Black Bart (1948) poster
He heads to California, using $3,000 he cheated his former partners out of to set himself up as respectable rancher.
But larceny still runs through his veins, especially when he meets an old friend named Clark who has all the inside information on Wells Fargo gold shipments.
They plan to use Clark’s information and Boles’ alter ego — the masked and dressed all-in-black Black Bart — to put Wells Fargo out of business, then start their own business to take Wells Fargo’s place.
But then old pals Hardeen and Brady wind up in California too. They even go to work guarding Wells Fargo shipments.
They arrive on the same stage as Lola Montez (Yvonne De Carlo), an entertainer so lovely she’ll turn all men’s heads. Hardeen and Boles are among her latest conquests.
A rising reward on Black Bart’s head and Wells Fargo’s need for an infusion of cash bring reinforcements for Sacramento’s law and order element as well.
Dan Duryea as Charles Boyles, aka Black Bart in Black Bart (1948)
Yvonne De Carlo as Lola Montez, the entertainer who turns all the men’s heads in Black Bart (1948)
Review:
Not complicated, just great fun 1940s style
In an early scene, a posse is about to string up Boles and Hardeen. Jersey foils the posse’s effort by blowing up the hanging tree!
Duryea plays the bandit willing to give up all of his bad habits if it means winning over Lola … after one last job, of course.
De Carlo got top-billing and serves up a couple of song-and-dance numbers. And the script wisely forgoes a sappy ending.
The film was remade in 1967 as “The Ride to Hangman’s Tree,” with future Hawaii Five-O star Jack Lord in the lead role.
Jeffrey Lynn as Lance Hardeen, Black Bart’s former partner in Black Bart (1948)
Percy Kilbridge as Jersey Brady, sharing the Black Bart story in Black Bart (1948)
Directed by:
George Sherman
Cast:
Dan Duryea … Black Bart
Yvonne de Carlo … Lola Montez
Jeffrey Lynn … Lance Hardeen
Percy Kilbride … Jersey Brady
Lloyd Gough … Sheriff Gordon
Frank Lovejoy … Mark Lorimer
John McIntire … Clark
Don Beddoe … J.T. Hall
Ray Walker … MacFarland
Soledad Jimenez … Teresa
Eddy Waller … Ed Mason
Anne O’Neil … Mrs. Harmon
Chief Many Treaties … Indian
Runtime: 80 min.
John McEntire as Clark, Boles’ partner in crime California style in Black Bart (1948)
Frank Lovejoy as Frank Lorimer, the man trying to bring Black Bart to justice in Black Bart (1948)
Memorable lines:
Hardeen to the sheriff: “You’re hanging two innocent men.”
The sheriff: “Innocent. You were caught leaving town with the mayor’s daughter and money from two bank holdups.”
Black Bart: “You call that evidence.”
Jersey Brady: “We shouldn’t be taking such changes. Mayor’s wives should belong to the mayors.”
Black Bart, on the gang splitting up: “You’re bad news, Lance. You’re not interested enough in growing old.”
Lance Hardeen: “You don’t seem to be nervous traveling alone.”
Lola Montez: “Should I be?”
Hardeen: “This is dangerous country for a woman alone.”
Lola: “I’ve never been in one that wasn’t.”
Jersey to the sheriff: “Don’t you worry no more about Black Bart. Back where we come from he’d only be a pale gray.”
Lola to Black Bart: “There’s enough uncertainty about marriage without sitting a home wondering what tree you’re husband’s hanging from at night.”
Lola to Black Bart, as he talks about his plans to become the biggest man in California: “The biggest man in the cemetery is still pretty small.”
Lloyd Gough as Sheriff Gordon, frustrated by Black Bart’s string of holdups in Black Bart (1948)
Don Beddoe as J.T. Hall, the Wells Fargo agent sent West to stop Black Bart in Black Bart (1948)
Jeffrey Lynn as Lance Hardeen and Percy Kilbride as Jersey Brady in Black Bart (1948)
Dan Duryea as Charles Boles (aka Black Bart) with Yvonne De Carlo as Lola Montez in Black Bart (1948)
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