ma-cortes 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 .

Jeff (actionrating.com) Skip it – After 1970, westerns started getting weird. Even though this film was made in 1968, it's got a very 70's feel to it. I think you know what I mean. Fans of classic westerns can recognize when they're watching a movie that doesn't have that classic feel to it. I tried to like this movie because it's the only movie starring Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda together. ("How the West Was Won didn't have the two together on screen). The main complaint I have with this film is that it's not much of an action movie. The final gunfight is impressive, but I would compare this to a western like "Three Violent People" because the movie dies well, but doesn't live well. 1.5 out of 5 action rating

tingnting 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

DKosty123 While the acting & the pacing on this film is well done, the film has a couple of things that hold it from being great. One of them is that Jimmy Stewart is playing almost an identical role to one he has played many times in his career. He is again the common everyman who is the accidental hero. By the time this movie is made, Stewart has done this so many times that it has become pretty much routine. I give the make up department credit though, Stewarts hair is really dyed well to try & make him look a little younger than he is by this point.Henry Fonda plays the head bad guy here. While it is a departure from what he usually plays, there are times where he is a little too wooden & there are times where he is too vulnerable. That is the scripts fault, not Fondas.The ending here, is one that has been done many times & is much too predictable. Still, the film has good character development, is well filmed, & has a very good cast so I found it good enough to get above it's faults. Still, I think the script could have been better & less predictable that it is.