Domino Kid

Good little western from Columbia pictures made in the late fifties and not produced by the awful Sam Katzman. It is rather predictable concerning the ending, but the supense is all long the film, because of the hidden identity of the fifth killer of Rory Calhoun's father. That's pretty exciting for a western where the villains are usually known in advance. That reminds me a bit FIVE CARDS STUD but here at a lesser scale, and not because of the cast. It remains a B movie, only seventy one minutes, but really worth with a Rory Calhoun in great shape and it's always a pleasure to see Roy Barcroft, even in a small supporting character. For the rest, the revenge scheme is as new as the western genre itself.

If you're a die-hard Westerns fan (which I am), you'll manage to get through this one -- but you'll hate yourself in the morning.

Rory Calhoun spends a few weeks tracking down his father's killers, taking a bullet in the shoulder during one shoot out, until he finally goes back to his old homestead to settle down with his gorgeous former sweetheart.

And he never changes clothes once through the whole film. The bullet hole in his favorite shirt heals up as fast as his chest wound. Nice trick, huh?

Hokey dialog flies thicker than the bullets, and Calhoun is as wooden as a hitching post. If you make it to the final shoot out, you'll get to watch the worst shots in the West manage to miss each other so often they run out of bullets.

Calhoun finally takes a few slugs, but he still manages to crawl -- yes, crawl -- across an open street, straight toward the bad guy, who misses him repeatedly with a RIFLE from twenty feet away!

When Calhoun's sweetheart and the town doc (sci-fi veteran Thomas Brown Henry in his smallest role), examines the wounded Calhoun, he says, "He'll be alright as soon as I get all those holes plugged up."

What a man! What a movie . . .

Domino (Rory Calhoun) returns from the Civil War to find his ranch in ruins and his father murdered. Five men were responsible and four were identified. One by one Domino outdraws the four that were known, all being outlaws. There is only one left now. Domino does not know his identity but that man probably knows of Domino and his mission.

Why they call him Domino I am not sure, but after each kill he throws down a domino - he's out for revenge, and after killing for men he's hunting for the fifth man. That angle lends a sense of mystery, something, unfortunately, isn't in many westerns. Here, it lingers in the air. The stark black and white photography adds some tension and sullenness. Calhoun dominates as the determined man to find the fifth man. This is an efficient western with plenty of gunplay, and only its routine nature can play against it. As for the reviewer who mentioned how could a bullet hole in his shirt disappear, the simple answer that he has a spare identical shirt.

Ray Navarro ain't exactly my idea of an average director, let alone a great one, but he does a decent job of making DOMINO KID interesting. The screenplay keeps suggesting Duggan is the fifth man but the latter is someone we hadn't seen before and I ain't spoiling the suspense for anybody else.

Calhoun retains his B Western solidity, Duggan credibly plays the bad fellow in hiding but when the moment comes, his heart is in the right place. How I wish all the baddies were ultimately this kind-hearted in real life (oh Utopia, thou failst me!)

Miller is a sweetie pie, a scumptious cookie to look at.

Good photography for a B flick. I liked it! 7/10.

Rory Calhoun stars in the title role as the Domino Kid who came back from the Civil War to find his father killed. Calhoun's a pretty fast gun so after he's identified four of the five perpetrators and successfully killed them all, he's headed home to try and reclaim his ranch. Both his ranch and his woman Kristine Miller are coveted by entrepreneur Andrew Duggan. Always Calhoun has on his mind the unknown fifth man who is more than likely hunting him.

Domino Kid combines a lot of good action and for the short running time of 74 minutes gets a lot of plot involved as well. Calhoun's a man who'd like to change for the better, but knows full well if he gets a line on the fifth man he's off to the hunt.

As for the fifth man with such veterans of screen villainy like James Griffith, Roy Barcroft, Peter Whitney and even Duggan who knows who this fifth man is. In fact we don't find out until the film is almost over.

Western fans all over will love the Domino Kid. The film hasn't aged a bit since 1957.