Firecreek, Farmer and family man Johnny Cobb moonlights as a two dollar a month Sheriff with a homemade badge in the quiet little town of Firecreek. When a gang of freebooters passes through, their leader Larkin, who is suffering from a minor wound, agrees to spend the night. The gang members prove to be vicious, sadistic sociopaths who take advantage of the frightened townspeople, humiliating them for their own perverse amusement. Although Larkin disapproves of their behavior, his leadership role is tenuous, and he is reluctant to test it by exercising control over his men. The mild-mannered Cobb faces a series of challenges from the gang’s antisocial behavior. Things come to a head when Meli, an Indian woman with a mixed race child, incurs an attempted sexual attack by one of gang. Arthur, a simpleton stable boy, comes to her aid and accidentally kills the attacker. Cobb locks up Arthur to keep him safe, but when the Sheriff leaves town to visit his wife, who is struggling in labor, there is …. Firecreek
104 min | Action, Adventure, Drama | 1968 | Color
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Moving, Powerful, Unheralded Western Masterpiece
I got tired of reading reviews containing either outright misinformation (suggesting the writer saw some other movie) or downright absurdity. From the top notch performances to the stirring Alfred Newman score to the brilliant Vincent McEveety direction to the detailed Calvin Clements script, this a western I can recommend wholeheartedly. This movie finally deserves its due, and a decent DVD release. Rather than falling into the spaghetti western mold popular at the time, this film looks and feels very American, a direct heir to the great Anthony Mann westerns of the 50s.
Jimmy Stewart, mystifyingly maligned in other reviews, gives a sincere moving performance. I wonder if the criticism comes at his farmer character's reluctance towards violence--disappointing no doubt to fans of "cartoon" westerns. The gritty realism extends to the easy, natural relationship among the gang played by Henry Fonda, Gary Lockwood, James Best, Jack Elam, and Morgan Woodward. This gang is the catalyst and their details, ticks and volatile unpredictability are portrayed with beautifully understated precision. And J. Robert Porter as the town simpleton will break your heart.
There's so much fine work by the cast, particularly Stewart, Fonda, Lockwood (who played another superb villain in the electrifying two-part "Gunsmoke" episode, "The Raid"), Best, Elam, Brooke Bundy, Jacqueline Scott, Louise Latham, Barbara Luna and Ed Begley. A dark, gritty, suspenseful western to be sure, but with a warm heart and soul at its center. Seek it out.
Excellent plot with a feel good ending
I had not seen this movie until it appeared on Foxtel Classics a couple of weeks ago and was very pleasantly surprised by it. I have long been a great fan of both James Stewart and Henry Fonda so it was a pleasure to see them together in this well constructed slant on absolute power. The movie itself was a gem with a smoldering if not subtle plot which found a group of exhausted and wounded desperados taking refuge from pursuit in a sleepy backwater, policed reluctantly and part time farmer stroke sheriff stroke father to be for the third time, Johnny Cobb (James Stewart). Leader of the desperados Bob Larkens' (Henry Fonda)initial instinct, though quite badly wounded from an earlier encounter with his pursuers, is to move on immediately and give the place a wide berth. He is however convinced by his fellow gang members (who boast Jack Elam amongst their number) that everything will be fine and that the rest will do them good etc etc. Bob Larken has taken to his bed to lick his wounds and leaves his cronies to amuse themselves with the tiny population of Fireceek.The scene is now set for the inevitable confrontation between right and wrong as the tension between the two sides mounts with a series of events that see the desperados flexing their muscles further and further at the expense of the townsfolks' dignity, culminating in the death of one the gang at the hands of the simple minded stable boy. Who was protecting the honor of a local lady from the unwelcome advances of one of the gang and accidentally shot the attacker.All this of course takes place whilst Johnny Cobb is back on the farm assisting his wife through lab. On his return Johnny finds that the outlaws have taken the law into their own hands and have lynched the boy. At this moment Johnny decides that he has turned the other cheek often enough and that this is the final straw. The ending, though obvious from the beginning, was no less enjoyable for the fact. Its a shame that modern movies do not employ the same degree of detail to set the background before embarking on the action.
