Sierra
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Alfred E. Green
Wanda Hendrix
Audie Murphy
Burl Ives
Dean Jagger
Richard Rober
Photos & Videos
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
While tracking wild horses, cowboy Ring Hassard finds Riley Martin, a lost woman lawyer. Along with his father Jeff, Ring takes Riley to their mountain hideout for safety. The next day, Jeff seriously injures his back trying to break in a new horse, and despite Riley's insistence, the Hassards refuse to go into Sierra Vista for a physician. Instead, Ring calls upon singing prospector Lonesome for help. Riley then learns that Jeff is a fugitive, having been accused of murder fifteen years earlier. Lonesome arrives and tells Ring that his father is paralyzed and needs immediate medical attention. Believing in Jeff's innocence, Riley rides with Ring, who has taken the alias Ring Harris, as he attempts to take some horses into Mexico to trade for medical help. Along the way, however, Riley is bitten by a rattlesnake. Ring saves her and takes her to Sierra Vista for care, then leaves her with her aunt Susan before returning to the mountains. There, he discovers that his horses have been stolen by Big Matt Ringo, a crooked ranch foreman. Lonesome convinces Ring to seek legal help, but after being spurned by Sheriff Knudson, Ring attempts to steal his horses back from Big Matt, and is instead captured and arrested for horse theft. Riley offers to defend Ring, but he refuses upon learning that she is engaged to rancher Duke Lafferty, Big Matt's employer. Riley, however, convinces Judge Prentiss to appoint her as Ring's public defender. Ring, mistrustful of the law, refuses to defend himself during the trial, and Riley inadvertently discloses his true identity. Later, Lonesome breaks Ring out of jail, and the two then abduct Dr. Hank Robbins and force him to take care of Jeff. With his father laid up indefinitely, Ring decides to hire the Coulters, an outlaw family, to work on their hidden ranch. Meanwhile, Riley questions the widowed Mrs. Jonas about Jeff's crime, and the old woman tells her that Jeff, after discovering a giant herd of wild horses, claimed to have been knocked unconscious by an unseen assailant at the same time that her husband, Harvey Jonas, was killed by a bullet from Jeff's rifle. Later, when Riley refuses to drop Ring's case, the jealous Duke orders Big Matt and his men to go into the mountains and kill the Hassards. The sheriff's posse, however, first discovers Ring and the Coulters, and while the fugitives are able to scare them out of the mountains, Sheriff Knudson decides to form a bigger posse to uncover the outlaws. Learning of this, Riley rides into the mountains to warn Ring of both the new posse and Big Matt's men. Soon after, Ring and the Coulters capture Big Matt and his men, and after Ring defeats him in a fistfight, Big Matt promises to leave the mountains peacefully. Ring, Riley and the Coulters then corral a gigantic wild horse herd similar to the one that Jeff had seen years earlier, not knowing that Big Matt, acting on Duke's order, plans to stampede the horses the next morning. Ring and the Coulters, however, are able to turn the stampeding herd, and Duke and Big Matt are trampled by the horses. The posse arrives, but before they can lynch Ring, Jeff and the Coulters, the dying Big Matt confesses to Harvey's murder. With his father finally cleared, Ring is able to enjoy both his new herd and Riley.
Director
Alfred E. Green
Cast
Wanda Hendrix
Audie Murphy
Burl Ives
Dean Jagger
Richard Rober
Anthony Curtis
Houseley Stevenson
Elliott Reid
Griff Barnett
Elisabeth Risdon
Roy Roberts
Gregg Martell
Sara Allgood
Erskine Sanford
John Doucette
Jim Arness
Ted Jordan
I. Stanford Jolley
Jack Ingram
Crew
Glenn E. Anderson
Edna Anhalt
John Austin
Irvin Berwick
Robert F. Boyle
Martin Brown
Leslie I. Carey
William Fritzsche
Russell A. Gausman
Milton Gunzburg
Frederick Herbert
Bernard Herzbrun
Jesse Hibbs
Arnold Hughes
Burl Ives
Ted Kent
Michel Kraike
Russell Metty
Walter Scharf
Frank Skinner
Joan St. Oegger
Dewey Starkey
Herman Townsley
Bud Westmore
Yvonne Wood
Photo Collections
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Co-stars Wanda Hendrix and Audie Murphy were married to each other at the time of this production but, according to New York Times, separated prior to the film's release. Hollywood Reporter news items add Dan White and Jessica Kraike to the cast, although their appearance in the final film has not been confirmed. Some scenes were filmed in Cedar City and Kanab, UT. The Stuart Hardy novel was previously filmed by Universal in 1938 as Forbidden Valley, starring Noah Berry, Jr. and Frances Robinson, and directed by Wyndham Gittens (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.1429).
