Louis L'Amour Movies

A couple looking for adventure and romance get a lot more than they bargained for in this made-for-TV drama based on a novel by Louis L'Amour. It's 1955, and John and Helen Lacklan (Keith Carradine and Paris Jefferson) are two scientists who've been working for the United States government as part of the nuclear weapons development program. They're also man and wife, and when John wed Helen, he gave her a ring without a stone, promising to someday find the diamond that she deserved. Needing a vacation, the Lacklans travel to Borneo, hoping to find a diamond while getting away from it all. Needing a guide, the Lacklans hire Mike Kardec (Billy Zane), an American expatriate who knows the jungles of Borneo and has done some diamond hunting himself. Mike soon finds he's strongly attracted to Helen, and Helen is equally drawn to Mike; it doesn't take long for John to see what's happening, and he angrily fires Kardec, hiring instead a native boy who claims to know where diamonds can be found. However, what John doesn't know is, the boy is a member of the Dyak tribe, whose leader Jeru (Piripi Waretini) has been responsible for the disappearance of a number of visitors; when Mike gets word of this, he sets out to find the Lacklans before it's too late. The Diamond of Jeru also stars Jackson Raine and Peter Carroll. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Louis L'Amour, this made-for-HBO western stars Sam Elliott, an enigmatic gunslinger who comes to the aid of a family traveling through the wilderness. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV movie, two brothers who battled on opposing sides of the Civil War return home at the end of the war to discover that their family has been kidnapped by Confederate forces. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

The title of this Bob Hope vehicle Cancel My Reservation is a multiple pun, referring to elements in the story. The ever-youthful Hope plays Dan Bartlett, a late-night TV talk show host. Frazzled, he takes a much-needed vacation in Arizona. There, he stumbles upon a murder and a conspiracy by local rancher, John Ed (Ralph Bellamy) to defraud a local Native American group of part of its reservation. Dan is a suspect in the murder, and must investigate in order to clear his name. Though the story is rather light, celebrities of all sorts have either small parts or cameos in this film, and much of the film's entertainment value comes from spotting them. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In John Sturges' Americanized version of Sergio Leone's Man-With-No-Name films, Clint Eastwood is Joe Kidd, a cryptic stranger who arrives in the New Mexican town of Sinola, where Mexican bandito/revolutionary Luis Chama (John Saxon) has organized a peasant revolt against the local landowners, who are throwing the poor off land that rightfully belongs to them. When a posse -- financed by wealthy landowner Frank Harlan (Robert Duvall) -- is formed to capture Luis, Kidd is invited to join but prefers to remain neutral. Harlan keeps badgering Kidd to join up, and Kidd finally relents when he finds that Luis's band has raided his own ranch and one of his ranch hands has been injured. The bloodthirsty posse rounds up five Mexicans hostages and threaten to kill them unless Luis surrenders to them. One of the hostages is the attractive Stella Garcia (Helen Sanchez), and Kidd falls in love with her. Harlan notices this and throws Kidd in jail to prevent him from helping Stella and the Mexicans. Kidd decides the position himself as the voice of reason in this nest of disorder. He escapes and saves the Mexican hostages, determined to capture Luis himself and see that he gets a fair trial. But when Kidd captures Luis and delivers him to Sheriff Mitchell (Gregory Walcott), Harlan is in town waiting for him. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this western adventure, Shalako (Sean Connery) leads a hunting expedition in the wilds of New Mexico. There they run across an Apache camp where the Countess Irina (Brigitte Bardot) is being held hostage. When the Indians retaliate by destroying the camp of the European aristocrats, Shalako must use his wiles to battle the Indians and the jealous members of his own hunting party. The camp is robbed by Fulton (Stephen Boyd), who runs off with the wife of Sir Dagget (Jack Hawkins). Lady Boyd (Honor Blackman) leaves her rich husband in a dramatic split decision prompted by the marital discord between her and her pompous husband. Shalako leads the survivors through dangerous mountain terrain, engaging in climactic hand-to-hand combat. