Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

dfwesley 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.

zardoz-13 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.

kevin olzak 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."

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) Black Spurs was a routine western, but the fact that so many famous veteran actors were in the cast gave it a special interest. Rory Calhoun, Terry Moore, Patricia Owens and DeForest Kelley don't even look old. Linda Darnell, Scott Brady, Lon Chaney Jr, Bruce Cabot and Richard Arlen are all perfect for their parts. The story, about Santee (Calhoun) who becomes a bounty hunter and wears black spurs is very well built up up to the end which I felt could have been better. It is good to see all these actors, the excellent final shootout, and also to enjoy this type of western that used once to be routine but nowadays has disappeared.