OK, folks, let’s see if we can sort this one out. John has written in trying to pin down a certain Western. Here’s what he wrote:
“I saw a western in the fifties as a kid that had a scene in which one of the secondary characters gets killed with a rake. You don’t see the killing, just the aftermath of a bloody rake leaning against a wall and blood on the wall. That image has stayed with me lo these many years but I cannot remember the title.”
Firecreek (1969) came to mind, but that’s the Sixties and a pitchfork. Then there’s Violent Saturday (1955). Again, a pitchfork and not a Western.
Anybody got any ideas?
It’s not “Rebel in Town”, is it? For some reason I’m seeing John Payne when I think of this.
Hey Hey in the Hayloft comes to mind but that was John L. Sullivan in the 30’s.
Could it be Flesh and the Devil, a 1957 movie starring John Agar and Mike (Touch) Connors. I recollect a farmer, Agars twin brother being killed by Connors at the beginning of the film, I think with his own rake. This movie is available on dvd by Alpha Video. Kermit Maynard is in it as a bit part player.
The films title should read The Flesh and the Spur
Good suggestion, Ron. But it’s a shovel, not a rake. We’re having trouble coming through with the proper tool!
Does anyone know if color prints of Flesh And The Spur still exist?
The public domain releases are all black and white.
Does MGM perhaps technically have the title and can we hope for a color release from someone (Kino, Shout, etc.)?
I’ve only seen Flesh And The Spur in B&W. Who knows where original material for that thing are? It was a Hy production and not a “true” AIP picture.
I think the movie was “Streets of Laredo”, slightly pre 50’s
Bruce, you’re right. This is it. It’d been a long time since I’d seen it. Great work!
John, hope you can track it down. It’s not readily available.
Streets Of Laredo is available through the Galatea shop website .Unfortunately the shopkeeper is away at present. The dvd is in both English and Spanish with removable Spanish subtitles It is Region 2 (PAL) and in 4/3 format.
That’s amazing. I can’t believe you guys found it. Thanks Toby and thanks Bruce Lander. I’ll try looking for it on Galatea, Ron. I saw it in a theater as a kid and still remember the vivid Technicolor photography and that bloody red rake. I was almost beginning to wonder if I just dreamed it, since nobody I know has ever said they’ve seen it. From the reviews it sounds like a pretty good western. A remake of The Texas Rangers. Oddly enough there’s another western called The Texas Rangers directed by Phil Karlson in 1951 with George Montgomery with a similar story line. Also a very good flick. So thanks once again. I’ll be checking out this site from now on.
John M. Whalen
Several sellers offer STREETS OF LAREDO through the iOffer website at around 10 bucks or so.
Thanks for the info on where to buy. Ebay has only Region 4. iOffer seems to have hand-made copies. Probably not good video buy I’ll try one and see.
Helping people reconnect with a film like this, or having somebody say they watched something based on what they read here–and really liked it–is terrific.
I’m so glad you got your answer through this blog.
John, further to what I mentioned earlier, I have a copy of the Galatea site dvd and it is a bona fide release. Therefore the dvd quality is good. You may pay a bit more than what you would get from ioffer but in my eyes it is worth paying that bit extra.
Good to know, Ron. But I checked Galatea on ebay and they don’t have it. Is there a Galatea website? I already ordered the iOffer dvd. It’s got good reviews, which I hope are legitimate. But if there’s a bona fide release I’d order that too.
John
Yes John, Galatea have their own website through ebay. Just type in Galatea shop and it comes up. However with the shopkeeper away you will be unable to peruse what westerns are on offer until she returns.
You can purchase the region 2 Spanish release of STREETS OF LAREDO new from some sellers on AMAZON.CO.UK for about 9 pounds plus shipping. If you have a US Amazon account, you can use the same login, password and credit card at AMAZON.CO.UK. They just convert the pounds to dollars, so it’s probably about 16.00 plus shipping, but it’s a legitimate release. Takes a couple of weeks to arrive.
Got my copy of Streets of Laredo. It turned out to be a recording of an AMC broadcast. It wasn’t too bad– clear, not a third generation copy of a copy, but the color was faded. The commercials were deleted, but little snips were missing because of that. However, it was a really good western. I was afraid it would turn out to be a clunker but no. It kept me engrossed from beginning to end. What a fine story on the theme of friendship. The bloody rake was there a little different from what I remembered seeing at age 9 or 10. It was lying on the ground not leaning on the wall. Great cast. Well directed. I thought the scene where Jim sneaks up on Calico while he’s in a chair playing guitar and singing a Mexican song was very Peckinpah-ish. Wonder if Sam saw that when he was a kid. Thanks for the info on where to get other copies. I’ve got an old all-region player in the closet. Guess I could use that for the Spanish version. This was one quest that turned out to have a great payoff. Thanks for helping me with it.