MartinHafer "Coroner Creek" is a Randolph Scott film that combines two typical western themes--revenge and the evil power-grabbing boss. It begins with a stage coach being attacked by Indians. However, these Indians are only working for the evil unknown white man. During this attack, the folks on the coach were murdered and one of them is Chris Danning's fiancé. Scott plays Chris Danning--a man determined to exact justice. After a montage showing Chris going town to town looking for a blond man with a scar, his trail leads to Coroner Creek---and to an evil boss-man named Younger Miles (George Macready). But, like a typical western baddie, Miles has hired a bunch of thugs (including Forrest Tucker and Joe Sawyer) and Chris is going to have to go through all this guys before his ultimate showdown with Younger. In the process, will Chris be able to hold on to his humanity? As I mentioned in the summary, this film, though reminiscent of other movies, handles it all very well. Scott managed to make it all seem very realistic and was at his best here. Well worth seeing.

Tweekums The opening scene to this Randolph Scott suggests it is going to be an old fashioned cowboys versus Indians film as we see a group of Apache attacking a stage coach; it turns out that they are working for a white man though and once they force the coach to stop this white man kills the men and takes the one female passenger away with him. After this prologue we meet the films protagonist; Chris Danning. He is trying to find out what happened on the stage and learns a few facts about the man responsible; he is blond, blue eyed, has a scar on his face and can speak fluent Apache... he also learns that the woman later killed herself.At this point we don't know his connection to the woman but it is clear that she meant a lot to him as he sets off to find the man responsible. He tracks him down to the town of Coroner Creek; here he learns the man's name is Younger Miles and he is the dominant rancher in the area; doing what it takes to force rivals off their land and getting away with it because his father in law is the sheriff. Danning doesn't go gunning for Miles; instead he starts to provoke him; getting a job with Miles last rival and letting the whole town that he helped Miles' drunk wife get home. It doesn't all go Danning's way though a fight with Miles' gang leaves him with a badly broken hand and several hundred of his employer's cattle are killed when Miles' men set fire the undergrowth in the canyon they were grazing in. This doesn't stop Danning of course and ultimately he will have his revenge and we will learn why he was determined to see Miles dead.I found this to be a surprisingly gritty western; the fight between Scott and Forrest Tucker was particularly brutal for a film of this era; with the latter stamping on Scott's hand then when the tables are turned Scott does the same to him; showing that our hero is only out for revenge. An even bigger surprise came earlier in the scene when Scott bit Tucker's arm; I don't recall seeing any western hero fight that dirty before! Scott puts in a fine performance as Danning; he may have been fifty when he filmed this but he was believable as a man who could handle himself in a dangerous situation. George Macready, played Younger Miles, was suitably villainous; we even see him slapping his wife hitting a man across the face with a spur just to prove how bad he is! Director Ray Enright keeps the action moving along well enough and for the most part makes the fights look good... one early fight did include a very obviously sped up section though which didn't work for me.If you enjoy B westerns this is definitely worth checking out if it is on TV and is a must if you have enjoyed other Randolph Scott westerns.

bkoganbing When Randolph Scott was on your trail there was no one worse to have as an enemy in the old west. Proof of that is to be found in Coroner Creek one of the best westerns he ever did.Scott's bride-to-be was among several passengers killed during a stage holdup, perpetrated by Indians, but led by a renegade white man played by George MacReady.Armed with only a general description, Scott tracks him down to a town called Coroner Creek where the renegade is now has a veneer of respectability. No one knows of his past there. But he doesn't have a bunch of gun hands like Forrest Tucker and Douglas Fowley for nothing.Coroner Creek is adapted from a western novel by Luke Short, but it bears a big resemblance to the larger budgeted James Stewart western, The Man From Laramie. Personally I think Coroner Creek is better even though it is a B western.The highlight of the film is a nasty fight between Forrest Tucker and Randolph Scott. Tucker stomps on Scott's right hand, breaking his trigger finger. When Wallace Ford holds MacReady's men at gunpoint, Scott evens the score in a savage fight where Scott beats him even though he is only able to use his left hand. Scott then does the same thing to Tucker. You next see him sporting a left handed holster and he proves pretty adept with his left hand. The look on Randolph Scott's face as he tears into Tucker is unforgettable. He's more than a man, Scott is a force of nature in Coroner Creek.In a career where he played a couple dozen villains, one of the meanest George MacReady ever played was in Coroner Creek. You will not easily forget MacReady, his veneer of sophistication hiding barbaric acts of unspeakable cruelty.Coroner Creek is the finest introduction you could make concerning the films of Randolph Scott. You will be a fan after you see this.

grteton Spectacular scenery highlights this Randolph Scott movie. Scott was 50 yers old when this was made and he never looked better. He is a man out to avenge his fiance's death caused by veteran bad guy, George MacReady. Lots of action and great fun watching Scott do his thing.