Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Movie review - "Black Bart" (1948) *** (warning: spoilers)

Fun good looking Western shot in that gorgeous late 40s colour which benefits from being full of cynical people. It's about a real life outlaw Black Bart - I assume he's been incredibly romanticised, as here played by Dan Duryea. He's sort of a Robin Hood in reverse, being respectable during the day and robbing coaches at night dressed in black.

He holds up a stage coach carrying Lola Montez - a real person, played here by Yvonne de Carlo. When I saw the other lead player was Jeffrey Lynn I assumed that Lynn would be the true love interest. But no - the romance is between Duryea and de Carlo and Lynn wants de Carlo but also wants money from Duryea.

Everyone is a bit shifty which helps this piece age well. The ending has Duryea and Lynn killed during a shoot out with cops. The "good" characters only have small roles.

Percy Kilbridge is fun as a fellow crook. It's fast paced, well directed by George Sherman, has a nice sly tone. De Carlo has two dances and is in good form - she was at her best flirting with crooks.

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