Across the Sierras

'Across the Sierras' follows "Wild" Bill Hickok as old grudges come back to haunt him. A man who spent six years behind bars because of Hickok's testimony returns bent on settling the score, and the sheriff-turned-gunslinger finds himself dodging ambushes and facing ambivalent allies. His loudmouthed sidekick provides comic relief, and a string of brawls and confrontations escalate the tension. Amid the violence and showdowns, Bill's developing relationship with Anne Woodworth is strained by his reputation as a shooter, and he has to weigh what kind of life he really wants without revealing how that choice plays out.

Released in 1941, the film was directed by D. Ross Lederman from a story credited to Paul Franklin, and it stars Bill Elliott as 'Wild' Bill Hickok, with Richard Fiske, Luana Walters, Dub Taylor, and Dick Curtis in supporting roles, fitting the era's brisk Western production style.

There are no widely available box office tallies for this title, it was distributed as a modest studio Western typical of the early 1940s and likely aimed at routine theatrical runs rather than major commercial milestones.

Culturally the movie didn't become a landmark, but it reinforced screen types common to B-Westerns, cementing Bill Elliott's association with the Hickok persona and showcasing the comic sidekick-sheriff dynamic that showed up in many contemporary films.

Contemporary user ratings are low, reflected in a 2.2/10 score from a small number of votes, and modern viewers tend to treat it as a period piece. The film leans on themes of revenge, personal honor, and the tension between violent pasts and domestic hopes, while leaning into straightforward action and familiar Western motifs rather than deep character study.