RELEASED TO TV IN 1971 and directed by Ted Post, "Yuma" covers events in Yuma, Arizona, when a new Marshal (Clint Walker) is sent to tame its lawlessness. Morgan Woodward plays a tough cattleman who blames the marshal for the deaths of his two brothers while Kathryn Hays is on hand as a winsome hotel owner/operator. Peter Mark Richman and John Kerr appear as two officers at the local Army fort while Barry Sullivan plays a shady proprietor of a freight company and Edgar Buchanan the owner of a lesser one.
This was the pilot movie for a potential series that was never realized. Its short runtime gives away that it would've fit in a 90 minute slot with commercials. Walker is likable as the towering laconic Marshal whereas sweet Hays shines in her role. The tone is serious & realistic while the story is rather contrived, in the manner of TV Westerns of the 60s (e.g. The Big Valley), yet the latter makes for a brisk viewing with almost zero filler. The story even throws in Natives from a local reservation and the scenic locations (outside the town) lend authenticity.
THE FILM RUNS 73 minutes and was shot in Arizona (Old Tucson, Sonora Desert, Ironwood Forest National Monument, Silver Bell and Riggs Flat Lake) with studio work done at Paramount Studios, CA. WRITER: Charles Wallace.
GRADE: B-/C+
This was the pilot movie for a potential series that was never realized. Its short runtime gives away that it would've fit in a 90 minute slot with commercials. Walker is likable as the towering laconic Marshal whereas sweet Hays shines in her role. The tone is serious & realistic while the story is rather contrived, in the manner of TV Westerns of the 60s (e.g. The Big Valley), yet the latter makes for a brisk viewing with almost zero filler. The story even throws in Natives from a local reservation and the scenic locations (outside the town) lend authenticity.
THE FILM RUNS 73 minutes and was shot in Arizona (Old Tucson, Sonora Desert, Ironwood Forest National Monument, Silver Bell and Riggs Flat Lake) with studio work done at Paramount Studios, CA. WRITER: Charles Wallace.
GRADE: B-/C+