The Spikes Gang

The Spikes Gang is a 1974 American Western film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Lee Marvin. Produced by the Mirisch Company and based on the novel The Bank Robber by Giles Tippette, the supporting cast features Gary Grimes, Charles Martin Smith and Ron Howard. Veteran character actors Arthur Hunnicutt and Noah Beery, Jr. both appear in separate "scene-stealing" performances. Plot Harry Spikes (Lee Marvin) is an aging bank robber of the fading Old West. Injured and near death, he is found and mended back to health by three impressionable youths who are lifelong friends—Wil (Gary Grimes), Tod (Charles Martin Smith), and Les (Ron Howard). They refuse any payment from Spikes for their efforts, and when he's healed he leaves saying he won't forget their kindness. Later, after enduring a beating from his father, and encouraged by Spikes's reminiscences of the good life, Wil decides to run away from home seeking excitement and easy living, and the other 2 boys decide to follow. The three boys eventually make it to a Texas town, hungry and despondent, and in a moment of inspiration attempt to rob a bank. In the process Tod accidentally kills a man, and Les drops all the money, but they manage to escape and cross the Rio Grande into Mexico. Arriving in the Mexican town of Piedras Negras penniless and unable to find any work, Wil pawns his grandfather’s antique watch for $10, enough to buy them a meal. That night, they attempt to steal the watch back, but stumble right into the sheriffs office, and land in jail.