Le shérif aux mains rouges

The Gunfight at Dodge City is directed by Joseph M.Newman (This Island Earth/Fort Massacre) and jointly written by Martin Goldsmith and Daniel B. Ullman. It stars Joel McCrea, Julie Adams, John McIntire, Nancy Gates, Richard Anderson, Don Haggerty and James Westerfield. Hans J. Salter scores the music and Carl Guthrie is the cinematographer, with the production being in CinemaScope with colour by DeLuxe. Primary location shoot is Melody Ranch, Newhall, California, USA.

McCrea stars as Bat Masterson, we find him originally in Hays City, Kansas, where he has set up shop, but after killing a man in self defence he heads to Dodge City to stay with his brother, Ed (Harry Lauter), who is the City Marshall. But upon arriving he finds that Dodge City is not a nice place, beset with lawlessness and run by corrupt sheriff Jim Reagan (Haggerty). After befriending the town doctor, Sam Tremaine (McIntire), and meeting Ed's fiancée Pauline (Adams), Bat buys a half share in the ailing Lady Gay Saloon run by Lily (Gates), herself struggling because of Reagan's interference. Bat sets about earning an honest living, but sheriff Reagan has no intention of letting either of the Masterson's flourish in Dodge: and just why is Dave Rudabaugh (Anderson) in town?

Sometimes referred to as The Bat Masterson Story, The Gunfight at Dodge City is not a biography of the frontier lawman who once worked alongside Wyatt Earp. It does have some semblance of facts inked into the narrative, but ultimately view it as light telling of Bat Masterson's time in Dodge City. Running at just 81 minutes long, Newman's film has just enough character development, drama and period detail to sustain interest for that length of time. There's no attempt at histrionics or psychological depth, or even a message in the offering. This is a very stream-lined Western dealing in familiar B Western themes. But what it lacks in originality it makes up for with its all round production values.

Although the CinemaScope is not used to the full (not enough exterior panoramas here, sadly), the film boasts some fine performances, wonderful colour lensing (night time shots are gorgeous) and that under valued asset of the Western, costuming (check out Lily's purple frock). McCrea obviously doesn't have the iconography that Randy Scott, James Stewart and The Duke have, but he quite often cuts an imposing, straight backed figure of note. Such as he does here, giving Masterson a rugged noble elegance in the process. Adams is beautiful and proves adept during the more tender moments and Gates, likewise, is hugely effective in portraying the nagging pangs of yearning. McIntire is nearly always good value, especially in official roles, and he adds a touch of quality here as the Doc who likes a drink and stoically stands by Bat's side when he needs support. Haggerty is a touch weak, not really exuding menace, but that's offset quite some by Anderson's suspicious and sneaky portrayal of Rudabaugh.

All told it's just a real safe B Western with good production value into the bargain. 7/10

My vote has always been that of all the great stars identified as western heroes, none was more upright than Joel McCrea. In fact whenever he tried to vary that character, the results usually weren't that good. Even in comedy parts like his films with Preston Sturges, he's still an honorable man, albeit caught up in some lunacy.

McCrea never crossed the line into making himself look ridiculous like Dudley Doo-Right and The Gunfight at Dodge City is a case in point. Here he's playing Bat Masterson who has come into Dodge City after a killing in another town and buys an interest in the Lady Gay Saloon owned by widow Nancy Gates. Brother Ed Masterson, played by Harry Lauter is the town marshal and he's keeping company with preacher's daughter played by Julie Adams.

Brother Ed is shot in the back during a cowboy hurrahing of Dodge City and Bat steps in to take his place. He brings some law and order back to Dodge City and makes both friends and enemies in the process. And he's got both the women mentioned before interested in him.

Fate would have it, a friend from another town comes back in his life. He wants him to bust his brother, who's mentally retarded, out of custody. The brother has killed a man who was making fun of him. He owes this guy big time and he has a responsibility to his badge in Dodge City.

I won't say anything, but Joel McCrea never took the less honorable route in his cinematic career. And as for which woman he winds up with? See the film.

Also look for an unusual performance against type from Richard Anderson. Anderson usually plays nice guys and he's best known for being Lee Majors boss in the Six Million Dollar Man. He's a serpentine villain here and a good one.

I saw this when I was 12 years old when it was the second feature of a double bill. That's what McCrea westerns were relegated to at that time. But Joel McCrea was a real cowboy hero to this 12 year old.

Still is.

The use of the singular in the title is misleading as there's a gunfight every few minutes as Joel McCrea as Bat Masterson cleans up Dodge City.

Richard Anderson is cast against type as a gunfighter in black and Timothy Carey very much to type as the ugliest of the heavies (while an uncredited Kasey Rogers - fleetingly seen early on as a saloon gal named Molly - is unrecognisable without the glasses she wore as Guy's cheating spouse under her former name of 'Laura Elliot' in 'Strangers on a Train').

After a career that stretched back to the silent era that included work with such directors as Alfred Hitchcock, George Stevens, and Preston Sturges, Joel McCrae turned almost exclusively to the western genre in the mid-1940's. Near the end of McCrae's prodigious output of modestly budgeted westerns, he played real life lawman, journalist, and gambler, Bat Masterson, in "The Gunfight at Dodge City." While the story treads familiar territory, McCrae and the movie will likely please most fans of the star in particular and horse-operas in general. As Masterson, a weathered Joel McCrae becomes the town sheriff after his brother, the former sheriff, is killed. Nothing new here; a kindly town doctor played by John McIntire; a lovely widowed saloon keeper, Nancy Gates; a preacher and his prim uptight daughter, James Westerfield and Julie Adams; a friendly townsman and his mentally-challenged brother, Walter Coy and Wright King; and the requisite bad guys, Richard Anderson and Don Haggerty. Besides McCrae, only John McIntire makes much of an impression among the supporting cast.

Director Joseph M. Newman mixes the cliched elements into an entertaining 82 minutes; a few gunfights, a daring rescue, a touch of romance, an attempted rape, fistfights, and the requisite standby, a showdown on the dusty main street of an old western town. "The Gunfight at Dodge City" is no classic of the genre, but rather a routine western that offers all the elements for an afternoon's entertainment, plus the opportunity to watch an iconic western star, Joel McCrae, at work doing what he loved and did exceptionally well.

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.