Tumbleweed (1953): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1953, Tumbleweed is a western film directed by Nathan H. Juran, running about 79 minutes. “The story of Jim Harvey...the savage terror he faced...the desert woman he loved!” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. Jim Harvey is hired to guard a small wagon train as it makes its way west. The train is attacked by Indians and Harvey, hoping to persuade Aguila, the chief, to call off the attack due to Harvey's having saved his son's life, leaves the train to negotiate. He is captured and the rest of the train is wiped out except for two sisters. Escaping and showing up in town later, Harvey is nearly hanged as a deserter, but gets away. Eventually caught by the sheriff and his posse, they are attacked by Indians. This time the Indians are defeated and Aguila, captured and dying, reveals the identity of the white man who engineered the initial attack on the wagon train, just as the perpetrator rides up behind them.

Who’s in it. Tumbleweed stars Audie Murphy as Jim Harvey, Chill Wills as Sheriff Murchoree, Lori Nelson as Laura Saunders and Roy Roberts as Nick Buckley, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.2/10, Tumbleweed has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. In US you can rent or buy it from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies and YouTube. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Tumbleweed page.

If you liked it. Fans of Tumbleweed tend to enjoy The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Django Unchained, Once Upon a Time in the West and For a Few Dollars More.