The Bounty Killer (1965)

I love this movie so much

The Worst Film Ever

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I've seen hundreds of Westerns, and this might be one of the dumbest, well maybe that's not the right word, but certainly one of the most ill conceived Western stories I've ever come across. The premise of a green tenderfoot Easterner arriving out West and becoming a gunfighter isn't the problem, it's just that the story here didn't seem to be written with any conviction. Dan Duryea's character Willie Duggan is clueless when he first arrives at the Silver Lady Saloon, and proves it by ordering up a hot pitcher of coffee and another one of hot milk! By this time in his career, Dan Duryea had plenty of movie and TV credits, so I can't believe he played his character this badly without being directed in such a manner. As viewers, we're never really given any reason for Willie's motivation to become a bounty hunter, other than the easy money he and partner Captain Luther (Fuzzy Knight) picked up for bringing in Big Jim Seldon (Red Morgan) almost by accident. So when Willie declares he's going to go full time and bring in wanted outlaws alive, I was just as incredulous as the sheriff. In any other picture there would have been screen time spent on showing Willie practicing with a gun and mastering his quick draw technique over a period of time, but here he became a gunman in no time at all.If anything, the draw for me was catching a host of veteran movie cowboys riding into their career sunset with the likes of Johnny Mack Brown, Buster Crabbe, Bob Steele and Fuzzy Knight on hand. Crabbe seemed to have the lion's share of the screen time among them as outlaw Mike Clayman, and I had to do a double take when his gang arrived to rescue him from Willie and the Captain; his henchman Jeb (John Reach) actually pushed a horse out of the way with his hands! That's about when I gave up on the picture.But I stuck around to the conclusion because that's the vow I made myself to review these movies. With bad writing, terrible dialog, and a main character who goes from milquetoast to vicious killer, I can only surmise that the film makers meant to make the picture this bad on purpose.

That's the third time I Watch this little gem since thirty years now. What a shame. The story reminds me ONE FOOT IN HELL, starring Alan Ladd as an ordinary farmer who becomes a ruthless cold blooded killer because the people of a little town let his wife die. In this movie I am talking about, directed by the serial vet director Spencer Gordon Bennett, whose it is the last movie - am not Deadly sure - Dan Duryea is terrific as the tenderfoot against violence who becomes a cold blooded killer, a Bounty hunter. Terrific. OK, this feature is cheap at the most, and only old timers play in it. The Relationship between Duryea and the Rod Cameron's character is very interesting too. Cameron looks like the man who protects Duryea at the beginning of the movie, Duryea who is fascinated by Cameron, and in the end, all changes !!!Terrific. I LOVE THIS. That changes. But this kind of screenplays, not exactly the same, appeared more often in westerns than in crime flicks. Characters studies. Offbeat schemes. See for instance Budd Boetticher's movies, starring Randy Scott for most of them. That's what I purchase as a moviebuff, and also as a novel writer and reader. It was also a delightful feeling to find in this film such old timers as Fuzzy Nght, Buster Crabbe, Johnny Mac Brown, and many more grade B movie stars from the thirties and forties. The final scene between Duryea's character and the Young man - his actual son in real life - is unforgettable too.

This amazing and wonderfully evocative film is one of the last films for the fine character actor Dan Dureya. This film provides him with a star role and it is a tour DE force performance. A wonderful cast of b western actors give magnificent support and Audrey Dalton shines as the love interest. Fuzzy Knight gives his best ever screen performance in a poignant role. Buster Crabbe makes a fine villain and Richard Arlen also effective.About the youngest guy is Peter Dureya - this is Dan's son and his role has a chilling significance for the film, you will have to watch it to see why. This western was penned by actor Leo Gordon and it's a strong study of character. Dureya plays an innocent tenderfoot arriving in the west from the civilised East. As he encounters the different characters of the film he absorbs them and totally changes in attitude. At first he is a nice, gentle guy but after witnessing a killing by bad guy Rod Cameron ( who in fact saves his life by doing so ) he sets out to earn money- eventually he becomes a bounty killer and then out for revenge he chases a whole gang . determined to eliminate them all. The ending is memorable and a fitting end to a wonderful film. Long neglected, try and search this one out , it will reward you with a viewing treat. One of the finest westerns ever and all shot on a shoe string. 10 out of 10 without any low points at all.

Dan Duryea is a naive Easterner fresh off the stage and he gets in a fight with a town bully. Gunfighter Rod Cameron pulls him out of the scrape by killing the bully. Duryea then takes up with Audrey Dalton, the bully's mistress.Duryea and Fuzzy Knight take a job guarding a payroll and get the best of some outlaws who try to rob them. There's a bounty on the leader and Duryea decides this is a good way to make some easy money.He meets his match with Buster Crabbe though who kills Fuzzy Knight and shoots Duryea, leaving him for dead. Of course he recovers and sets about wreaking a terrible vengeance.This vastly underrated B western has a wonderful cast of some old time actors getting together for a last hurrah. Kind of like The Over the Hill Gang, but this one is quite serious and quite good.Duryea's transformation from a naive tenderfoot to a stone cold killer is truly astonishing. He uses a sawed off shotgun with deadly results and there's one scene where he's drunk and caressing his weapon like a phallic symbol across his lap. The meaning is rather obvious.It's a great film for nostalgia lovers. Besides those already mentioned, people like Johnny Mack Brown, Eddie Quillan, Emory Parnell, Grady Sutton, Richard Arlen, Bob Steele, and many others. And the first movie cowboy of all Gilbert "Broncho Billy" Anderson has a small role with a few lines in a saloon.With this great B movie cast and a wonderful original script by Ruth Alexaner and Leo Gordon, The Bounty Killer, is an undiscovered gem for western fans. The ending will astonish you.