The Spikes Gang

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The Spikes Gang

PG

1974

1h 36m

Western

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2 Reviews

45%

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250+ Ratings

Will (Gary Grimes), Les (Ron Howard) and Tod (Charlie Martin Smith), teenage farm boys living near the Mexican border, stumble upon Harry Spikes (Lee Marvin), a local bandit near death in the middle of nowhere. After helping bring the aging man back to health, the trio decide to escape their humdrum lives by becoming outlaws themselves. Failing at their first attempt to rob a bank, the boys convince the gruff Spikes to teach them the ways of the desperado.

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Dick Lochte

Los Angeles Free Press

If you're a producer who gives [director Richard] Fleischer a turkey of a script, like The Last Run or The Don is Dead or The Spikes Gang, you should expect no miracles.

Dec 13, 2019

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Marvin excels as the world-weary gunman, who realizes his time is almost up.

Rated: B-

Jan 10, 2015

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Roger D

Love Lee Marvin and Ron Howard. Just not in a movie without a plot. This fails on so many levels.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

04/01/25

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Chuck P

TCM played this tonight. Not a bad film at all. Sweet and sad with a great performances especially by underrated Gary Grimes.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/01/25

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Leander S

The movie is not that bad at all. The acting of the four main characters is quite convincing to me, maybe a little clumsy sometimes, but all in all ok. The movie also manages to reproduce the fate of the unlucky, naive and desperate kids in me. At least it was much more convincing to me than some of those Billy the Kid movies which completely fail to reproduce the feelings of despair these people must have had.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/22/24

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Audience Member

Good movie here thank you’ll like it James Welch, Henderson, Arkansas September 16, 2023

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/17/23

Full Review

Martin B

Agree completely with the rating. All the acting is great but the plot is just an incredible bummer. Why??

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/10/22

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Matthew D

Action, humor, tragedy and even social-commentary, this movie has it all.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/04/21

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Richard Fleischer

Director

Lee Marvin

Harry Spikes

Gary Grimes

Will

Ron Howard

Les

Charles Martin Smith

Tod

Arthur Hunnicutt

Kid White

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Synopsis

Will (Gary Grimes), Les (Ron Howard) and Tod (Charlie Martin Smith), teenage farm boys living near the Mexican border, stumble upon Harry Spikes (Lee Marvin), a local bandit near death in the middle of nowhere. After helping bring the aging man back to health, the trio decide to escape their humdrum lives by becoming outlaws themselves. Failing at their first attempt to rob a bank, the boys convince the gruff Spikes to teach them the ways of the desperado.

Director: Richard Fleischer
Producer: Walter Mirisch, Richard Fleischer
Screenwriter: Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr.
Production Co: Mirisch Corporation
Rating: PG
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 3, 2017
Runtime: 1h 36m

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