Desert Pursuit

directed by George Blair
Category: "Western"
Year of Release:1952
Date Added:07/30/2024
Date Watched:07/30/2024
Description:Ford Smith (Wayne Morris) is a prospector who found a load of gold. When his partner gets drunk and blabs about it, three Arabs on camels (really!) set out to rob him. Ford takes off across Death Valley in company with Mary Smith (Virginia Grey), who just happens to show up on her way to California. Ford and Mary set out, pursued by the Arabs, who, conveniently, don't have any ammunition for their guns. They all happen upon a tribe of Indians on Christmas Eve. The Indians mistake the Arabs for the three wise men, but when Ford gives them a bit of gold, they send an Indian along with him and Mary to protect them. The Arabs catch up. There's a bit of shooting and a bit of fighting. Two of the Arabs fall off cliffs. Ford and Mary ride on to California with the gold and plans to buy a ranch together.
My Rating:6

Reviews for Desert Pursuit

Review - Desert Pursuit

I would rate the movie no higher than a 4 except for the unintended humor. Where to start. The entire movie takes place around a notable rock formation, even though the characters have supposedly ridden for three days. At least the director used a different camera angle for each day. The water hole (which they find on two separate days — again from separate angles, is just a three-foot hole in the desert sand, filled with muddy water. No matter how fast Ford and Mary rode their horses, the Arabs on their camels kept showing up over the next hill — even though the camels never are shown going faster than a lackadaisical trot. The bad guys, apart from having no ammunition, act like the Three Stooges and NEVER hit what they shoot at when they do manage to get a few bullets. And every time they got within talking distance of Ford, they tried to con them into thinking they were harmless, even using different stories within minutes of each other. One of them was played by George Tobias, who was Abner Kravitz on Bewitched. The doubles in the fighting sequences were so obvious it's like I was suddenly watching a separate movie. The dialogue was moronic. Morris gave a workmanlike performance. Grey was actually pretty good, although she didn't have much to do. The only clever bit was when the Indians mistook the Arabs for the wise men. It's obvious that somebody came up wit the idea of shooting a Western with camels, but then couldn't come up with an even mediocre story about how to do it.
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