The Saga of Hemp Brown (1958) User Reviews (10)

Hemp Brown's search for justice and redemption.

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 19 September 2019]

The Saga of Hemp Brown is directed by Richard Carlson and written by Bob Williams and Bernard Girard. It stars Rory Calhoun, Beverly Garland, John Larch, Russell Johnson, Fortunio Bonanova and Allan Lane. A CinemaScope/Eastman Color production, the music is by Joseph Gershenson and cinematography by Philip Lathrop.

Plot finds Calhoun as Hemp Brown, an army officer who loses the army payroll to a gang led by Jed Givens (Larch). Being the only survivor of the robbery and with no proof of what really happened - especially since Givens had a while back been reported as killed in action - he is dishonourably discharged from the army. With his good name in tatters and the odds stacked up against him, Brown sets about tracking Givens down.

Fascinating Oater this one, it's undone a touch due to the finale being a fizzle out damp squib, but still enough here for the genre fan to enjoy. The narrative contains some smart threads that lift it above average. The concept of Brown having his name severely tarnished by the army instead of putting him on trial for his life, and thus the whole country looks down on him, is improbable but a good plot device.

Better than that though, is the fact that both Brown and Givens need each other alive! Brown has to prove Givens is alive and well to prove his innocence, and will have to fight to keep his nemesis alive, while Givens needed Brown alive so he could take the blame for the robbery. Add in that Brown's only companions worth the name are a quirky travelling salesman (Bonanova) and his lovely assistant (Garland), then it's a nice frothy hot pot of plot ideas.

This could easily have been a boorish revenge piece, but there's a complexity about Brown's journey to redemption. Everyone and everything he believed in has gone sour, and yet he seeks not bloody vengeance, but justice so he can once again hold his head high in a society that was quick to shun him. The things he witnesses, such as a violent brother over protecting his sister, or a mob rule mentality late in the play, these stack up to paint the society Brown is ostracised from as hardly ideal! Remembering that he had already been cruelly misjudged by his army peers.

Not high on action quota, what we do get is well staged by Carlson, who had starred in enough lively scenes himself during his acting career. Calhoun is ever watchable, perfectly playing out Brown's various emotional beats with ease, while he also gets some sparky dialogue to deliver. Garland looks lovely and is costumed accordingly - especially when she's able to show off her glorious legs, and she finds tidy chemistry with her leading man. Larch is a wonderfully oily villain, but his big scene in the finale is a show of over acting, while Johnson as a hook handed criminal leaves a favourable mark.

Nicely photographed out of Conejo Valley, Thousand Oaks, Calif by Lathrop (though we yearn for more for sure), and a nifty foreboding based score by Gershenson (Herman Stein uncredited) seals the deal for this as good Oater viewing. Not one for those seeking wall to wall shoot outs etc, but one for those who like to see a narrative offering meaty substance. 7/10

"How are you, you barbaric Occidental?"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 24 July 2016]

The movie was getting a little tedious for me until Victor Sen Yung showed up as the Chinese bartender Chang uttering that great line to Rory Calhoun's Hemp Brown quoted in my summary above. It brought to mind another terrific line from the comedy Western "Blazing Saddles" when Gene Wilder says to Cleavon Little - "What's a dazzling urbanite like you doing in a rustic setting like this?"

The story here has a bit of the "Branded" TV show story line, in that Lieutenant Hemp Brown is discharged from the Cavalry after his contingent of soldiers is wiped out and an Army payroll strong box is stolen under his command. Convicted of cowardice, Brown puts on his civilian duds and sets out to find the former soldier (John Larch) who ambushed his squad, who was presumed already killed in action some months earlier when his soldier uniform and ID wound up on a corpse. I don't think I've come across that ruse before in a Western.

Brown had his man too until he made a rookie mistake and took his eye off the ball at the Slaughter House. Rory Calhoun's not supposed to make those kinds of errors; I guess he had to take a hit for the sake of the story. But then he makes another one when he goes to sleep in the Bolanos show wagon and Mona (Beverly Garland) grabs his gun. Like I say, the back and forth manner in which Hemp Brown lost and regained the upper hand got a little tedious after a while.

I'll say this for Beverly Garland though, she generally doesn't look as good as she did in this picture and those legs! - man, they went all the way up to there! The red saloon gal outfit helped too, so much so that after a while watching her get ready for the show, Hemp ran out of conversation topics.

The saga of Hemp brown

[coltras35 · 6/10 · 2 April 2023]

U. S. cavalry officer, Hemp Brown (Rory Calhoun), runs into some serious trouble when the party of civilians and troops he's bringing to a nearby Army fort is ambushed. A woman is killed during the gunfight, and money is stolen by the bandits. The leader of the gang, Jed Givens (John Larch), is an acquaintance of Brown, who implicates the fugitive during the subsequent trial. But Brown is court-martialed and booted from the Army. Brown tracks down Givens to restore honor to his name.

