Yuma is a 1971 American Western Made-for-TV Movie starring Clint Walker and released by ABC.
Dave Harmon is a US Marshall who has been assigned to the Yuma territory. Unfortunately for him, Yuma is notorious for being borderline anarchy and driving its lawmen away quickly. Not helped is the fact that the richest man in the county has two criminal brothers. When Harmon tries to lay down the law and is forced to shoot King's brother, a group of corrupt soldiers shoot the other to frame Harmon. Harmon must go on a quest to clear his name before King returns to exact brutal vengeance while saving the local Native American tribe from starving due to the corruption.
The film was supposed to be the pilot for a TV series, but it never got picked up. Not to be confused with either version of 3:10 to Yuma.
This film contains examples of:
- Big Bad: Mules McNeil is responsible for all the corruption.
- Crapsack World: Yuma Territory is so corrupt and violent that at least three lawmen have been driven away from the territory by the time of the film's start. The nearby Army base is corrupt and filled with embezzlement, which leads to the local Native American tribe starving.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Nels Decker seems like the Big Bad of the film, but he gets an arrow to the back an hour or so in, and fellow businessman Mules McNeil is revealed to be the true mastermind.
- Frame-Up: To make sure Harmon doesn't cover up his embezzlement, Decker has a prisoner killed with his shotgun so everybody thinks Harmon did it.
- Hostage Situation: The bad guys take a young boy Harmon befriended hostage in the climax.
- Karma Houdini: The Army men who raped and killed Harmon's family are still unidentified by film's end.
- Mighty Whitey: During the investigation of the Frame-Up against him, Harmon saves the local Native American tribe from starvation caused by the corrupt military's embezzlement.
- One-Word Title
- The Place
- Rape and Revenge: Harmon joined the US Marshal Service after his wife was raped and his family was murdered by men in Army uniforms. He's been searching for the men who did the crimes at his assignments, which are all near Army bases, so he can bring them to justice. He doesn't find them.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: The starter villains of the film, the King Brothers, commit acts of drunken revelry and violence due to their brother being a major Cattle Baron. Harmon is forced to shoot one and arrest the other, which kickstarts the plot.
- White Man's Burden: Harmon hires a young Mexican boy who's so desperate for food that he's resorted to theft to sweep the jailhouse floors and lets him sleep in the police station.
