PamelaShort Six Black Horses is a film I don't want to over analyze, because I just enjoy it for what it is, an entertaining western. The film begins with Duryea saving Murphy from a lynching after being accused of being a horse thief. Next they arrive to a town where Joan O'Brien, an alluring blonde pays the two, to escort her across some dangerous territory to be with her husband. Into the journey Murphy begins to have suspicions about the woman, but Duryea wants the money. But it seems Murphy's suspicions were right, O'Brien is setting Duryea up to kill him because he killed her husband in a shootout. Audie Murphy and Dan Duryea worked great together in this story, Duryea doing what Duryea does best, playing the perfect sleazy, greedy character, with Murphy the conscientious one. The journey isn't a smooth one, as they encounter hostile Indians, and Murphy begins to fall in love with O'Brien. Finally at the end a showdown takes place between Murphy and Duryea. Murphy rides off with the girl and Duryea gets his wish as his coffin is carried away in a fine coach being drawn by six black horses with fancy plumes. Burt Kennedy's screenplay is well directed by Harry Keller, and this 80 minute film is perfectly paced and also nicely filmed on enhancing locations. I also thought the stray dog who takes a loyal liking to Murphy's character and joins him throughout the story, added an interesting touch. I enjoyed this Western and encourage the reader to watch and decide for themselves.

clicketware Great western, I enjoyed Audie Murphy's performance.At 38 minutes into the movie there is a story told by Frank about a past love in Bisbee who he later discovered was married to another man. He says it taught him a lesson, "Always check the brand to make sure you are not driving another man's stock". That same story is told 50 minutes into Fort Dobbs (1958) by Clett (Brian Keith) and he says "Always check the brand first and that way you'll know if you are running somebody else's' stock".Burt Kennedy (story)was a writer in both movies so he got a lot of use of this tale!

Marlburian For two-thirds of this film I thought it was pretty good, but I ended up feeling that it had disappointed.It did seem improbable that a very attractive woman would risk a very dangerous journey with two wanderers she didn't know, but that's Hollywood for you. It seemed a very foolhardy way of seeking revenge, and, like another reviewer, I couldn't work out what she was trying to achieve by building up the fire so that it smoked. And from her knowing smirk it was she who had loosened a horse's shoe to delay the journey. And she chose a darned funny time to try to get her revenge, during the fight in the old mission, when the trio was already out-numbered.A nod of approval to the script-writer for putting into context the $1,000 that Kelly was offering to Ben and to Frank - three or four years' pay. But a big frown for the improbable long-distance effectiveness of Ben's revolver. (I wonder what Audie Murphy, with his WWII experience of fire-arms, thought of that.) I'm not sure what was achieved by including the dog, except to show that Ben was kind to ill-treated animals. During the chases, it looked fixed improbably securely to the pack-horse saddle.And the ending was an anti-climax.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) There is no comparison between the westerns Murphy did in the fifties with those made in the sixties. Six Black Horses has the excellent Dan Duryea and the interesting Joan O'Brien but the great outdoor action scenes of films like `The Kansas Raiders', `The Cimarron Kid' or `Duel at Silver Creek' are missing. Duryea is a hired killer who saves Murphy's life and Joan O'Brien the woman who hires them both to take her to a town which is very hard to reach because of the `Coyoteros'. Duryea's character has the peculiar name of Frank Jesse, his mother must have been an admirer of the James Brothers. Bob Steele who was the main actor in so many C Westerns shows up briefly at the beginning. Duryea, in spite of being a hired killer, is such a likeable character with good feelings in relation to Murphy that you keep wishing there will be no showdown between them.