It is quite possible that the first movie to show a chainsaw used as a weapon was the 1968 film “Dark of the Sun”. The movie, staring Rod Taylor and Jim Brown, follows a team of mercenaries that are sent after a horde of diamonds during the African Congo Crisis.
![](https://i1.wp.com/lumbermuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/dark-of-the-sun-movie-poster-1968-1020254478.jpg?resize=520%2C817)
The movie features a fight scene where Peter Carsten’s ex-Nazi Capt. Henlein attacks Rod Taylor’s Capt. Bruce Curry with a chainsaw. The chainsaw used in the attack appears to be a McCulloch Model 3-10 (or possibly a Model 4-10 or 5-10). Regardless of the specific model, this type of chainsaw was made by the McCulloch Motor Corporation during the mid-1960’s. McCulloch chainsaws were made in Los Angeles, CA, a long way from the African Congo, but very close to a Hollywood studio. “Dark of the Sun” was considered to be a very violent film for it’s time.
![](https://i1.wp.com/lumbermuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/DarkSun4-e1327521165108-1.jpg?resize=450%2C373)
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The Lumber Museum has an earlier McCulloch Chainsaw, a Model 47 on display in our exhibits. The Model 47 was made between 1953 and 1956. It weighed-in at a hefty 26 pounds; ten years later in 1966 the McCulloch Model 3-10 cut the weight of the saw down to a mere 15 pounds. This made the M3-10 much easier to swing at Rod Taylor’s head.
![](https://i2.wp.com/lumbermuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/LM2017_1_-scaled.jpg?fit=980%2C772)