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this western, the trouble begins when a rancher's mother and father are killed by a young outlaw and his family who want his land. The son returns the favor and slaughters them. As the father lies dying, he manages to hire three gunslingers to track the boy down. The boy is a good shot though and kills two of the hired guns and then flees into Indian territory. There he meets an old miner, his wife and their daughter. The remaining gunslinger finds him, but is taken prisoner by the miner. Later, the saucy wife makes a pass at the young man, but he rejects her. In retaliation, she frees the gunman, steals her husband's gold and takes off. She ends up being killed by the Indians. Meanwhile, the daughter, the miner, and the rancher's son are busy fighting off an attack of their own. They then ride off after the fleeing gunman whose horse is so laden down with gold that it collapses. This allows the son to shoot him dead. Afterwards, the son and the miner's daughter get hitched and live happily ever after. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The talents of the cast and director George Cukor (A Star Is Born, My Fair Lady), combine to bring off this otherwise routine Western based on a Louis L'Amour novel. Sophia Loren is Angela Rossini, a woman who seems to create the situations she gets into, and Anthony Quinn is the strong, silent but soft-hearted Tom Healy. Rather than playing it straight, Cukor opts for satire and effective comedy in taking "The Great Healy Dramatic and Concert Co.," with its two-wagon loads of thespians and their gear, and turning it into a fun romp. As the troupe carries on with their performances heading through Wyoming, they are fighting for their economic survival and, as often as not, running like the devil from the law. There is a likeable villain in the piece, Mabry (Steve Forrest), a zany woman who has "sacrificed" her own dubious stage career for that of her daughter (Eileen Heckart), a so-called Shakespearean actor (Edmund Love), a banker with menacing undertones (Ramon Novarro), and a really hysterical Indian attack. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Joel McCrea essays the title role in this moody little western. McCrea is a Union officer wounded in battle, who joins up with a wagon train heading westward. He is ostracized by those passengers who'd fought on the Confederate side, though leading lady Virginia Mayo welcomes his presence. McCrea redeems himself in the eyes of the ex-Confederate homesteaders when he acts as mediator in a range dispute with a land baron (Barry Kelly)--who happens to be McCrea's own half brother. Tall Stranger is based on a novel by the prolific Louis L'Amour. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having been summoned Westward by a letter from her husband, who claims to have a valuable silver mine, Linda Harris (Erin O'Brien) arrives to find that she is now a widow. Enlisting the aid of Bret Maverick (James Garner), Linda embarks upon a perilous journey through Indian territory in search of her late husband's mine. Taking refuge from an Indian attack, Bret and Linda find themselves trapped in a way station with the Fallon family--who turn out to be the same outlaws who murdered Linda's husband, and are now determined to trick her into leading them to the silver (and of course bump her off as well). This episode is based on "That Packsaddle Affair", a short story by celebrated Western author Louis L'Amour. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The plot of The Burning Hills is motivated by revenge, which only a few years earlier had been on the Motion Picture Code's no-no list. Cattleman Trace Jordan (Tab Hunter) seeks retribution for the murder of his brother, killed at the behest of cattle baron Joe Sutton (Ray Teal). Before long, however, it is Jordan who is being pursued by Sutton's henchmen. Accompanying Jordan on his flight is his Anglo-Latino girlfriend Maria Colton (a miscast Natalie Wood). Clearly designed to cash in on the teenaged fan following of Tab Hunter and Natalie Wood, Burning Hills is nonetheless entertaining enough to please even nonfans of the stars. The film is based on a novel by Louis L'Amour. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Zachary Scott heads the cast of the heavily plotted western Treasure of Ruby Hills. The son of a notorious outlaw, Haney (Scott) intends to settle down peacefully in Soledad, Arizona. This proves difficult when Haney finds himself in the middle of a violent feud over water rights. The heavy of the piece is ranch foreman Doran (Dick Foran), who plays both sides down the middle in hopes of grabbing control of the water for himself. Carole Mathews co-stars as Sherry, Haney's sweetheart, while Lola Albright steals every scene she's in as the voluptuous May. Treasure of Ruby Hills was lensed by Allied Artists in the same locations later utilized by the studio's "Bowery Boys" opus Dig That Uranium. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide