Black Spurs ** (1965, Rory Calhoun, Linda Darnell, Terry Moore, Scott Brady, Lon Chaney Jr, James Best, Richard Arlen, Bruce Cabot, Patricia Owens, James Brown, DeForest Kelley) – Classic Movie Review 14,013

‘Every Time He Comes to Town Someone’s Gonna Die!’ Producer A C Lyles’s 1965 American Western film Black Spurs stars Rory Calhoun, Linda Darnell, Terry Moore, Scott Brady, Lon Chaney Jr, James Best, Richard Arlen and Bruce Cabot.

‘BOUNTY HUNTER…Turned Gunman…His Quick Draw Exploded Across the West!’

Director R G Springsteen’s 1965 American Western film Black Spurs is the fourth of the A C Lyles Westerns for Paramount Pictures, and stars Rory Calhoun, Linda Darnell, Terry Moore, Scott Brady, Lon Chaney Jr, James Best, Richard Arlen, Bruce Cabot, along with Patricia Owens, James Brown and DeForest Kelley.

Rory Calhoun) stars as bounty hunter Santee who plans to marry Anna (Terry Moore). He returns home to Kile, Kansas, to find she has married sheriff Ralph Elkins (James Best) and left town. In revenge, he seeks to destroy the town.

Black Spurs is a lusty Western adventure with an exceptionally strong and attractive cast but a less strong script. There’s a good set-up but a weaker development, though R G Springsteen makes it run briskly in the short 81 minute running time.

It is shot at Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California: Iverson Ranch – 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles; and Paramount Studios,, Hollywood.

It was released by Paramount Pictures on June 25, 1965.

It is Linda Darnell’s final film role. She died on April 10, 1965, in a house fire in Glenview, Illinois.

Lon Chaney Jr starred in eight of the the A C Lyles Westerns.

Andrew Craddock Lyles (17 May 1918 – 27 September 2013) was an American film producer for Paramount Pictures, who approached him to produce a Western when they realised they had none on their schedule. Law of the Lawless (1964) did well at the box office, so Paramount gave him the go ahead to produce more, filling his casts with many older actors who were his friends.

It turned out to be a run of 13 films, produced between 1964 and 1968: Law of the Lawless, Stage to Thunder Rock, Young Fury, Black Spurs, Town Tamer, Apache Uprising, Johnny Reno, Waco, Red Tomahawk, Hostile Guns, Fort Utah, Arizona Bushwhackers, and Buckskin.

Terry Moore (born Helen Luella Koford; January 7, 1929) is an American actress whose career has spanned more than eight decades. 

The cast are Rory Calhoun as Santee, Linda Darnell as Sadie, Terry Moore as Anna Elkins, Scott Brady as Reverend Tanner, Lon Chaney Jr as Gus Kile, Richard Arlen as Pete Muchin, Bruce Cabot as Bill Henderson, Patricia Owens as Clare Grubbs, James Best as Sheriff Ralph Elkins, Jerome Courtland as Sam Grubbs, DeForest Kelley as Sheriff Dal Nemo, Joseph Hoover as Swifty, James Brown as Sheriff, Robert Carricart as El Pescadore, Barbara Wilkin as Mrs Rourke, Jeanne Baird as Mrs Greta Nemo, Sandra Giles as Sadie’s 1st Girl, Sally Nichols as Sadie’s 2nd Girl, Rusty Allen as Sadie’s 3rd Girl, Joseph Forte as Banker, Guy Wilkerson as Henry, Lorraine Bendix as Henry’s wife Mabel, Read Morgan as Blacksmith, Patricia King as Kyle townslady, Chuck Roberson as Prisoner Norton, Howard Joslin as Prisoner Cobb, Max Power as Doctor, William Bickmore as Chad Elkins, Manuel Padilla Jr as Manuel Reese.

It is followed by Town Tamer (1965).

© Derek Winnert 2026 – Classic Movie Review 14,013

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