Six Black Horses (1962)

Extremely underrated movie. It is really about three people: Ben Lane (Audie Murphy), Frank Jessie (Dan Duryea), and Kelly (Joan O'Brien). The hero and really only good person is Ben and Frank Jessie said about him: "Do you tire of being good?" He saves Kelly and a dog (who was used for dog fighting and remains loyal to him) in the movie. Spoilers ahead: Frank Jessie is hired to kill Kelly's husband, and she hires gunmen to kill him for revenge. Frank Jessie says "You are exactly like me." The only difference is Ben loves her, and only likes him (he saved Ben from being lynched earlier), and Ben has to face Frank Jessie in a showdown (you know who wins). By the way the Title refers to how Frank Jessie wanted to go out "Having a coffin in a wagon pulled by 6 black horses, and slamming the door shut on the past." That is exactly how he goes out, and after Ben tells the story, Kelly (who had a harsh life and was used by everyone, and has low self esteem), tells how she too wants "Slam the door shut on the past." They (along with the dog) are going to get a fresh beginning in Montana (where Ben is from). Ben wins her by being non judgmental about her past, and all he wants to do with her is love and take care of her. Nice Movie. 9/10 stars.

The Universal International Pictures release "Six Black Horses" is a predictable, low-budget, but entertaining horse opera with Audie Murphy, Joan O'Brien, and Dan Duryea. Harry Keller directed this largely standard-issue sagebrusher with an even, assured hand. This 80-minute Murphy vehicle was his last western. He got his start helming westerns, and he helmed "Seven Ways to Sundown" (1960) with Murphy. Keller keeps the action moving along at an amiable gait between bouts of expository dialogue. Our two heroes encounter savage Indians, bushwhacking sidewinders, and a deceiving dame. Nothing truly surprising happens, but the two lead characters make an interesting combo, and they encounter their share of tribulation. "Seven Men From Now" scenarist Burt Kennedy's screenplay features masculine dialogue enhanced by the mysterious heroine's agenda. As other reviewers have complained, Kennedy recycles scenes from "Ride Lonesome and anticipates a cockfighting scene in "Return of the Seven." Ben Lane (Audie Murphy of "Hell Bent for Leather") and Frank Jesse (Dan Duryea of "Winchester '73") join forces not long after the opening credits. Duryea delivers another of his charmingly roguish performances as a sympathetic bad guy. Set afoot by a lame horse, Ben trudges through the wilderness, toting his saddle, and spots a string of horse. He ropes himself a horse and learns to his chagrin later that the string of horses belong to a Mustanger (Roy Barcroft of "Arizona Manhunt") and his cohorts. Poor Ben winds up with his head in a noose when Frank intervenes on his behalf. Our heroes meet an enigmatic woman, Kelly (Joan O'Brien of "Operation Petticoat"), who offers them $500 a piece to escort her back to her husband in Santa Rita del Cobre. Before long we learn that Kelly wants to see Frank dead because he killed her husband. During an Indian attack, she comes close to shooting Frank, but a spear her in the shoulder complicates things for the lady. This is the kind of western where the action takes place on the trail. Inevitably, Ben and Frank have a falling out and slap leather. Despite Kennedy's derivative screenplay, "Six Black Horses" qualifies an enjoyable frontier tale that doesn't wear out its welcome.

Six Black Horses is a film I don't want to over analyze, because I just enjoy it for what it is, an entertaining western. The film begins with Duryea saving Murphy from a lynching after being accused of being a horse thief. Next they arrive to a town where Joan O'Brien, an alluring blonde pays the two, to escort her across some dangerous territory to be with her husband. Into the journey Murphy begins to have suspicions about the woman, but Duryea wants the money. But it seems Murphy's suspicions were right, O'Brien is setting Duryea up to kill him because he killed her husband in a shootout. Audie Murphy and Dan Duryea worked great together in this story, Duryea doing what Duryea does best, playing the perfect sleazy, greedy character, with Murphy the conscientious one. The journey isn't a smooth one, as they encounter hostile Indians, and Murphy begins to fall in love with O'Brien. Finally at the end a showdown takes place between Murphy and Duryea. Murphy rides off with the girl and Duryea gets his wish as his coffin is carried away in a fine coach being drawn by six black horses with fancy plumes. Burt Kennedy's screenplay is well directed by Harry Keller, and this 80 minute film is perfectly paced and also nicely filmed on enhancing locations. I also thought the stray dog who takes a loyal liking to Murphy's character and joins him throughout the story, added an interesting touch. I enjoyed this Western and encourage the reader to watch and decide for themselves.

The film had me curious about the title for a while since Audie Murphy's character tries to lasso a wild bronco in the opening minutes and it's one of six that's roaming across the scrub desert where Ben Lane lost his. I didn't see how that event was going to work it's way into the picture, but later on, Dan Duryea comes up with the line in my summary quote describing how he'd like to be buried when his time comes - drawn in a carriage with six black horses.Now that I've had some time to think about the story, I'm left puzzled by a number of things. The main one is why Miss Kelly (Joan O'Brien) went to the trouble of hiring the pair of saddle tramps to escort her across Indian territory after the initial failed attempt to kill Frank Jesse (Duryea) in Perdido. She exposed herself to an awful lot of danger just to get revenge on the man who killed her husband. In fact, didn't it look like she pulled up her own horse during the chase scene with the Coyoteros? She would have been a goner except that it was too early to end the picture just yet.And what's with the pampered pooch? I'm sorry, but seeing the nameless mutt riding his own horse throughout the picture just seemed comical to me, especially during that same chase scene. He must have been strapped in pretty well not to get bumped off, but why not let the dog run around on his own? That one really left me baffled.So I guess if you don't think about these things too much, the film is passable enough with decent action and surprisingly good cinematography. In his late thirties, Audie Murphy looks like he outgrew the baby face look he had in pictures of a decade earlier when casting him as a villain didn't quite seem to work. Dan Duryea creates enough empathy for his character that you kind of wish the two wouldn't have to draw down on each other once the end game is revealed. The way in which Ben Lane and Miss Kelly come together seemed like a bit of stretch for me as well, but if the hero was going to ride off into the sunset with his girl, they had to work it out somehow. As for Frank Jesse, he got those six black horses after all.