Watch Black Spurs For Free

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

An above average western made so by the inclusion of former stars and a half way satisfactory plot. It was good to see Bruce Cabot, although in the unlikely role as a dance hall bouncer as well as Lon Chaney, Richard Arlen, and Scott Brady. I must admit I had trouble recognizing DeForrest Kelley. Linda Darnell, though having a top billing, had only a minor role.Terry Moore looked positively luscious and half her age. Rory Calhoun turned from negative to positive all too quickly after finding out he had Terry Moore's son. He also made a remarkable recovery after a tremendous brawl with Brady. Emerging without a mark, he claimed he was "beaten half to death". Seeing someone who had been tarred and feathered also was novel. Calhoun rides off into the Great West after announcing that he might become a sheriff somewhere. Black Spurs was entertaining but only because of its well known cast.

Seasoned western leading man Rory Calhoun plays a cow hand named Santee who embarks on a different career as a bounty hunter hen he learns he can pick up $3-thousand for catching a Mexican bank robber who sports those eponymous spurs. After he guns down El Pescadore (Robert Carricart of "Fun in Acapulco"), Santee appropriates the black spurs of the title that the Mexican wore. Meantime, Santee's prospective bride, Anna (Terry Moore of "Mighty Joe Young"), who abhors his change of profession, leaves him before he can marry her. Anna lectures him at one point that the $3-thousand is "easy" money. This theme of "easy money" permeates this oater. "Johnny Reno" director R.G. Springsteen's "Black Spurs" was one of several westerns that venerable Paramount producer A.C. Lyles produced during the 1960s with actors and actresses whose careers were fading into obscurity. The interesting but formulaic Steve Fisher screenplay adheres to the old school of westerns where bounty hunters were reviled for their cynicism. Actually, Santee doesn't gun down every man that he stalks like those ruthless bounty hunters in Spaghetti westerns; Santee allows one or two to live. Later, he refuses to pursue the bounty on a man's head until it totals over $500. The black spurs that he took from the Mexican serve as a metaphor for what Santee has become. The first major turning point of the film occurs when Santee the bounty hunter decides to turn into a full-fledged villain. He cuts a shady deal with a notorious, well-heeled, land owner, Gus Kile (Lon Chaney, Jr.), who wants to attract the railroad to the town that he owns. Naturally, Kile's town is named Kile, and the land around it is worth about ten cents an acre. Were the railroad to locate in Kile, Kile's acreage would increase to as much as $10 dollars an acre. Instead of running their line through the town of Kile, the railroad has chosen to lay tracks through the nearby town of Lark. Santee learns that the railroad discriminates against lawless, wide-open towns. Santee and Kile set out to transform Lark into a town so wild that the railroad will relocate to Kile. Santee convinces a local Lark saloon owner, Pete Muchin (Richard Arlen of "Wings"), to go into business with him. Santee imports gambling machines and girls to Lark. Straight-up, honest, lawman, Sheriff Ralph Elkins (James Best of "The Dukes of Hazzard"), tries without success to evict Santee from town, but he doesn't have enough support from local citizens to run him out. Reverend Tanner (Scott Brady of "$"), baits Santee into brawling, but the parson loses to our protagonist. Santee learns that Tanner is not you're your ordinary, everyday gospel minister. At the same time, Tanner doesn't let Santee alone and struggles to appeal to his conscience. Meantime, villainous Bill Henderson (Bruce Cabot of "Big Jake") arrives with Shifty (Joseph Hoover) and his wagon load of slot machines. Sadie (Linda Darnell of "Forever Amber") brings her dance hall girls to town. Pretty soon the town of Lark is wide-open. Santee encounters Sheriff Elkins's wife, and the woman turns out to be none other than Anna. She insists adamantly that Santee clear out of town. Eventually, Sheriff Elkins stirs up too much trouble for Henderson's taste. Henderson and his cronies tar and feather the scrupulous lawman without Santee's approval. Santee learns the terrible truth about Anna and why she couldn't wait for him after he went in pursuit of the "easy money" on El Pescadore It seems that she got pregnant, and the ladies of the town shunned her business because they regarded her as a tramp. Santee learns that the little boy, Chad, is really his own son. Santee's conscience prompts him to back out of his deal with Kile. In a bizarre reversal of roles, Santee appropriates Elkins' badge and cleans up the town.Springsteen stages several okay shoot-outs, and "Black Spurs" doesn't wear out its welcome. The gunfight involving Deforest Kelly as a crooked lawman who wants to kill Santee is rather slick. Kelly gives two prisoners in his jail a choice. They are about to swing on the gallows, but he will let them conveniently escape from jail, if they were cut down Santee in the street when they make their big break. Predictably, everything goes wrong, and Kelly pays for his treachery. Aside from some scenes set on the trail, most of the action in "Black Spurs" transpires in town. The film chronicles the changes that occur in our hero's life, and we see Calhoun go full circle until he is back on the side of law and order. Although it came late in Calhoun's career, "Black Spurs" contains more plot that most of his westerns that he made during his heyday in the 1950s.

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

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.