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Hell Bent for Leather
Hell Bent for Leather
	Original film poster
Directed by	George Sherman
Screenplay by	Christopher Knopf
Based on	Outlaw Marshal by Ray Hogan
Produced by	Gordon Kay
Starring	Audie Murphy; Felicia Farr; Stephen McNally; Robert Middleton
Cinematography	Clifford Stine
Edited by	Milton Carruth
Music by	Irving Gertz; William Lava
Color process	Eastmancolor
Production; company	Universal Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	February 1, 1960;
Running time	82 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$500,000

Hell Bent for Leather is a 1960 American CinemaScope Western film directed by George Sherman and starring Audie Murphy, Felicia Farr, Stephen McNally and Robert Middleton.^[2] The film was based on the 1959 novel Outlaw Marshal by Ray Hogan and filmed on location in the Alabama Hills of Lone Pine, California.

Plot

Clay Santell (Audie Murphy) has his horse stolen and stops in the town of Sutterville. He is mistaken by townspeople for a murderer named Travers (Jan Merlin), and is handed over to Marshal Harry Deckett (Stephen McNally). Deckett knows the truth but decides to kill Clay and pass him off as the real Travers to enhance his reputation and collect the reward money. Clay escapes and takes a woman (Felicia Farr) hostage until he can prove his innocence.

Cast

Audie Murphy as Clay
Felicia Farr as Janet
Stephen McNally as Deckett
Robert Middleton as Ambrose
James Westmoreland as Moon
Jan Merlin as Travers
Herbert Rudley as Perrick
Malcolm Atterbury as Gamble
Joseph Ruskin as Shad
Allan Lane as Kelsey
John Qualen as Old Ben
Eddie Little Sky as William
Steve Gravers as Grover
Beau Gentry as Stone
Bob Steele as Jared

Production

The film was the first of seven low-budget Westerns Audie Murphy made for producer Gordon Kay at Universal. They would be shot in 18–20 days at a budget of around $500,000, and normally feature only three main roles: the hero (played by Murphy), female lead, and villain.^[1] The other films were:

Seven Ways from Sundown (1960)
Posse from Hell (1961)
Six Black Horses (1962)
Showdown (1963)
Bullet for a Badman (1964)
Gunpoint (1966)

References

^ ^a ^b Don Graham, No Name on the Bullet: The Biography of Audie Murphy, Penguin, 1989 p 291
^ Hell Bent for Leather at Audie Murphy Memorial Site