Le vengeur

"Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend" is another solid entry in the Hall of Fame resume of Randolph Scott. Scott gives another fine performance in this movie. His supporting cast is also very good including standout work from James Garner, a dreamy Dani Crayne and a never better Gordon Jones.

Following service in the US Army, western soldier Randolph Scott (as Buck Devlin) heads for his brother's home in Nebraska. Unfortunately, some boisterous Native American Indians are shooting up the place when Mr. Scott arrives. His brother is one of the casualties. After speaking with townspeople, Scott blames the death on bad ammunition. Scott decides to investigate the matter in "Medicine Bend". The pioneer town is controlled by dastardly James Craig (as Ep Clark), who sells shoddy merchandise at exorbitant prices. Responsible for the bad ammunition that killed Scott's brother, Mr. Craig also attempts to put pretty Angie Dickinson (as Priscilla King) and her shop-owner father out of business...

On the way to "Medicine Bend", Scott and his traveling buddies James Garner (as Johnny Maitland) and Gordon Jones (as Wilbur Clegg) stop for a cleansing skinny-dip. While they are carousing around in the water, their clothes are stolen. The three men happen upon a religious gathering and are given Quaker-like clothing. The unfortunate event turns out to help them go undercover as missionaries in "Medicine Bend". However, this means refraining from drinking , smoking and sexual pursuits. Tightly-attired women like Ms. Dickinson and saloon singer Dani Crayne (as Nell Garrison) may prove too tempting to resist. This western with a sense of humor could leave you chuckling with the blameless Indians.

****** Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend (5/4/57) Richard L. Bare ~ Randolph Scott, James Craig, Angie Dickinson, James Garner

The summary on IMDb for the film is actually wrong. There is no cavalry unit that is massacred by Sioux Indians. Instead, the real plot is as follows: Three men muster out of the US Cavalry (Randolph Scott, James Garner and Gordon Jones). When they come to the home of Scott's brother, they find that the Indians are attacking. Because the men defending the ranch (all civilians) had bought defective bullets, Scott's brother is killed. So, Scott and his two ex-cavalry buddies are on their way to Medicine Bend to find out more about the general store that sold the lousy bullets (the bullets were so bad, the powder in some of the shells wouldn't even burn).

On the way their, the men take a swim in a pond--during which time, their horses, money and clothes are stolen! Soon, they get more clothes from a group of nice religious folk (who Scott refers to as "Brethren" and "the Brotherhood") and learn that this group had just been robbed by men posing as Cavalry men--they'd obviously been using the three men's clothes. So, once they get clothes from these Brethren they head to town--dressed in garments that make them look like non-violent religious men.

Once in the town, they discover that there is cliché #4 from westerns--a local rich guy who controls the sheriff and exploits the people. So it's obvious they won't get any help from the law and need to investigate themselves. At the general store, they soon see that they are selling crappy merchandise AND men working for Craig are going to competing stores and terrorizing them. It's obvious that Craig is behind everything, but how to catch him and prove this might be difficult.

Considering that this is a Randolph Scott western, it isn't surprising what follows. However, like almost all of his films of the era, the journey towards this predetermined end is quite pleasant. I am not a huge fan of the genre, but enjoy Scott's films because they often aren't filled with the usual clichés or, when the are, the acting is so seemingly effortless that the films STILL rise above the rest in the genre.

By the way, pay close attention to see a very young Angie Dickenson. It's a bit easy to miss her in her role working for the nice store--she's got long brown hair and it really makes her look very different. Frankly, I liked her this way but apparently the blonde look served her well in later projects, so who am I to say!

In Shoot-Out At Medicine Bend Randolph Scott is cast as a recently mustered out army captain who arrives just in time to atop an Indian raid, but too late to save his brother.

As he sees it the Indians were just doing their thing, but he wants to find out who sold his brother and the other settlers of the community they're building the defective ammunition that left them helpless. The trail leads Scott and his two sidekicks James Garner and Gordon Jones to the town of Medicine Bend.

If ever a town needed a better business bureau it was Medicine Bend. The place is run by James Craig, Myron Healey, and assorted thugs they've hired. They have Mayor Don Beddoe and Sheriff Trevor Bardette intimidated. Usually villains like Craig are usually running a crooked saloon and he does that as well. But Craig has all kinds of interests and he undersells the other merchants with shoddy quality merchandise like the defective ammunition he sold Scott's brother. Honest people like Harry Harvey and daughter Angie Dickinson are being driven out of business through his cut rate 'bargains' and intimidation.

The title lives up to its name, there is a dandy shootout. I liked the film for the fact it has an unusual villain in the form of a merchant. Unusual for westerns that is. Craig's practices are rather up to date when you think about it.

For some reason this film is not out. That's a pity because it's not the greatest of Randolph Scott westerns, but pretty good.

One of the more minor-key of Randolph Scott's late 50's Westerns, with frequent era collaborator Budd Boetticher nowhere in sight. The more standard filming style is evident, but Scott offers his traditional dependable portrayal, and the film is of interest for the early big-screen work of James Garner and Angie Dickinson. Has some good action scattered throughout.