Firecreek (1968)

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Don't Believe the Hype

Boring

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I wonder if anyone has ever figured out how many Western movies have been made over the years. Thousands? And they all boil down to a half-a-dozen basic plots. You could probably take 90% of the Westerns ever made and dump them in a vat of hydrochloric acid, and not many people would ever notice. You'd still have hundreds left.So the question is, what makes a Western worth watching now that we are well over the 1950s mania for Westerns. Well, somewhat unique plots get extra points (perhaps along the lines of "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence"). Star power is another factor (such as in "Rio Bravo"). Or the unique ability of a particular director who can weave something special out of very common cloth (such as John Ford)."Firecreek" is certainly not one of the GREAT Westerns. But I wouldn't dump it in that vat of HCL acid, either. It's saving grace are the performances of the 2 primary stars -- Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda. And, the director (whom you probably never heard of) does a nice job (though not award winning level) of telling the story. That story is simple -- the bad guys ride into town (in this case they appear to be ex-Confederates), and it's up to the honorary sheriff (Stewart) to solve the problem. There is a twist -- the chief of the bad guys is none other than Henry Fonda. Of course, Stewart has a family, including a wife who is about to deliver a baby.There's a problem here, and one that I rarely am concerned with. Jimmy Stewart was 60 years old when he made this film, and yet he's going to be a father again. Not impossible, but this was out of his age range. I much preferred him in "Bandolero" (with Dean Martin), made the same year, where he pretty much acted his age. So, to enjoy "Firecreek", you're going to just have to get over the age issue. I was thinking that they could have solved the issue by having the wife of Stewart's son, who was away for some reason, and Stewart acting as the father/grandfather. That would have worked. I've always felt, also, that Stewart sometimes overacted PHYSICALLY in some action scenes, and he does here; perhaps it's just because of him being so lean and lanky. But it's still a really fine performance.I'm a little surprised that Henry Fonda accepted this role. In it, he plays a totally pathetic character. He has far fewer good scenes than Jimmy Steward, although a few are really good.Another problem with this film is that most of the film is a growing menace, and it takes a very long time for the real action to start. When it does, I am reminded of Gary Cooper in "High Noon". Although it's hardly the same story, once again it is one man against the bad guys.One of the best scenes in the film belongs to Dean Jagger.The film has some of the best supporting actors around at the time. Inger Stevens An old Dean Jagger. An old Ed Begley. An old Jay C. Flippen. Jack Elam in one of his final films.This is not one of the great Westerns, but it is heads above your average Western. Recommended.

I don't know how I have missed this one! I cannot think of a human dilemma that is not sensitively addressed in this film. never been a James Stewart fan, but I've never seen him pull off his one trick so well. but the real stars are the supporting cast, and the evocative screenplay, along with imaginative direction. I have always thought of jack elam as the prince of baddies, but here he is almost shaded by his compadres, whose personalities are much more developed than in an average western. henry Fonda puts in another fine turn, as the world-weary outlaw leader. his eyes in the final scene are alone worth the price of admission.even minor players are allowed to contribute significant lines. all -in -all, a very refreshing change from the spaghetti westerns of the time, and harking back to classics such as "the gunfighter", and my personal all-time favourite, "gunfight at the OK corral".

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 .

A sheriff of a small town has to defend his congregation from a gang of hired killers lead by Henry Fonda, who are determined to destroy the town, pillage, rape and plunder.The town comprises mostly of misfits, losers and people who do not fit into society. They are flawed human beings, as are the gang members. This is a running theme in the movie. The good guys are slightly short of bad and the bad guys are slightly short of good. Fonda's gang leader realises towards the end that he and the sheriff are the same, save for their choice of lifestyle. They fail to hate each other and this confuses the story line.The setting is bleak, even the scenes shot in the day-time are darkened to reflect dark end the awaits the whole town. The suspense builds as you know that eventually Stewarts character must make a stand, as he does in all his movies. The show down towards the end of the movie sees Stewart facing the gang alone. Bearing in mind that this movie was made in the 60's, the action is quite rewarding. However I cannot help but compare it to other westerns of the 60's such as Clint's spaghetti westerns or the Duke's pilgrim epics and by this account Firecreek just doesn't measure up. Stewart plays the same character in all his movies and this is no different. Consequently you know exactly what's going to happen and you know that he's going to win, because ultimately the good guy must win in all his films. In this sense, the movie has no surprises, no unexpected endings and no suspense. It is far from being a masterpiece such as many of Stewarts other films (Liberty Valance etc) Disappointing and not worth watching. 5/10