Domino Kid (1957)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

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

I really wanted to like this Western. It had a promising start. I expected good results from Rory Calhoun who starred in and co-produced the movie along with an experienced director of Westerns and a good cast of actors. But the movie became laughable due to (1) the script and direction which was loaded with incredible coincidences and lucky encounters, everything is telegraphed in the previous scene; and (2) poorly filmed shoot-outs where the hero should have been killed many times over. It had a good ending, though.***Spoilers***. The story: while Calhoun is fighting in the Civil War, five bad guys kill his family. Calhoun knows who four of them are, but not the 5th. He kills the four one-by-one in a man-to-man duel instead of just shooting them on sight. It is also unbelievable that he can't get the name of the 5th man from any of the four.After killing the 4th man, Calhoun heads home. By coincidence his girl visits his deserted home with her oily new "boyfriend" who is intent on acquiring the home. He tells her that Calhoun likely was recently killed (because left wounded in bad terrain!), and then he departs. The girl mopes inside Calhoun's neat deserted home, and mops, but lo and behold, Calhoun is inside. She tells Calhoun that most of the town is against him since he became a gunfighter tracking down those who had killed his family. Lo and behold, in the next scene Calhoun is in town getting the cold shoulder from most of the townsfolk (why?). Calhoun needs a loan from the local banker, who lo and behold, is the one pursuing his girl and who wants his land.Calhoun knocks out a boorish saloon masher and has his Mexican friend drag the masher outside. The masher and his friends start to torture the Mexican in the mistaken belief that the Mexican (not Calhoun) knocked out the masher, but incredibly the Mexican doesn't say that he only dragged the guy out to the street! Then --most incredible of all-- the masher turns out to be the 5th man Calhoun was looking for, and for no good reason he starts a shoot-out with Calhoun! Why? Calhoun would have no idea who was the 5th man! The masher did not know that the Mexican would tell Calhoun.

Well this one was a bit anti-climactic when all was said and done, wasn't it? After all, the first four of the five guys The Domino Kid set out to kill to avenge the murder of his father were dispatched within the first twenty minutes. That left almost a whole hour to get to the final showdown with bad guy Lafe Prentiss (Peter Whitney). But say, weren't you sidetracked by that ending just a bit? After all, in your typical oater, the fifth man should have been well dressed town boss Wade Harrington (Andrew Duggan), who had an eye on Domino's old girlfriend (Kristine Miller). All signs pointed to him and then, nothing. And I thought I knew every Western convention there was to know.Anyway, if I didn't know better, this looked like Rory Calhoun's warm-up for his TV Western series that came out the following year - "The Texan". In fact, he didn't even have to change his outfit. His character Bill Longley rode into town wearing the same vest and intimidating potential outlaws with the same fast gun reputation. It comes as no surprise then that Calhoun and his partner Victor Orsatti produced that series just as they did the movie here. The series had cooler music over the end credits though.Well if you're a Rory Calhoun fan, this one is OK, but the gunfights are somewhat awkward. He takes an unnecessary bullet to the shoulder against Number #4 Sam Beal, and the gunfight finale against Lafe defies all semblance of credibility, as this villain couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if he walked into it. A couple other reviewers on this board question the accuracy of Domino getting his fifth man, so a quick recap goes like this: #1 Haines in the opening scene; #2 Trancas in a showdown; #3 Ed Sandlin who sent Dragger (Denver Pyle) to bring him in; #4 Sam Beal; and #5 Lafe Prentiss. I thought Harrington would be a bonus.

The Domino Kid is directed by Ray Nazarro and written by Kenneth Gammet and Hal Biller. It stars Rory Calhoun, Kristine Miller, Andrew Duggan, Yvette Dugay, Peter Whitney and Eugene Iglesias. Music is by Mischa Bakaleinikoff and cinematography by Irving Lipman.Rory Calhoun is The Domino Kid (AKA: Cort Garand), who upon returning from his service in the Civil War sets out for vengeance against the five renegades who murdered his father. He quickly locates four of them, but the fifth man is proving illusive. The script is a bit hoary, the formula unchallenging, and the very grand final shoot-out is as full of implausibilities as can be, but there's a good suspense quotient to this Oater that is most engaging. It also looks gorgeous, with the crisp black and white photography putting a tonally correct moody vibe on the story. Calhoun is a bastion of cool and hardness, quick on the draw and lobbing dominoes around to announce to his prey that they are up against a bad mutha. The requisite entanglements with cattle baron villain Wade Harrington (Duggan) and affairs of the heart are driven straight and simple, and the "twist" isn't really all that, yet this is well worth a look for Calhoun and B Western supporters. 7/10

As an equivalent to the "noir" films in the mystery/suspense genre this film like "High Noon", "The Gunfighter", "Winchester 73", "Jack Slade" and many others uses the black and white to create a somber mood. The Domino Kid wants to kill the five men who murdered his father, four of which were known to him. Rory Calhoun is at his best here, specially at the beginning of the movie. There are enough showdowns and shootouts to satisfy any western fan and if the film lacks a better script, it compensates with a lot of style. The revelation of the mysterious fifth man is deceiving, I was waiting for something more spectacular. The final shootout is theoretically well conceived but it is hard to believe. There is a good moment when one of the killers ask Calhoun who he is and he answers by throwing a piece of domino on the floor.