Black Spurs

This film begins in Texas with a cowboy named "Santee" (Rory Calhoun) watching as a notorious bandido by the name of "El Pescadore" (Robert Carricart) robs a bank and, after killing the bank manager, quickly riding off with the sheriff and his deputies in hot pursuit. Realizing that there is nothing he can really do about the situation, he then proceeds to take his girlfriend "Anna" (Terry Moore) on a romantic picnic where he subsequently proposes to her. Although she willingly accepts his proposal, to her dismay, Santee then announces that he has decided to pursue El Pescadore in order to collect the $3000 bounty on his head to help start their new lives together. Ten months later, he finally finds the outlaw in a small town in Mexico and proceeds to gun him down in the street. Not only that, but he also dons the bandido's famous black spurs as a trophy of sorts. However, once he rides back to town to see his fiancé, he then learns that she has since married another man by the name of "Ralph Elkins" (James Best). Quite upset with this new development, Santee decides to become a permanent bounty hunter and, in the process, acquires a rather notorious reputation of his own. The scene then shifts to several years later with Santee making a deal with a wealthy businessman named "Gus Kile" (Lon Chaney Jr.) to help divert a proposed railroad line from its original destination of Lark, Kansas to the town of Kile, Kansas where the two of them can make a fortune in real estate. The problem is that Lark, Kansas has a sterling reputation and in order to divert the railroad line Santee has to stir up enough trouble there to change the minds of the railroad executives. What complicates matters, however, is the fact that Lark, Kansas has recently acquired a good sheriff who is determined to keep the town as peaceful as possible-and his name is Ralph Elkins. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, this was a decent "old-style" Western which benefited by solid performances from both Rory Calhoun and Terry Moore. Along with that, although I would have preferred a slightly different ending, I found the overall story to be fairly enjoyable as well and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

I just watched Black Spurs (1965) on Grit TV. It's one of several westerns made by A. C. Lyles during the 1960s. He always employed older, veteran actors, many of whom were over the hill.

Santee is a cowhand engaged to dressmaker Anna. When the bank is robbed by El Pescadore, Santee sees a chance to get the $3,000 reward and buy that ranch he's always wanted. It takes him ten months but he finally kills El Peacadore, and takes the outlaw's unique black spurs to wear himself. But, he then learns that in his long absence Anna has married Ralph Elkins, the sheriff of Lark, Kansas. Embittered, Santee conspires with Kyle, owner of the town of Kyle, Kansas to turn Lark into a hell town so that the railroad will change its proposed route from Lark to Kyle. He imports a crooked gambler, dancehall girls, and gunslingers to accomplish the job. Sheriff Elkins is no match for the bad guys. But will Santee go through with his plan? Or will he decide to do the right thing and stand up to the bad guys?

The male actors are mostly overweight. Rory Calhoun, Bruce Cabot, Richard Arlen, Lon Chaney Jr., Scott Brady, and Jim L. Brown are past their prime. Only Joseph Hoover and Jerome Courtland appear trim and fit.

Of the actresses, Linda Darnell looks bloated. She doesn't have much to do, anyway. Ageless Terry Moore looks very good. And Patricia Owens is still youthfully trim and beautiful at 40. It's too bad her part wasn't larger.

Black Spurs (1965) has a fairly good script and character development. The fast pace keeps the viewer interested in waiting to see what Santee will finally do at the end.

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."

Black Spurs (1965)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

A ranch hand named Santee (Rory Calhoun) grows tired of being poor so he decides to turn into a bounty hunter so that he can collect some big rewards. After being successful at this he decides to move in on a local town to take it over because he knows a railroad is about to come through. BLACK SPURS has a very interesting cast but sadly that's about the only thing the movie has going for it. This is a pretty strange Western to watch and especially when you consider it was 1965. By this time most Westerns like this weren't being made anymore as the story, structure and overall feel of this makes you seem like it would have been better fit in the 1940s. I think the main reason people are going to come to this film are for the stars. Calhoun isn't very well known today but he has a strong devoted group of fans who will probably be the only ones wanting to watch this. He's pretty good in the film as he has no problem playing rough and later on more soft-hearted. The supporting cast includes some very familiar faces including Linda Darnell and Scott Brady as well as the likes of Lon Chaney, Jr. and Bruce Cabot. Those coming to this film to see Chaney and Cabot might be disappointed to see their roles so small but both actors are still good. BLACK SPURS features some rather routine gunfights that never get too exciting and we're also treated to a sidestory between Calhoun and Darnell that really doesn't add up to much and the big twist is something you'll see coming from a mile away.

It took me a little while to settle in to this movie as it turned at right angles on a few occasions.

Rory Calhoun starts at as a man with a basic ambition who starts to see his dream realised then before you can blink he has become a hated sole before he decides to become a complete scoundrel. And that's not the end of it.

The transitions are quite jarring and for the first half of the film had me questioning what I was watching.

The second half of the film things settle down somewhat so its a little easier to digest.

Rory's acting is unusually bad in the start of the movie with an incredibly wooden delivery of his dialogue, this however improves as the movie goes.

Its a weird movie but in the end satisfying enough :)