This film starts with two outlaws by the names of "Charles E. Boles" (Dan Duryea) and "Lance Hardeen" (Jeffrey Lynn) being led to a hanging tree out of town after committing several crimes. However, before the nooses can be put around their necks another outlaw named "Jersey Brady" (Percy Kilbride) ambushes the hanging party and springs his two friends. Once freed Charles decides to split up from the other two and heads for California with all of the money taken from a previous heist. Not long afterward he dons a mask and upon assuming the nickname of "Black Bart" proceeds to rob stagecoaches belonging to Wells Fargo. As luck would have it one of the stagecoaches he robs has both Lance and Jersey as passengers along with a famous dancer from Europe by the name of "Lola Montez" (Yvonne De Carlo). Needless to say, their lives become intertwined from this moment on. Now, rather than reveal any more of the film and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a watchable Western movie for the most part. Although I liked the performances of Yvonne De Carlo and Percy Kilbride to a certain extent, to be quite honest I didn't think Dan Duryea possessed the necessary screen presence to handle the starring role. Likewise, I also thought some of the scenarios were a bit too fanciful and unrealistic for my tastes. Again though, it's certainly watchable and worth the time spent if one is inclined to movies of this type. I rate it as average.
Review of Black Bart
