davidjanuzbrown Extremely underrated movie. It is really about three people: Ben Lane (Audie Murphy), Frank Jessie (Dan Duryea), and Kelly (Joan O'Brien). The hero and really only good person is Ben and Frank Jessie said about him: "Do you tire of being good?" He saves Kelly and a dog (who was used for dog fighting and remains loyal to him) in the movie. Spoilers ahead: Frank Jessie is hired to kill Kelly's husband, and she hires gunmen to kill him for revenge. Frank Jessie says "You are exactly like me." The only difference is Ben loves her, and only likes him (he saved Ben from being lynched earlier), and Ben has to face Frank Jessie in a showdown (you know who wins). By the way the Title refers to how Frank Jessie wanted to go out "Having a coffin in a wagon pulled by 6 black horses, and slamming the door shut on the past." That is exactly how he goes out, and after Ben tells the story, Kelly (who had a harsh life and was used by everyone, and has low self esteem), tells how she too wants "Slam the door shut on the past." They (along with the dog) are going to get a fresh beginning in Montana (where Ben is from). Ben wins her by being non judgmental about her past, and all he wants to do with her is love and take care of her. Nice Movie. 9/10 stars.

zardoz-13 The Universal International Pictures release "Six Black Horses" is a predictable, low-budget, but entertaining horse opera with Audie Murphy, Joan O'Brien, and Dan Duryea. Harry Keller directed this largely standard-issue sagebrusher with an even, assured hand. This 80-minute Murphy vehicle was his last western. He got his start helming westerns, and he helmed "Seven Ways to Sundown" (1960) with Murphy. Keller keeps the action moving along at an amiable gait between bouts of expository dialogue. Our two heroes encounter savage Indians, bushwhacking sidewinders, and a deceiving dame. Nothing truly surprising happens, but the two lead characters make an interesting combo, and they encounter their share of tribulation. "Seven Men From Now" scenarist Burt Kennedy's screenplay features masculine dialogue enhanced by the mysterious heroine's agenda. As other reviewers have complained, Kennedy recycles scenes from "Ride Lonesome and anticipates a cockfighting scene in "Return of the Seven." Ben Lane (Audie Murphy of "Hell Bent for Leather") and Frank Jesse (Dan Duryea of "Winchester '73") join forces not long after the opening credits. Duryea delivers another of his charmingly roguish performances as a sympathetic bad guy. Set afoot by a lame horse, Ben trudges through the wilderness, toting his saddle, and spots a string of horse. He ropes himself a horse and learns to his chagrin later that the string of horses belong to a Mustanger (Roy Barcroft of "Arizona Manhunt") and his cohorts. Poor Ben winds up with his head in a noose when Frank intervenes on his behalf. Our heroes meet an enigmatic woman, Kelly (Joan O'Brien of "Operation Petticoat"), who offers them $500 a piece to escort her back to her husband in Santa Rita del Cobre. Before long we learn that Kelly wants to see Frank dead because he killed her husband. During an Indian attack, she comes close to shooting Frank, but a spear her in the shoulder complicates things for the lady. This is the kind of western where the action takes place on the trail. Inevitably, Ben and Frank have a falling out and slap leather. Despite Kennedy's derivative screenplay, "Six Black Horses" qualifies an enjoyable frontier tale that doesn't wear out its welcome.

Spikeopath Six Black Horses is directed by Harry Keller and written by Burt Kennedy. It stars Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea and Joan O'Brien. Photography is by Maury Gertsman and the music scored by Joseph Gershenson. It's filmed in Eastmancolor and location for the shoot is St. George, Utah, USA. Plot sees Murphy and Duryea hired by O'Brien to take her across dangerous Indian country to her husband. But are ulterior motives at work?There's no getting away from it, this film has striking similarities to the far superior Budd Boetticher/Randy Scott movie, Ride Lonesome. Also scripted by Burt Kennedy, the plot follows the same format and Kennedy even scripts some of the same dialogue. While the keen Western fan will note the name of Murphy's character, Ben Lane, was also used for a character in Boetticher's Comanche Station. So far so regurgitated then, but although it goes without saying that to watch this piece in conjunction with Ride Lonseome is a futile exercise, this does have enough about it to warrant a viewing on its own terms one Sunday afternoon.It's a professional and well put together movie, Murphy and Duryea (owning the film from the second he turns up on his horse, shotgun in hands) aren't asked to extend themselves but make an engaging duo (see also their pairing in James Stewart starrer Night Passage 1957). While O'Brien (The Comancheros) is gorgeous and does a nice line in sultry devious. Editor turned director Keller does a competent job, his action construction solid if somewhat hamstrung by the odd daft moment involving the Coyoteros Indians. Stunt work is very good and Gershenson's (No Name on the Bullet/Lonely Are the Brave) score is brisk and tonally correct. Bonus here is the location scenery, beautifully realised by Gertsman's (Cattle Drive 1951) photography, the St. George craggy hills form an imposing backdrop as the protagonist's journey grows more perilous and their emotional states come under scrutiny.Enjoyable with genuine moments of quality, even if it's ultimately the second cousin to a far better movie. 6.5/10

Robin Moss "Six Black Horses" is a mild and mediocre western with only one real point of interest. Burt Kennedy's screenplay plagiarises his own screenplay for "Ride Lonesome"! Not only does Kennedy re-use some of the plot points - the redskins offering to trade a horse for the lushly feminine white woman/the sudden race across flat lands to a refuge just over the ridge - but also recycles some of his dialogue: "Some things a man just can't ride around" /"just thinking about it gives me a shiver deep down inside"/"a man needs a reason to ride this country". Like "Ride Lonesome" and several other westerns written by Kennedy, "Six Black Horses" is a journey movie. A woman (Joan O'Brien) offers two saddle-sore drifters who are adept with guns (Audie Murphy and Dan Duryea) a thousand dollars each to escort her across Indian territory. Predictably, they encounter various dangers and, sadly, everything is resolved predictably.There is nothing special about "Six Black Horses". Most of the situations and relationships are tired clichés, and none is depicted with any originality or imagination. Audie Murphy and Dan Duryea were old hands at this sort of thing in 1962, and they do not put a foot wrong. Joan O'Brien is more interesting, partly because she was an extremely attractive woman, even by movie star standards, and partly because her role carries some mystery. It is regrettable that her movie career did not prosper for longer.If the gun fights had been expertly choreographed by a directer who knew how to do it (like John Sturges or Don Siegel), "Six Black Horses" would not be so forgettable.