Black Patch (1957)

George Montgomery plays Clay Morgan, nicknamed Black Patch. He’s the marshal in Santa Rita who gets an unexpected visit from two old friends, former saddlemate Hank Danner (Leo Gordon) and his wife, Clay’s former lover Helen (Diane Brewster).

Trouble comes when the sheriff of Clinton shows up, too, bringing along a deputy who can identify the man who just stole $40,000 from that town’s bank. Next thing you know, Hank is in jail, refusing to disclose the location of the loot.

That sparks the interest of saloon owner Frenchy De’vere (Sebastian Cabot), who has a henchman named Holman offer Hank an opportunity to break jail in exchange for part of that money.

Hank jumps at the chance, still hoping for a future with Helen, and unaware that he’s being set up with a gun that won’t fire. He’s gunned down on his way out of town. Clay Morgan takes the blame for the shooting, but he also winds up with the loot, stashing it in his jail for safe-keeping, thinking it might lead to those truly responsible.

Of course, that causes friction with Helen, who thinks he killed her husband, and with a young man who does odd jobs around town and is known as Flytrap (Tom Pittman). He always idolized the marshal. Now he thinks Morgan killed his friend; he’s also got a growing fondness for the new widow.

Review:

The best of Montgomery’s many Westerns thanks to an offbeat lot of characters and a fine script by Leo Gordon, who also takes a starring role. An unusual ending that stops short of gunplay helps too.

This marked the first film scored by Jerry Goldsmith, who would later write the music for Planet of the Apes, The Omen, Alien, Total Recall and hundreds more films.

As for the cast, there are interesting stories there as well. Tom Pittman was a busy young actor in the late 1950s before losing his life in a car crash. He had also played one of Alan Ladd’s adversaries in “Proud Rebel” and one of the whites trapped at a water hole with Rory Calhoun in “Apache Territory.”

This marked the only Western for Lynn Cartwright, who plays the saloon girl Frenchy sometimes loves and sometimes beats. But she would reappear at the older Dottie (the Geena Davis character), looking back at when she starred as a female baseball player in “League of Their Own” (1992).

Directed by:
Allen H. Miner

Cast:
George Montgomery … Clay Morgan
Leo Gordon … Hank Danner
Diane Brewster … Helen Danner
Tom Pittman … Carl (“Flytrap”)
Sebastian Cabot … Frenchy De’vere
Lynn Cartwright … Kitty
House Peters Jr. … Holman
Jorge Trevino … Pedoline
Peter Brocco … Harper
Strother Martin … Deputy Petey Walker
Ted Jacques … Sheriff Ben Maxton
Gilman Rankin … Judge Parnell
Ned Glass … Bartender Luke
John O’Malley … Col. Applewait
Stanley Adams … Professor Dudley

Runtime: 82 min.

Memorable lines:

Marshal Morgan (Black Patch): “Don’t you think you’re a little young to be wearin’ it (a six-gun)?”
Flytrap: “I’m 18. The muzzle ain’t draggin’ the ground. I’m big enough.”

Judge: “You’re in contempt of court, sir.”
Marshal Ben Maxton: “You’re darn right I am. When a court rules a man shot twice in the back is justifiable homicide, I got contempt for the court. Lots of it.”