From cavalry officer Rory Calhoun's character becomes an outcast, one who has been wronged, and searches for the key that will grant him readmission into society, and the only way he could do that is by capturing John Larch. Larch is excellent as the villain of the piece, coming across quite psychotic. Calhoun does equally well as the man desperately trying to clear his name of cowardice. Beverley Garland add some colour as well as offering advice to our hero: that revenge can be self-defeating nature of it all and how it ends up inflicting more harm on the seeker than anyone else.

This western does lack some action, but it's plot driven and you get absorbed into the story with enough things happening. When I first watched this I found it a tad boring in parts, but on second viewing I liked it more. The pace can be a bit lumbering and there's some lack of excitement - but it's still a decent western with strong themes and performances.

Muddles After a Good Start

[dougdoepke · 23 January 2013]

After a botched robbery, an ex-cavalry lieutenant struggles to regain his good name by catching the real robber.

The first part—the robbery and the cashiering—made me think this would be a superior western. But then Brown (Calhoun) meets up with Mona (Garland) who falls for him immediately Hollywood style, and it's murky time from there on, especially when it's trying to figure out who's on what side and why. One thing about these Universal oaters of the 50's—they're always well photographed in Technicolor. So when the story flounders, as it does here, there's still lots to look at. I'm just sorry that two of the best B-actors of the period, Garland and Larch, don't get to do more. I was looking forward to Garland's hoochie-koochie before she wrapped herself in a cloak. Anyhow, if you can figure out the latter part of the plot-line, you might enjoy this otherwise routine oater.

Mediocre western

[rc223 · 3/10 · 19 January 2001]

Rory Calhoun is a disgraced army officer trying to track down the only man who can clear his name in this bland western with all the standard elements. It does feature the World's most inept lynch mob. So that's something, I suppose. Poor: [4/

Standard low budget crime western

[vampire_hounddog · 4/10 · 23 August 2020]

An army officer (Rory Calhoun) is blamed and is dishonourably discharged from the army wrongly after gold from a stagecoach is robbed. He goes after the man really responsible.

An indistinguishable low budget western that looks cheap, but fairly mature material.

Good Western

[ssscotchplains · 8/10 · 14 January 2007]

A rather decent U-I western from 1958.Rory Calhoun is properly vengeful as the wronged soldier who goes after bad guy John Larch and his gang. Beverly Garland was an interesting actress as she really was not beautiful in the traditional, glamorous girl or pinup way. I note this because she looks really 'hot' in this movie. I wonder if Director Richard Carlson had anything to do with this as he added a strong dose of heated passion in another U-I western that he directed four years prior ('Four Guns To the Border'); also with Calhoun. This is a good western and I don't think that you will be disappointed at all. For fans of Ms. Garland, I strongly recommend, 'Gunslinger' (1956) which is a very early directorial effort from Roger Corman. This is a bizarre western (also with John Ireland) which was completed on a shoestring budget and a one week shooting schedule.

Scorned as the one who ran

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 19 April 2015]

I swear while watching Rory Calhoun in the title role in The Saga Of Hemp Brown I could hear the faint echo of that famous theme from Branded. Rory is a cavalry officer who loses an army payroll, his whole patrol but him is killed and also killed was the wife of the commanding officer who was hitching a ride back to the post.

For reasons I'm not clear on the leader of the outlaw gang John Larch wants Calhoun to live. So he sends Calhoun back to the fort tied to his horse and they give him the Jason McCord treatment. Dishonorable discharge because they can't prove he stole the payroll. But he's discharged for cowardice.

Calhoun accuses Larch, but the army says Larch was killed in action a few years earlier. So Calhoun goes out looking for Larch.

Calhoun wants Larch back alive, why I can't figure that since a corpse with a couple of fresh bullet holes would have certainly proved that Larch was not dead. That should have gotten Calhoun clear if not the army payroll returned.

Definitely not one of Rory Calhoun's better westerns though John Larch as always is one mean and swaggering villain.

The Swiss Cheese Of Westerns

[damianphelps · 5/10 · 9 April 2024]

The Saga of Hemp Brown is a satisfactory western with great characters, good visuals and the usual solid performance from Rory Calhoun.

But...

Rory has a mission to clear his name. Ok nothing wrong with that...unless the movie presents about 10 different ways that this could occur before reaching its conclusion?

It ends up giving you the feeling of 'what's the point'. The plot totally destroys what is otherwise a good presentation.

I can usually overlook plot holes but The Saga of Hemp Brown keeps smacking you over the head with them.

Its a real shame and this was allowed to happen and it feels like they pumped out a movie treating the audience with contempt :)

If I could only get a copy

[virginiaac · 10/10 · 3 September 2007]

Can there have been any male actor in Hollywood to rival the handsome face of Rory Calhoun in his hey day in this film? Bland it may be, hackneyed plot, lack of reality but what the film may lose in greatness, it makes up for with Rory Calhoun's fine acting and general superb handsomeness.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film which shows Rory being dismissed for cowardice and after quite a few adventures and fights he is able to regain his reputation, win the girl, AND get paid for being a handsome fine actor.

Sorry chaps, this guy was GORGEOUS!