Beautiful, moving film.

Absolutely the worst movie.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

. . . Hollywood's Fascist Witch-Hunting Snitch directors never could come up with an "answer" or "rebuttal" for FIRECREEK (as they claimed that they had done with their ludicrous fairy tale RIO BRAVO, foisted off on the Public after Marion Mitchell "Il Duce" Morrison couldn't stop moping around and crying in his beer following Gary Cooper's HIGH NOON triumph). Marion, who wrote the book on draft-dodging during War Time for such future White House Occupants as Weasel, Junior, and Jello the Hutt to follow, had less "true" grit in his entire blimp of a body than Real Life war hero Brig. Gen. James Stewart had in his left little finger tip. The same goes double for their screen performances, as FIRECREEK stands head and shoulders about such fake news Big Lie Il Duce propaganda flicks as THE ALAMO or THE GREEN BERETS. Instead of trying to hoodwink and lure young Americans to their doom supporting Lazy Racist Black Slavery or My Lai Massacres, Brig. Gen. Stewart teaches us at FIRECREEK that Right must go down fighting, no matter how much Might the bullies command. As in HIGH NOON, an #Metoo heroine steps up to the window to cut down FIRECREEK's biggest bully. Look for this to happen soon in Real Life--at least in a practical sense--with Master Jello.

James Stewart plays a farmer and part-time sheriff for the tiny town of Firecreek. He's got a baby on the way and isn't keen on sticking his nose into other people's business. So when Henry Fonda and his gang of cutthroats ride into town, Stewart looks the other way. Eventually the gang goes too far and somebody has to take a stand. I see a lot of comparisons between this and High Noon. One reviewer even going so far as to say this is derivative of that earlier film. I find the comparison specious at best. What do the two films have in common other than a sheriff fighting alone against outlaws? It's a solid western with a nice cast. Henry Fonda in a pre-Once Upon a Time in the West villainous role is interesting. Jimmy Stewart excels as usual as a conflicted everyman character. Fonda's gang features two western "outlaw gang" veterans: Jack Elam and James Best. Some of the townspeople include Ed Begley, John Qualen, and the criminally underrated Dean Jagger. Some lovely actresses in the cast -- Inger Stevens, Barbara Luna, and Brooke Bundy. Altogether, a good one for western fans. Not one of the greats but good.

This is the story of the farmer/sheriff (James Stewart) who'd worn it -till he'd faced one gun too many...the novice young , a mentally-challenged stable boy (Robert Porter), he had to teach or watch to die . As a peace-loving, part-time sheriff in the small town of Firecreek must take a stand when a gang of nasty outlaws takes over his town . The $2 a month sheriff that's what they gave you for protecting people who ran like rabbits when the going got roguish ! . The villagers ask the unexperienced sheriff to rid the little town of bandits when a vicious gang of freebooters (Jack Elam , Gary Lockwood , James Best and Morgan Woodward) passes through, their leader Larkin (Henry Fonda) , who is suffering from a minor wound healed by a spinster (Inger Stevens) , decides to spend that night .This excellent , meaty Western contains interesting plot , intrigue , thrills , shootouts and results to be quite entertaining . Outstanding Western balances action , suspense and drama . It's a classical recounting about an unexperienced marshal in charge of a village full of cowards and frightening people ; being probably one of the best Western in the fifties and sixties . The highlights of the film are the climatic showdowns , the twisted surprise at livery stable and , of course, the final gundown . The traditional story and exciting screenplay was well written by Calvin Clemens though clichés run through-out , the enjoyable tale is enhanced for interesting moments developed among main characters and especially on the relationship between Henry Fonda and Inger Stevens . Magnificently performed by James Stewart and Henry Fonda , they are awesome experts in the art of conjuring sensational acting , here are reunited in this atypical but thought-provoking western with a lot of reflection , distinguished moments and dramatical attitudes , in addition a multitude of entertaining situations . Top-notch plethora of secondary actors playing vicious, sadistic sociopaths who take advantage of the frightened townspeople such as Gary Lockwood , James Best , Morgan Woodward and veteran Jack Elam as well as villagers perfectly performed by Barbara Luna , Ed Begley , J.C. Flippen , Louise Latham , Dean Jagger , Jacqueline Scott , John Qualen , among others . Wonderful cinematography in Technicolor is superbly caught by cameraman William H. Clothier , John Ford/John Wayne films' usual . Sensitive as well as lively musical score by the classic Alfred Newman .This is another superbly powerful Western being compellingly directed by Vincent McEveety , son of director Bernard McEveety. Vincent was an expert craftsman filmmaking occasionally for cinema such as ¨Herbie, Torero¨ , ¨Amy¨ , ¨The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again¨ , ¨Gus¨, ¨The Strongest Man in the World¨ and usually directed several TV episodes such as ¨Diagnosis murder¨, ¨Colombo¨, ¨Pensacola¨ , ¨Perry Mason¨, ¨T.J. Hooker¨, ¨Airwolf¨ , ¨Dallas¨ , ¨Cimarron¨ , ¨Gunsmoke¨ and ¨Star Trek ¨ in which four of the actors have links to ¨Firecreek¨ as Gary Lockwood, Barbara Luna, Brooke Bundy and Morgan Woodward all starred in Star Trek chapters . Well worth watching and it will appeal to James Stewart and Henry Fonda fans .

The low budget and 50-something Jimmy Stewart playing a 30-something farmer cause many people to dismiss this western. I saw it on AMC recently and they gave it only two stars. However, this is a taut character study where the acting is just wonderful. The two stars (Stewart and Fonda) are good, as usual, but the supporting players really bring out the flavor of the old west. Character actors the likes of Jack Elam, James Best, and Gary Lockwood are excellent, multi-layered villains. For my money, the best acting is an understated performance by Robert Porter as the simpleton Arthur. He plays the character with the just the right amount of childish dignity and enthusiasm, so that his portrayal is truly touching. A very nice way to spend an afternoon.