Directed by Harry Keller
Produced by Gordon Kay
Written by Burt Kennedy
Director Of Photography: Maury Gertsman, ASC
Film Editor: Aaron Stell, ACE
Music Supervision by Joseph Gershenson
Cast: Audie Murphy (Ben Lane), Dan Duryea (Frank Jesse), Joan O’Brien (Kelly), George Wallace (Will Boone), Roy Barcroft (Mustanger), Bob Steele (Puncher), Henry Wills (Indian leader), Phil Chambers (Undertaker) Charlita Regis (Mexican dancer), Dale Van Sickel
Let’s kick off 2026 with a look at a solid contender for my favorite video release of 2025 — Via Vision’s Blu-Ray of the Audie Murphy picture Six Black Horses (1962), paired with The Wild And The Innocent (1959).
I’ve spent plenty of time on this blog (and in commentaries) championing Murphy’s last pictures for Universal International — a run of seven low-budget Westerns produced by Gordon Kay. They’ve been done dirty over the years, often dismissed as “serviceable” and “routine.” A couple of them, Hell Bent For Leather and Seven Ways From Sundown (both 1960), have been singled out, but they all have something to recommend them.
You can tell that the budgets have shriveled up a bit — they only cost around $500,000 to $600,000 each. But the films themselves are quite good, thanks to solid direction, tight scripts, fabulous casts and gorgeous location photography. Plus, Murphy was clearly getting more confident as an actor.
This time around, Ben Lane (Murphy) and Frank Jesse (Dan Duryea) are hired by Kelly (Joan O’Brien) to escort her through Apache territory to meet up with her husband.
Well, that’s what she says she’s hiring them for.
Written by Burt Kennedy just a couple years after the last of the Budd Boetticher/Randolph Scott Ranown pictures, Six Black Horses has that lean, mean, efficiency that Kennedy was knocking out so effortlessly back then. (I may be way off base here, but I think there are echoes of Six Black Horses in Monte Hellman’s 1966 The Shooting.)
The small cast is excellent, the dialogue is good and most of the picture takes place outdoors, which is a great way to expand a tight budget. It was shot in Utah and just outside of Las Vegas — and in the same section of the U-I backlot used for Curse Of The Undead (1959).
Audie’s supported in this one by Dan Duryea, Roy Barcroft and Bob Steele. George Wallace, Commando Cody in Radar Men From The Moon (1952), is despicable as a scalp hunter who’s got the Apaches all stirred up.
Joan O’Brien — who worked with the likes of John Wayne, Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Elvis and Jerry Lewis — has a good role here, given more to do than just look pretty. (Ms. O’Brien passed away in 2025.)
Audie befriends a dog early in the film and he tags along for the rest of the 80 minutes. He’s such a pretty dog; I’m assuming he’s a mixed breed. Dogs can be annoying in movies, but not here.
For decades, it was hard to see Six Black Horses. I saw a faded 16mm print of it over 30 years ago (Six Pink Horses?) and used to have a sorry-looking bootleg VHS of it. The fine folks at Via Vision have thankfully rectified this situation.
Via Vision has done a tremendous job with Six Black Horses. It’s an excellent transfer, sharp as a tack with the Eastman Color dialed in just right and perfect 1.85 framing. They didn’t go overboard with the cleanup — there’s a speck of dust here and there, a line or two, even some changeover cues. To me, that’s a good thing. Such “artifacts” are part of the movie-watching experience, or at least they used to be, and I miss ’em.
There are no extras for this film, or for the accompanying The Wild And The Innocent (that looks just as good). The single-disc set, called Audie Murphy: Double Feature Collection One, is Region Free and the price is excellent. Collection Two consists of Joe Butterfly (1957) and The Texican (1966).
It’s so easy to recommend Six Black Horses. I’ve been evangelizing about these movies for years now. It’s just as easy to recommend this Blu-Ray, which presents a couple of terrific movies in tip-top condition — at a collector-friendly price. As I mentioned up top, this is one of my favorite releases of 2025. Go get it!
50 Westerns From The 50s.