today. This is a good movie on its merits and not just as a vehicle for Murphy. It works well on all levels - story, acting, and directing. What I most enjoyed is the fact each actor is given screen time to rise above the stereotypes and create a memorable character - even if they only have a few lines. The two I remember most are the young banker Seymour Kern (John Saxon) and the Mexican cowboy Johnny Caddo (Rudolph Acosta). Saxon in particular does well showing true, believable growth; he isn't just there as a foil/sidekick for Murphy to play off of but as a genuine character treated as equally important to the storyline. Acosta, usually a villain in the movies, plays an equally important role as a Spanish cowboy who joins simply because "it's the right thing to do".