Black Spurs (1965)

It's always cool for me to catch one of my favorite TV Western cowboys show up in a movie like Rory Calhoun did here. His run as 'The Texan' during the 1958/1960 season would have overlapped Scott Brady's tenure as 'Shotgun Slade' airing from 1959 to 1961. 'The Texan' was the better of the two shows and had that rousing theme music at the end of each episode. Stephen King must have thought so too because he wrote Rory Calhoun into his novel 'The Regulators'.Right out of the box though, I had to wonder about the name of Santee's (Calhoun) first bounty target. The Mexican outlaw was called 'El Pescador', which translates as The Fisherman, so I was a little puzzled by that. That doesn't sound very villainous to send shivers up your spine. But his character had those black spurs that gave meaning to the title, which Santee confiscated to bolster his image and reputation.The picture reminded of the 1959 Audie Murphy Western "No Name on the Bullet" in as much as when Murphy's character Gant arrived in town, it aroused a lot of town folk suspicion that they were the one he was after. There sure were a lot of guilty citizens in Kile, Kansas when Santee came on the scene. With 'No Name', Gant was content to let the town people take each other out over their suspicions, so his work there was made that much easier.I guess the turning point for Santee here had to be the revelation that old flame Anna's (Terry Moore) son was his as well. You can see the gears slowly turning in Santee's mind about what's important in life and what's not, like turning the civil society in Lark into a hotbed of sin and debauchery. The tar and feathering of Anna's sheriff husband Ralph Elkins (James Best) also played it's part, but you know, I had to laugh when Ralph wanted to lend a hand during the gunfight against the baddies. He looked like The Mummy in one of Lon Chaney's earlier films in which he portrayed the bandaged one ("The Mummy's Tomb" and "The Mummy's Ghost"). It was really kind of comical.Well besides the principals already mentioned, there was cool support here from the likes of DeForest Kelley, Bruce Cabot and Linda Darnell in a final film appearance, although her second billed status is questionable since she only appeared in a handful of scenes and wasn't really prominent in the story. Oh, and can't forget little Manuel Padilla Jr. who gave Santee something to think about when he told him - "It's sad to be a bad man".

Black Spurs is directed by R.G. Springsteen and written by Steve Fisher. It stars Rory Calhoun, Linda Darnell, Lon Chaney Junior, Terry Moore, Bruce Cabot, James Best, DeForest Kelly and Scott Brady. Music is by Jimmie Haskel and Technicolor/Techniscope photography is by Ralph Woolsey.A brisk and ebullient Oater out of Paramount, Black Spurs finds Calhoun as Santee, a sharp shooting gunman turning to bounty hunting and then paid to corrupt the town of Lark. Lark has been pencilled in to receive the on coming railway, so wealthy town owner of nearby Kile, Gus Kile (Chaney), hires Santee to discredit Lark in order to have the railroad routed through Kile instead. Once in Lark, Santee finds lots of resistance, particularly from an ex-lover and her husband, the sheriff!Plot holds few surprises as per outcome and characterisations, but the pic is no less entertaining for it. There are a number of live wire action sequences, with Santee often proving he is the number one gun in the West, and there's even some evil nastiness portrayed when things start to come to a head. The seedy saloon set up by Santee is awash with beautiful girls in beautiful costumes, and these girls drink beer out of pint pot tankards! The villains are a gruff, rough and tough bunch, and naturally there's a big good versus evil heart thundering away in the story.Calhoun has swagger and dangerous sexuality in abundance and he's surrounded by a good cast of pros. Darnell and Chaney, however, were winding down their careers, and in truth there two characterisations could have been played by any studio actors of the time, but they don't disgrace themselves as Springsteen wisely keeps their screen time to a minimum. The Techniscope photography doesn't really add much as more could have been made of the exterior locations, while Haskel's score is a bit too jaunty for its own good.It feels like a 50s Oater at times, which is no bad thing at all. Not prime Calhoun or a prime 60s Western, but much to enjoy here for the discerning Duster fan. 7/10

Rory Calhoun is a young cowboy who is seeking a career change with upward mobility and big money. His fiancé Terry Moore does not like the fact he wants to be a bounty hunter and leaves him and marries someone else. Years later Calhoun and Moore get reunited sort of when he comes to her town to take it over on behalf of Lon Chaney, Jr. who wants it wild and lawless so the railroad won't use it as a route.The title of the film comes from the first outlaw that Calhoun does in, a gentlemen from Mexico named El Pescador played by Robert Carricart who has a trademark of Black Spurs. When Calhoun shoots Carricart down in a gun duel, he takes the spurs and wears them for himself now.This A.C. Lyles western was the farewell film for Linda Darnell who is second billed though this is distinctly a supporting role. Darnell plays the head of a troupe of saloon girls imported to bring down the town's morals. They look like they know their business. Black Spurs was released posthumously after Darnell died in that tragic house fire.Such A.C. Lyles regulars as Richard Arlen, Bruce Cabot, Scott Brady and DeForest Kelley are in the cast as well. Not the best or the worst of A.C. Lyles geezer westerns, but western fans should be pleased.

Black Spurs (1965) * 1/2 (out of 4) A ranch hand named Santee (Rory Calhoun) grows tired of being poor so he decides to turn into a bounty hunter so that he can collect some big rewards. After being successful at this he decides to move in on a local town to take it over because he knows a railroad is about to come through. BLACK SPURS has a very interesting cast but sadly that's about the only thing the movie has going for it. This is a pretty strange Western to watch and especially when you consider it was 1965. By this time most Westerns like this weren't being made anymore as the story, structure and overall feel of this makes you seem like it would have been better fit in the 1940s. I think the main reason people are going to come to this film are for the stars. Calhoun isn't very well known today but he has a strong devoted group of fans who will probably be the only ones wanting to watch this. He's pretty good in the film as he has no problem playing rough and later on more soft-hearted. The supporting cast includes some very familiar faces including Linda Darnell and Scott Brady as well as the likes of Lon Chaney, Jr. and Bruce Cabot. Those coming to this film to see Chaney and Cabot might be disappointed to see their roles so small but both actors are still good. BLACK SPURS features some rather routine gunfights that never get too exciting and we're also treated to a sidestory between Calhoun and Darnell that really doesn't add up to much and the big twist is something you'll see coming from a mile away.