The Burning Hills (1956)

When a group of gunmen kill his brother under orders of a land baron (Ray Teal), a young man (Tab Hunter) vows to bring justice to his brother's murderers. But first, he will have to survive the posse of the rancher's henchman out to kill him. Based on a novel by the western author Louis L'Amour (HONDO) and directed by Stuart Heisler (STORM WARNING). This is an average revenge western and occasionally more than that. The movie holds one's interest because there's enough of a "what's going to happen next?" factor until the film's last 15 minutes when it turns into just another western. Although she has an awful Mexican accent (she improved by the time of WEST SIDE STORY), I liked Natalie Wood's feisty heroine with more guts than most of the men around her. Shot in CinemaScope, Ted McCord (THE SOUND OF MUSIC) does a decent job of making the Warners ranch look like it was shot on location. With Earl Holliman, Skip Homeier, Eduard Franz and Claude Akins.