Chasseur de primes

I have just seen this old western on spike TV (UK) today 10/11/16, it was fun to pick out the older stars who at one time or another were top billing in their day.

I spotted the Sheriff was Johnny Mack Brown, Richard Arlen, Buster Crab, Bob Steel who was a B movie star in his early days I did not spot that the love interest was Audrey Dalton, until the credits rolled, all in all a good film if a touch one paced. Dan Duryea was good value as usual, his best roles for me were when he opposite Audie Murphy, they did a few films together and seemed to hit it off. I try to keep up with the movie channels here, in the hope that some of these old westerns are shown, we have nothing to match these old films today, and quite frankly there are not the suitable actors around who could do these parts.

This could have been quite a decent western adventure were it nor for the surprisingly weak effort from Dan Duryea. He ("Duggan") arrives out west where he is shocked by the lawlessness and violence he encounters. Determined to make a decent living for himself and his gal "Carole" (Audrey Dalton) he takes up as a bounty hunter, but has he the strength of character not to become subsumed by greed and violence himself? To be blunt, Duryea is just not at his best here, and at nearly 60 years of age is not remotely convincing as the naive man he is supposed to be; unless he has been in kindergarten for an awfully long time. The story is decent, the film keeps moving along well enough, and the supporting efforts from Randolph Scott lookalike Rod Cameron and Buster Crabbe keep it off the rocks, but unfortunately too much of the plot and the storyline depend on the implausible efforts of the leading man.

What absolute nonsense that a previous reviewer states that Mr. Dureya cannot carry off nice in this film. The guy was acting for over 30 years and was a brilliant, versatile actor. Sure , he could play villains to perfection and because of this was well known and cast in these parts. But during his 30 years of film acting he frequently was cast as a good guy and he played these roles well.The Bounty Killer does ask too much in his age, sure, the part was written for a younger guy but as Dureya is so exceptionally good as the naive easterner it still works well.It's a wonderful film, it's low budget but it's a fine well acted and well written western.

I grew up watching movie matinée at 4:00 after school. Immediately after, my brother and I went outside to recreate what we had seen. We were awesome. Most movies these days don't catch my attention, but when I saw the cast of this one, I was taken back to another time.

Bounty Hunter was more than I could have asked.....not quite as predictable as most, and with some lessons to be learned. Oh, my gosh, Johnny Mack Brown, Bob Steele! Never understood what a sawed off double barreled shot gun loaded with cannon sized shells could do. Yikes, 3 in one shot! Well enough. I liked it sufficiently to research it. When I found out who his final killer was in real life, it rocked me for a moment. The person who said the actor was too old.....awwww gimmee a break.

This amazing and wonderfully evocative film is one of the last films for the fine character actor Dan Dureya. This film provides him with a star role and it is a tour DE force performance. A wonderful cast of b western actors give magnificent support and Audrey Dalton shines as the love interest. Fuzzy Knight gives his best ever screen performance in a poignant role. Buster Crabbe makes a fine villain and Richard Arlen also effective.About the youngest guy is Peter Dureya - this is Dan's son and his role has a chilling significance for the film, you will have to watch it to see why. This western was penned by actor Leo Gordon and it's a strong study of character. Dureya plays an innocent tenderfoot arriving in the west from the civilised East. As he encounters the different characters of the film he absorbs them and totally changes in attitude. At first he is a nice, gentle guy but after witnessing a killing by bad guy Rod Cameron ( who in fact saves his life by doing so ) he sets out to earn money- eventually he becomes a bounty killer and then out for revenge he chases a whole gang . determined to eliminate them all. The ending is memorable and a fitting end to a wonderful film. Long neglected, try and search this one out , it will reward you with a viewing treat. One of the finest westerns ever and all shot on a shoe string. 10 out of 10 without any low points at all.