The film had me curious about the title for a while since Audie Murphy's character tries to lasso a wild bronco in the opening minutes and it's one of six that's roaming across the scrub desert where Ben Lane lost his. I didn't see how that event was going to work it's way into the picture, but later on, Dan Duryea comes up with the line in my summary quote describing how he'd like to be buried when his time comes - drawn in a carriage with six black horses.
Now that I've had some time to think about the story, I'm left puzzled by a number of things. The main one is why Miss Kelly (Joan O'Brien) went to the trouble of hiring the pair of saddle tramps to escort her across Indian territory after the initial failed attempt to kill Frank Jesse (Duryea) in Perdido. She exposed herself to an awful lot of danger just to get revenge on the man who killed her husband. In fact, didn't it look like she pulled up her own horse during the chase scene with the Coyoteros? She would have been a goner except that it was too early to end the picture just yet.
And what's with the pampered pooch? I'm sorry, but seeing the nameless mutt riding his own horse throughout the picture just seemed comical to me, especially during that same chase scene. He must have been strapped in pretty well not to get bumped off, but why not let the dog run around on his own? That one really left me baffled.
So I guess if you don't think about these things too much, the film is passable enough with decent action and surprisingly good cinematography. In his late thirties, Audie Murphy looks like he outgrew the baby face look he had in pictures of a decade earlier when casting him as a villain didn't quite seem to work. Dan Duryea creates enough empathy for his character that you kind of wish the two wouldn't have to draw down on each other once the end game is revealed. The way in which Ben Lane and Miss Kelly come together seemed like a bit of stretch for me as well, but if the hero was going to ride off into the sunset with his girl, they had to work it out somehow. As for Frank Jesse, he got those six black horses after all.
Now that I've had some time to think about the story, I'm left puzzled by a number of things. The main one is why Miss Kelly (Joan O'Brien) went to the trouble of hiring the pair of saddle tramps to escort her across Indian territory after the initial failed attempt to kill Frank Jesse (Duryea) in Perdido. She exposed herself to an awful lot of danger just to get revenge on the man who killed her husband. In fact, didn't it look like she pulled up her own horse during the chase scene with the Coyoteros? She would have been a goner except that it was too early to end the picture just yet.
And what's with the pampered pooch? I'm sorry, but seeing the nameless mutt riding his own horse throughout the picture just seemed comical to me, especially during that same chase scene. He must have been strapped in pretty well not to get bumped off, but why not let the dog run around on his own? That one really left me baffled.
So I guess if you don't think about these things too much, the film is passable enough with decent action and surprisingly good cinematography. In his late thirties, Audie Murphy looks like he outgrew the baby face look he had in pictures of a decade earlier when casting him as a villain didn't quite seem to work. Dan Duryea creates enough empathy for his character that you kind of wish the two wouldn't have to draw down on each other once the end game is revealed. The way in which Ben Lane and Miss Kelly come together seemed like a bit of stretch for me as well, but if the hero was going to ride off into the sunset with his girl, they had to work it out somehow. As for Frank Jesse, he got those six black horses after all.