Black Horse Canyon *** (1954, Joel McCrea, Mari Blanchard, Race Gentry, Murvyn Vye) – Classic Movie Review 11,823

Director Jesse Hibbs’s pleasingly done 1954 Universal Pictures Technicolor Western film Black Horse Canyon stars Joel McCrea, Mari Blanchard, Race Gentry, Murvyn Vye.

McCrea brings his well-honed brand of careworn integrity to Hibbs’s pleasing frontier drama as a helpful drifter called Del ‘Rock’ Rockwell.

In the mild but well-handled story, based on the 1950 novel The Wild Horse by Les Savage Jr, cowboys McCrea and Gentry as Ti Taylor capture and train a magnificent black stallion that, before it ran wild, belonged to rancher Aldis Spain (Blanchard) and her uncle, Doc (Bacon). Vye vies for the steed, and McCrea gets soppy over Blanchard, in a relaxed, pleasant pastoral oater.

It is more of a soap opera than a horse opera, as there is little action or excitement, but there is an effective screenplay by Daniel Mainwaring [Geoffrey Homes] and McCrea’s laid-back style is appealing and just right.

Black Horse Canyon was released in June 1954 by Universal Pictures.

Black Horse Canyon is directed by Jesse Hibbs, runs 82 minutes, is made and released by Universal Pictures, is written by Daniel Mainwaring [Geoffrey Homes], based on the 1950 novel The Wild Horse by Les Savage Jr, is shot in Technicolor by George Robinson, and is produced by John W Rogers.

The cast are Joel McCrea as Del ‘Rock’ Rockwell, Mari Blanchard as Aldis Spain, Race Gentry as Ti Taylor, Murvyn Vye as Jennings, Irving Bacon as Doc, John Pickard as Duke, Ewing Mitchell as Sheriff, and Pilar Del Rey as Juanita.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,823

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

Joel McCrea and Gloria Talbott in The Oklahoman.