The Saga of Hemp Brown (1958)

The Saga of Hemp Brown (1958)


Plot Summary

Ex-army sergeant Jed Givens (John Larch) and his gang rob an army payroll shipment led by Lt. Hemp Brown. (Rory Calhoun) Givens kills a civilian woman and all the soldiers, leaving Brown alive to face a military tribunal in which he is branded a coward, stripped of all insignia and drummed out of the army. Brown sets out to track down Givens in an effort to clear his name.

Well after watching a couple movies that had some ambition and scope we move onto something that's thoroughly mediocre. It didn't have to be that way as the setup to the movie was excellent what with Lt. Brown leading some soldiers along with the major's new wife and the army payroll and meeting up up with Givens who was an army colleague of Brown's. Givens gives a story of how he tried to get into the gold mining business but it went bust and asks for a ride to the army base to re-enlist. It's at that point that Givens makes his true intentions known with his group as they ambush everyone and leave Brown alive which makes him look like a coward. Brown of course, tells of Givens but it seems Givens had been dead for the past 3 months. So now it's up to Brown to clear his name and get revenge.

So yeah, the setup is good but then the movie kind of muddles along as Brown goes searching for Givens and meeting people along the way who saw Givens heading south. At this point in the movie you get the sense that they're going with a "man on a mission" type deal but it comes across looking bad as the populace knows of Brown's "cowardice" and gives him a hard time when trying to find out where Givens is. The movie also blew the chance for a grand gun battle for the finale as Brown meets up with Givens in a secluded bar with an elderly bartender. They exchange tough words and Brown gets the bartender to write a note stating that he witnessed Givens very much alive. Givens manages to escape after busting Brown's head. Brown ends up following Givens south and is nearly left for dead when he hitches a ride with a 5th rate magician and his assistant Mona. (Beverly Garland) It's here that the movie completely falls apart as Mona is clearly attracted to Brown but realizes that he has a death wish. They then stop at a house where Brown figures Givens is and he discovers that the proprietor of the place is in grief as a group of hoodlums murdered his wife and there's now a posse out to avenge her.

It's at this point that the story gets needlessly complicated as there's the subplot of the Leacock killer and how Givens was framed by one of his men which nearly costs him his life but Brown saves him so that he could clear his name by having Givens confess to everything in regards to him. Instead of being a straight revenge flick the movie tries to add subplot to what should've been a more simple story. That being said, the acting was mostly credible though Larch and Garland who were top B movie stars were given very little to do here.

I will say this though, despite fumbling the ball plot wise this movie has a lot in common with other Universal-International westerns of the '50s in that despite the productions being B/B+ grade with films that often were under the hour and 20 mark they were ALWAYS photographed well in lush color. So even when the movie isn't clicking acting or plot wise there's always bound to be something interesting to look at.

That being said, this movie was a bit of a missed opportunity and could've been a lot better. I give this movie * 1/2 stars. It's a bit of a drag and just doesn't feel inspired at all.