An action-packed slog

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Starting off with an Indian raid on a rural farmhouse, this quickly turns into a story of corruption in the nearby town. It's a convoluted trip from the countryside to the town square, with veteran Randolph Scott joining up with rising star James Garner, tossing in saloon singer Dani Crayne and respectful Angie Dickinson with a story that really isn't interesting or well structured. James Craig, leading B actor of the 1940's, is the ruthless town boss who was responsible for inferior ammunition which lead to Scott's brother's death on the opening scene. This is a late example of one of the major studio's attempt to draw in TV viewers (when westerns were everywhere during the late 1950's) and color was taking over the movies. This suffers from being in black and white and wide- screen, as well as overly long. There isn't even a comic sidekick to add humor, leaving this colorless in more ways than one.

"Shootout at Medicine Bend" is one of many formula "B" plus westerns turned out by star Randolph Scott in the 1950s. This one, for some reason was shot in black and white, the only Scott western of the decade not shot in color.Three army buddies, Captain Buck Devlin (Scott), Sgt. John Maitland (James Garner) and Pvt. Wilbur Clegg (Gordon Jones) are returning home after mustering out of the service. They arrive at Devlin's brother's ranch just as it is being attacked by Indians. The brother is killed due to faulty ammunition that fails to work under fire. Devlin and friends set out for the town of Medicine Bend to investigate. Along the way they are robbed of all of their possessions including their clothes.Coming upon a wagon train of Quaker like people, they are given plain clothes by the group and proceed to the town where they find everything controlled by businessman Ep Clark (James Craig). We learn that Clark and his gang are responsible for robberies of local ranchers including Devlin and his pals.Maitland and Clegg go to work for Clark under the watchful eye of Rafe Sanders (Myron Healey), Clark's second in command. Devlin meanwhile aligns himself with Clark's competitor Elan King (Harry Harvey) who just happens to have a sweet as apple pie daughter Priscilla (Angie Dickenson). Saloon girl Nell Garrison (Dani Crayne) tries to help out John and Wilbur when they are arrested for the murder of Clark henchman Clyde Walters (John Alderson). Then it gets interesting.Randolph Scott was nearing the end of a long career, so it was kind of hard to imagining him romancing the young Angie Dickenson even though it's only suggested. The best female part however goes to Crayne who gets to warble a forgettable tune as the good/bad saloon girl.As with most of Scott's westerns, he was given an excellent supporting cast. In addition to those already mentioned we have Trevor Bardette as the Sheriff, Don Beddoe as the Mayor, Harry Lauter as henchman Briggs, Robert Warwick as Brother Abraham, Ann Doran as Devlin's sister in law and Phil Van Zandt as a street barker all familiar to western fans. Also watch for a brief appearance from Nancy Kulp as a nurse and stuntman Dale Van Sickle as one of the boys.James Garner was on the brink of stardom as he was about to embark on his long running "Maverick" TV series.Scott wasn't through yet as he was about to appear in a series of acclaimed Budd Boetticher directed films.

Following service in the US Army, western soldier Randolph Scott (as Buck Devlin) heads for his brother's home in Nebraska. Unfortunately, some boisterous Native American Indians are shooting up the place when Mr. Scott arrives. His brother is one of the casualties. After speaking with townspeople, Scott blames the death on bad ammunition. Scott decides to investigate the matter in "Medicine Bend". The pioneer town is controlled by dastardly James Craig (as Ep Clark), who sells shoddy merchandise at exorbitant prices. Responsible for the bad ammunition that killed Scott's brother, Mr. Craig also attempts to put pretty Angie Dickinson (as Priscilla King) and her shop-owner father out of business...On the way to "Medicine Bend", Scott and his traveling buddies James Garner (as Johnny Maitland) and Gordon Jones (as Wilbur Clegg) stop for a cleansing skinny-dip. While they are carousing around in the water, their clothes are stolen. The three men happen upon a religious gathering and are given Quaker-like clothing. The unfortunate event turns out to help them go undercover as missionaries in "Medicine Bend". However, this means refraining from drinking , smoking and sexual pursuits. Tightly-attired women like Ms. Dickinson and saloon singer Dani Crayne (as Nell Garrison) may prove too tempting to resist. This western with a sense of humor could leave you chuckling with the blameless Indians.****** Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend (5/4/57) Richard L. Bare ~ Randolph Scott, James Craig, Angie Dickinson, James Garner

"Shoot-Out At Medicine Bend" is a 1957 Randolph Scott Western that is plain terrible. There is no real shoot out in this movie, just a movie with a disjointed script and a bunch of actors playing their parts like moving statues. Scott had made a bunch of Westerns at Warner Bros. in the early 1950s, usually with Andre DeToth or Edwin Marin as the director and usually in Technicolor. "Shoot-Out" has centenarian director Richard Bare (100 years one week ago, August 12, 2013, a belated Happy Birthday) and Bare directs this movie like it was a long episode of a TV series. Filmed in black and white, not expensive Technicolor.A major plot element of this movie involves Scott and his Army buddies pretending to be Quakers to work undercover to find out who sold Scott's brother bad rifle ammunition. I wonder if the writer saw the movie "Friendly Persuasion" in 1956. Another plot element is that the town of Medicine Bend is isolated from everywhere, so the crook who runs the town can rob wagon trains passing through, travelers like Scott and anyone else with total impunity. There are no marshals, no lawmen in other towns and no newspapers printing stories about these robberies.Beautiful Angie Dickinson plays the daughter of a general store owner. She goes through the motions but she doesn't have that angry look you see sometimes on Randolph Scott's face, as if he is wondering what he is doing in this cheap movie directed by an incompetent. I am pretty sure Scott fired his agent after Scott starred in this movie. James Craig plays the villain in this movie, a businessman who owns almost every business in Medicine Bend. Craig's movie career had tanked by the time he made "Shoot-Out," a long way from Craig's starring role in 1942's "The Devil And Daniel Webster." The abrupt way Craig pops in and out of the movie makes me think that all of his scenes were shot bunched together, so Warner Bros. could pay him for the least amount of weeks' wages possible. That cheapness would explain this movie being shot in black and white, less chance of lab problems requiring reshoots after Craig finished all his scenes. In the 1950s, studio boss Jack Warner had reached the zenith of his cheapness. Every dollar not spent by Warner on this movie shows up on the screen.Something else I really did not like about this Western is that while through most of the movie, the criminals restricted themselves to robbery, at the end, they are busy planning murders. One possible reason for the change could be the way Scott's character killed one of the gang. Scott never made another movie for Warner Bros. after this picture and I can understand why. As I have written before, "Shoot-Out At Medicine Bend" is a very bad movie.