Desert Pursuit (1952)

Director: George Blair

Cast: Wayne Morris, Virginia Grey, George Tobias

Synopsis: A miner and his girl are chased across the desert by Arabs on camel-back who are after their gold.

The little-seen B-movie Desert Pursuit must surely hold the distinction of being the only Western in movie history to feature cowboys on camel-back. It’s the kind of film that, five years after viewing it, will leave you uncertain as to whether it was all a dream.   It’s no dream, though – this Western really does feature camels. In fact they’re such an important plot point that the scriptwriters felt it necessary to write a little prologue explaining just how they happen to be wandering around Death Valley. Sadly, that’s all that this strictly by-the-numbers programmer has going for it. It’s tale of a gold prospector (Wayne Morris – Paths of Glory) and his new girlfriend (Virginia Grey) being chased across Death Valley by a trio of Arab villains after their haul is no great shakes – although, thinking about it, Desert Pursuit is probably also the only Western in which a tribe of Indians mistake a trio of Arab villains for the three wise men…

(Reviewed 16th February 2012)