L'homme au bandeau noir

This felt like the studio got a pretty good first draft of a script in their hands and decided to make a low budget western out of it without much thinking. There were a lot of factors about this film that showed it could have worked great but the direction was lacking throughout the movie to build up any of the aspects that were actually working. Even though it is from the late 50s Hollywood it feels early 40s at best. There are a lot of backstories established but the characters are not given time to show the effect of it. Other characters are suddenly thrust upon without proper development. The acting feels somewhat restricted. Even with all of these problems, there was some genuineness in the writing that could have saved the film. But the film ends abruptly just before the anti-climax that was being built up throughout the second half of the film. It felt almost like they ran out of the given budget and decided to wrap it up at that point.

Well, maybe I am wrong, this little western is not totally a waste, just a predictable plot, already seen dozens of times before. Two former friends from the civil war, one sheriff and one outlaw, love the same woman.... But this is an Allan H Miner's western, a B production, and any B western - and I don't mean the Roy Rogers or Allan Rocky Lane flicks - is worth watching. This one is truly agreeable, but not a masterpiece, as also was THE RIDE BACK, also from the director. And it is written by Leo Gordon, who also plays in the film. If you have one hour and twenty minutes to waste, go for it.

George Montgomery is a Civil War Veteran and it shows in the black patch he wears over one eye. He's also the local sheriff and works hard at maintaining the peace. So it's a pleasant reunion when old army buddy Leo Gordon comes to town, and he invites him home to dinner with his wife, Lynne Cartwright; they had competed over her affections.

However, it's not so amusing when Gordon tries to rob the local bank and Montgomery stops him by shooting him. Suddenly, that's who he is: the man who shot his best friend in the back. That Miss Cartwright is one pretty woman, isn't she?

The growing disrespect for Montgomery threatens to break out into gunplay, and that's the story. It's the sort of late 1950s B Western that Montgomery was trapped in, one that wished to show how people would react; however, it showed the modern reaction, and so looks false and heavy-handed.

Montgomery was a good actor, but given the shrinking opportunities in Hollywood, it was either this profitable but unregarded oaters, or get out of town by sundown. Montgomery stayed, and continued to make westerns until 1969. In all, he appeared in 93 movies over more than half a century, dying in 2000 at age 84. But the grace he showed in what was to have been the movie that got him out of B Westerns permanently, THE BRASHER DOUBLOON, never led anywhere.

An offbeat Western. Scripted by Gordon, who also takes the role of the friend turned bankrobber that marshal Montgomery is accused of murdering for the Money, Black Patch is directed with verve by Miner, a protégé of Robert Aldrich. Pittman contributes a distinctly modern interpretation of his role as the distraught teenager who faces up to Montgomery at the climax.

Phil Hardy

In a small western town, a one eyed marshal (George Montgomery) keeps the peace. When his old friend (Leo Gordon) runs into trouble he rides into town. They both once loved the same woman (Diane Brewster) and when the friend is found murdered, the marshal is suspected of being the murderer.

A somewhat offbeat western tightly directed by Allen H. Miner and from a script by Gordon who play's Montgomery's friend. A western that is quite dark in tone and mood and is worth a viewing.