Sierra Stranger

The only thing I know - to my undying shame - about Lee Sholem is that he directed in excess of 1,300 B pictures in a 40-year span. In fact, the Hollywood industry tagged him Lee "Roll'em" Sholem because he cranked out films more often than he probably went to the toilet - but, at least on the strength of SIERRA STRANGER, quantity should not be confused with intestinal waste!

Crisp B&W cinematography by Sam Leavitt benefits from sharp editing by Leon Barsha, and the screenplay by Richard Dorso keeps you interested, even if the various characters' motivations could have done with neater clarification. For instance, I could not understand why Bert Gaines (Dick Foran) would stand as such a loyal friend to claim jumper Ed Kemmer, even as his very wife, played by Eve McVeagh, could see through his schemes, as could pretty much the rest of the town.

That said, penniless central character Jess Collins (Howard Duff) only gets some dosh and assistance at the claims department thanks to Gaines, after relieving Grover (Kemmer) from a rope pulled by the inevitably vicious Barton MacLane and sidekick Rob Foulk... who I mistook for the baddies.

Grover unfortunately disappears from the film for too long to make a credible mark as the heavy, plus his youth masks the evil in him. I do not rate deceiving the viewer a minus, but in this case it needed more polished, better built up treatment. The fact that both Collins and Grover have feelings for beautiful Meg (Gloria McGehee) adds to the tensions but they seem to have a loyal relation going and somehow their conflict left me with the impression that it amounted to little more than the proverbial teacup storm.

Worth a watch, though. 7/10.