Black Horse Canyon (1954)

The story of a wild black stallion and the cowboys who set out to capture him.

Director:

Jesse Hibbs

Writers:

Daniel Mainwaring (screenplay) (as Geoffrey Homes), David Lang (adaptation)

Stars:

Joel McCrea, Mari Blanchard, Race Gentry

Cast

Cast overview:
Joel McCrea	...	Del Rockwell
Mari Blanchard	...	Aldis Spain
Race Gentry	...	Ti
Murvyn Vye	...	Jennings
Irving Bacon	...	Doc
John Pickard	...	Duke
Ewing Mitchell	...	Sheriff
Pilar Del Rey	...	Juanita

Storyline

In spite of the more-than-pedestrian B-title, this minor-A western from Universal is more of a character study of three people than it is a run-of-the-mill western. It has only a couple of gunshots and no killings and no blood-letting, and is ideally suited for the laconic, take-it-easy and laid-back nature of the always-great Joel McCrea as Del "Rock" Rockwell. Here, he is a man wise to the nature of women and horses, attemptiing to establish a homestead with the aid of his adopted-son Til (Race Gentry). They join neighboring rancher Alida Spain (Mari Blanchard) in her quest to capture a wild black stallion (Outlaw). Rockwell taunts her while the 20-year-old Til falls in love with her and she, of course, is falling in love with Rockwell. Neighboring rancher Jennings (Murvyn Vye) brings some conflict to the proceedings but nothing that Rockwell can't handle without the use of guns.

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Plot Keywords:

rancher | sheriff | wild stallion | cigarette smoking | roping | 

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Taglines:

OUTLAW STALLION or RECKLESS BEAUTY...He was tough enough to tame them both! (original poster)

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

June 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Echo Canyon

Filming Locations:

Guadalupe Canyon, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Much of the footage of Highland Dale,the horse playing Outlaw,is lifted from 'Red Canyon' [1949] which also featured the equine actor who also had the title role in the television series 'Fury'.

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Goofs

When both Rockwell and Aldis work with Black Horse, it is always rearing up, but they are clearly making a gesture that the horse is trained to rear up to. They always raise their arms just a second before he rears up, clearly controlling the horse with their gesture. The gesture is made to look like a defensive response to the horse rearing (like they are shielding themselves from the horse's hooves or something), but the gesture clearly happens before the horse rears, not after.

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Connections

Referenced in Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey by Sam Neill (1995)

User Reviews

Excellent Western Movie

I love this movie! I have seen many western movies and the only question is how to get a DVD of this movie!!!

The scenery, the theme and lack of violence is actually quite amazing. This is an ideal movie for those who love westerns and horses. And yes, this horse is a great actor and also a wonderful animal. Joel McCrea and everyone in the movie did well. A straight forward and lovely movie. The real ranch setting adds much to the movie. The taming techniques used to "break" this horse are legit and although the well trained horse is not really wild the whole story set well with me. The canyon terrain and water hole attractions and all make this quite authentic to the way a real wild horse would behave and Mari Blanchard and The young man Ti in the movie role do well. Outlaw the movie name of this black horse is simply movie magic. Any horse rancher should want their own copy.