ma-cortes It deals with the gun-down that cracked the West wide open , as Bat Masterson (Joel McCrea) doesn't look for problems , but he doesn't walk away from it . When an army sergeant in Hays City attempts to shot Bat and dies for this attack , Bat heads for Dodge City where Ed , his brother , is city marshal and a candidate for county sheriff running against the nasty Regan (Don Haggerty) . While Masterson buys a share in a local saloon called ¨Lady gay¨ , partnering with the widow Lily (Nancy Gates) . Then , after an ambush carried out by the corrupt Dave Rudabaugh (Richard Anderson) , Bat , helped by a fine Doctor (John McIntire) , finds himself a candidate for sheriff and the heir to Ed's intentions toward Pauline (Julie Adams) , a minister's daughter . As Bat Masterson is elected to the job and is determined to find the killer and to maintain law and order and make Dodge City safe. Better than average Western with Joel McCrea as the famous gunman and gambler Bat Masterson . As it stars Joel MacCrea who performed lots of Westers as ¨Unión Pacific¨, ¨Buffalo Bill¨ , ¨the Virginian¨, ¨Ramrod¨, ¨South of St Louis¨ , ¨4 faces West¨ , ¨The Oklahoman¨ and his final classic ¨Ride the high county¨ along with Randolph Scott . It contains a good cast as John MacIntire as a good Doctor , Richard Anderson , Don Haggerty , Timothy Carey , James Westerfield as reverend and two gorgeous girls : Julia Adams and Nancy Gates who previously played opposite a different Bat , George Montgomery , in the Western ¨Masterson of Kansas¨ . The movie is inspired on true events . Thus , Bartholomew ¨Bat¨ Masterson (1853-1921) spent the last twenty years of his life as a popular sports writer on New York newspaper . Previously he had taken part in the battle of Adobe Walls in 1874 in which a small party of hunters beat off a fierce attack by hundreds of Indians , events narrated in the meeting between Bat and the old man at the beginning of the film . In 1878 the marshal of Dodge City was shot by two cowboys , Bat rushed to the scene and gunned down the killer . Bat was appointed as deputy U.S. marshal by the Mayor and shortly after captured noted outlaw . Along with Bat were hired to keep the peace as lawman Wyatt Earp and Bill Tilghman . In 1902 he settled in N.Y.City and became a successful sports writer on the Morning Telegraph and he died at his desk from a heart attack . Masterson said he has not killed as many men as was popularly supposed though he had experienced a great many difficulties . The picture is set in Dodge City , Kansas , the most celebrated of the cowboy cattle towns , became a major railhead cowtown for the cattle driven up from Texas over the long trails , during the cattle boom Dodge shipped more than 250.ooo head a year . The free-spending cowboys attracted professional gamblers , badmen , saloon and brothel keepers and became a rough town in the best traditions of the wild west . Dodge City reigned as ¨Queen of the Cowtowns¨ until final XIX century when the free range cattle industry came to an end . The film is an enjoyable western and well written by Martin Goldsmith based on a story by Daniel Ullman . Agreeable and evocative musical score by Hans J. Salter . Colorful and glimmer cinematography by Carl E. Guthrie . Production is in charge of Walter Mirish , an usual western producer: the Magnificent Seven saga . The motion picture was rightly directed by Joseph M. Newman . Joseph made all kinds of genres : drama , thrillers as ¨King of the roaring¨, ¨The story of Arnold Rothstein¨, ¨Love nest¨, ¨Great Dan Patch¨ , ¨Jungle Patrol¨ and a classic Sci-Fi : ¨The Island Earth¨. The flick will appeal to western moviegoers.

classicsoncall If this had been a black and white film, I probably would have rated it where I go with almost all of them, a solid 'six' and not much more. But you don't see many 'B' Westerns in color, hence the bump up a notch. That, and the main character named Bat Masterson, portrayed by the generally competent Joel McCrae in the lead role. The story plucks Bat from his buffalo hunter days and puts him directly into a situation challenging Dodge City sheriff Jim Regan (Don Haggerty). Standing up to bully Regan gets him elected handily, though it took the murder of Bat's brother Ed (Harry Lauter) to help push the story along.Masterson's legacy as a real life gambler is dealt with neatly in the story line. Arriving in Dodge City, Bat's described as a dealer of black-jack with three fingers - thumb, index and trigger. Later, when asked if he's giving up his half interest in the Lady Gay Saloon after being elected sheriff, he declines citing Wyatt Earp's ownership of three gambling joints in Wichita.I was a little surprised to see Bat put a move on his dead brother's girl (Julie Adams), and I probably would have been disappointed if the picture went in that direction. Fortunately he figured out that the relationship would have been doomed from the start. However there was a fall back position with partner Lily (Nancy Gates) from the Lady Gay which wound up working out in the end.I had to do a double take with the gunfight finale here, as all the while it had the earmarks of the James Arness weekly opening of 'Gunsmoke' which ran for twenty one seasons. It made some sense, since Matt Dillon was the marshal of Dodge City too, probably right after Bat left if I had to guess. Interestingly though, the first season of Gunsmoke occurred four years earlier, making McCrae's showdown somewhat unoriginal in the execution.

Marlburian We've seen it all before in so many Westerns, even to the cosy buggy ride out into the country for a bit of romancing. If the tagline was "All The Thundering Might Of The Most Famed Gunfight Of Them All!", then this was hyperbole even by Hollywood standards; when I sat down to watch it it I thought it might be a reworking of the OK Corral shootout, but it wasn't; the inevitable gunfight at the end was quite tame, and its outcome predictable. McCrea was in his latish fifties when the film was made, and it would have been a sad swansong for an usually-watchable actor; thank goodness he went onto make "Ride the High Country".

Mister-UHF Absent from this film are Wyatt Earp, Masterson's close friend and colleague in Dodge City, and Masterson's dapper clothing, a lifelong trademark, two major flaws in the film. His avoidance of public office doesn't ring true, either. The plot itself takes considerable liberties with the truth. (The television series "Bat Masterson" was closer to the truth in spirit and sometimes in fact.)However, McCrea's intelligent and introspective portrayal of Masterson is on the mark. The acting of him and the rest of the cast carry the film, which is saddled with uninspired direction.