Black Spurs

A.C. Lyles produced quite a few westerns during the 1960s and they all had low budgets and featured stars who were past their primes. My assumption is that Lyles used these actors because they would work for less and yet added a bit of class to the cheap productions. Here in "Black Spurs", you have Rory Calhoun (in his mid-40s--hence YOUNG for a Lyles western), Lon Chaney Jr., Richard Arlen (who was in EVERY Lyles film--or so it seems), Linda Darnell, Bruce Cabot and Terry Moore--all who had seen better days in their careers.

The film begins with Santee (Calhoun) about to get married. However, when it's announced that a wanted criminal with a bounty on his head is nearby, Santee runs off to catch the guy. After all, the extra money would sure come in handy now that he's marrying. But, when he returns to town, he learns that his fiancée has left--apparently she did not want to be married to some bounty hunter. In reaction, he becomes a super-bounty hunter--making a fortune bringing in the roughest and toughest criminals--and becoming a very hardened man in the process.

A bit later, Santee and a corrupt boss-man (Chaney) come up with a nasty plan--to destroy a nearby town so that the railroad won't go there but instead go to the boss-man's town--thus making him a fortune. Santee's plan is to make the innocent town as unlivable as possible--bringing in gambling, prostitutes and lawlessness. The problem is that the sheriff of this town is the husband of Santee's old fiancée! Is there any decency left within him? Or is this some elaborate plot for personal revenge? This film is very unusual because the leading man is no hero. Being a mercenary man, he's morally ambiguous and not the guy you'd normally expect to see in a leading man! I liked this, as it's NOT a typical sort of western--and about 90% of all westerns are variations on only 3 or 4 plots. This one uses the greedy boss-man plot but with enough changes to make it unique. Well acted and interesting, I'd give this one a 7.

1964's "Black Spurs" marked the fourth of 13 A.C. Lyles B-Western productions for Paramount in the mid 60s, and another offbeat choice for the veteran filmmaker in that leading man Rory Calhoun is no shining hero, but a bounty hunter known only as Santee looking for bigger and better paydays. His hard riding presence in every town is enough to make the citizens quake in fear, and his arrival in the Kansas town of Kyle is no coincidence, as Gus Kyle (Lon Chaney) is amenable to any scheme to enrich himself by diverting the railroad from the neighboring town of Lark to his own, with Santee's ultimate reward a tract of land (along with a hefty fee). Complications such as Lark's sheriff (James Best) being married to Santee's old sweetheart (Terry Moore), or its 2 fisted man of the cloth (Scott Brady), are no deterrent to Santee's goal to bring women and gambling to the forefront of the formerly peaceful town. The madam is played by a second billed Linda Darnell, who plays her final role here, while Kyle Sheriff Nemo (STAR TREK's DeForest Kelley) provides an interesting subplot that fizzles out before it catches fire. Veterans Bruce Cabot and Richard Arlen are also among the bad guys, on their way to victory until Santee finds out what they've been doing behind his back. 4 for 4 for producer Lyles, Lon Chaney is as solid as ever (though only around for three scenes), while Scott Brady's Tanner demonstrates how the rope burns around his neck prove that he wasn't always a preacher, something repeated verbatim by John Carradine in a Scott Brady Western just two years later, Al Adamson's "Five Bloody Graves."

Rory Calhoun is Santee, cowboy who wears black spurs and earns money by bounty hunting. when the local sheriff ( Deforest Kelley was Bones, in Star Trek) tries to work a corrupt land deal, bad stuff happens. Santee runs into some old acquaintances when he ends up in Lark, even the blacksmith who wanted him dead. although they hadn't met before this! Terry Moore is the girl Santee proposed to, but didn't wait around for him. Lon Chaney junior is Gus. You'll also recognize James Best as the sheriff in Lark.. he was Rosco in the Dukes of Hazzard tv series! Directed by Robert Springsteen... directed films from the 1940s - 1950s, then moved into television. Story by Steve Fisher, who had also written Tokyo Joe and Destination Tokyo; oscar nominated for Destination Tokyo. Last film for co-star Linda Darnell, she died right after making this at age 41, in a house fire. The film is pretty good... a very typical but in color, blue-jeans western. some scenes filmed at Corriganville, north LA... it's a county park now. fun history. check it out!

"Black Spurs" was one of producer A.C. Lyles now famous series of low-budget westerns featuring onetime big names. This one starred Rory Calhoun, Linda Darnell, Terry Moore, Lon Chaney, Bruce Cabot, Scott Brady and Richard Arlen. The supporting cast included future director Jerome Courtland, in his last acting role as a small town newspaper publisher living in sin! The story followed the adventures of an ambitious ranch hand (Calhoun) who deserts his pregnant girlfriend (Moore) for the life of a bounty hunter. Eventually this career demoralizes him to such a degree, that he instigates a plot to corrupt the morals of a small town for a fat fee. Thus, a planned railroad franchise will be diverted to a neighboring town owned by crooked businessman Chaney, who is in on the scheme. Calhoun sends for bouncer Cabot, new Orleans Madam Darnell and her "girls" as well as card sharp Joe Hoover, all of whom trash the town. Not so coincidentally, the sheriff happens to be the husband of Calhoun's former love, Moore. What happens is not what one might expect. Sadly, the film was Linda Darnell's last screen appearance. She died in an accidental house fire before it was released. And for many, the sight of the once gorgeous actress looking bloated and middle aged was not a pretty one. She did, however, turn in a reliably good performance, as did her co-stars, and Black Spurs remains an enjoyable nostalgia fest, one of Lyles' best.

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