Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Ride a Crooked Trail Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 18, 2021

Jesse Hibbs' "Ride a Crooked Trail" (1958) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive new audio commentary by film historian Toby Roan and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Soon after Lady Luck helps him dodge the famous U.S. Marshal Jim Noonan, bank robber Joe Maybe (Audie Murphy) enters Little Rock, Arkansas, where Judge Kyle (Walter Matthau) incorrectly assumes that he is the man with the badge. After Maybe confirms to him his new identity, Judge Kyle invites him to have a drink with him and see how he represents the law in his courtroom, and eventually declares that his guest is the right man to become the town’s next sheriff. At first the perplexed Maybe decides to play along only until Judge Kyle gets off his back, but later on changes his mind and officially becomes Sheriff Noonan.

Even though Maybe can barely hold his liquor as well as Judge Kyle does his, the two men quickly warm up to each other. Then together they do some much needed problem-fixing that further solidifies Judge Kyle’s conviction that the newcomer is indeed the right man to carry the sheriff’s badge.

But Tessa Milotte (Gia Scala) nearly blows up Maybe’s cover. A beautiful swindler from New Orleans, Milotte arrives in town to help Maybe and his partners rob the local bank, as they have all previously agreed, and when she addresses him using his real name, Judge Kyle temporarily becomes seriously suspicious of the two. It is only after they reveal to the old-timer that they have a special way of expressing their affection in public that he calms down and all goes back to normal. Well, almost all, because now Maybe and Milotte are forced to behave as a couple, too.

Led by Sam Teeler (Henry Silva), the rest of Maybe’s partners eventually enter the town as well. However, their perfect plan to rob the bank undergoes a couple of forced changes that annoy a few of them and pushes them in opposite directions. Meanwhile, Maybe decides to cut ties with them and assist Judge Kyle in defending the bank, but when his murky past is revealed, he becomes a moving target that everyone wants taken out.

Ride a Crooked Trail isn’t quite as good as some of the other films Jesse Hibbs made with Murphy, but it is still very nicely shot and certainly very entertaining. However, it has to be made clear that in Ride a Crooked Trail Murphy actually shares the spotlight with Matthau, so it is probably not entirely fair to compare it to the likes of To Hell and Back and World in My Corner where the former is asked to lead alone.

The narrative produces familiar conflicts that quickly draw an obvious line between the good and bad characters, so it is only a matter of time before they are forced to face each other and defend their chosen lifestyles. Even Murphy’s impostor is a fairly transparent character that does not need to undergo a profound transformation because his decent half is always in control.

There is plenty of realistic action but it is not of the intense type that gives big-budget westerns from the same era their identity. In fact, the screenplay produces just as much humor that counters the action and infuses the narrative with a great deal of lightness. The material where the humor flourishes is arguably where both Murphy and Matthau are at their very best.

Scala and Silva come a little later but both do some great things with their characters. The former is easier to praise because she effectively reshapes Murphy’s character after the two are forced to behave as a normal couple.

Hibbs used the services of Oscar-nominated cinematographer Harold Lipstein, whose credits include such films as A Man Called Peter, Damn Yankees, Pal Joey, and The Night of the Grizzly.

Ride a Crooked Trail Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ride a Crooked Trail arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from an older but quite nice master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. Despite revealing some unevenness that affects density and delineation, this is actually one of those older masters that produces a very pleasing organic presentation of a film that has not been fully restored. On my system a lot of indoor close-ups and outdoor panoramic vistas looked very good, though again, inherited limitations were frequently easy to spot. Generally speaking, grain exposure ranges from good to very good, and even if you have a very large screen and identify some shaky areas, I think that you will be pleased with it because it has not been digitally manipulated. The color balance is very good, too. Yes, there is some room for improvement, but saturation levels and the existing ranges of nuances are convincing. Image stability is good, but some minor stability enhancements can still be beneficial. A few minor blemishes can be spotted, but there are no distracting age-related imperfections. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Ride a Crooked Trail Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The lossless track is excellent. To be honest, I was actually quite surprised how good clarity, sharpness, and overall balance were because I expected to encounter at least some minor fluctuations. Also, the upper register is very healthy. Naturally, I would say that if eventually a better master emerges and the audio is restored, the audio will sound practically identical to what you get from this release.

Ride a Crooked Trail Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for Ride a Crooked Trailer In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by film historian Toby Roan. If you have listened to any of the other commentaries he has done for various westerns from Kino Lorber's catalog, you will know what to expect from this commentary as well -- plenty of nicely researched information about the production of Ride a Crooked Trailer, director Jesse Hibbs and Audie Murphy's careers and collaborations, the careers of some of the other people that contributed to the film, the western genre, etc. I liked the commentary.

Ride a Crooked Trail Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you decide to argue that Walter Matthau overshadows Audie Murphy in Ride a Crooked Trail, you will probably find quite a few people that agree with you. I may consider joining you too, though I still think that the two work together really well and are not competing for the spotlight. I saw Ride a Crooked Trail on the same night I revisited To Hell and Back and enjoyed it a lot. Both films were directed by Jesse Hibbs. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an older but very nice organic master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. It is included in the Audie Murphy Collection three-disc box set. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.