Admirable film.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Another one of those movies which makes you wonder why anyone invested good money to make. A totally unbelievable plot which requires a suspension of belief I couldn't muster. "High Noon" all over again with respect to a village full of people unwilling to defend themselves. I simply couldn't buy into it.Even a cast of proven players couldn't save this. Was only the cast caused me to rate at two stars. They did well with a weak, very weak story line.

Firecreek is a geriatrics High Noon. It stars James Stewart as a mild mannered farmer with a part time job as a $2 a month sheriff. Even his badge is home made.Henry Fonda is an injured outlaw, his gang stops by in this small town to recuperate from his injuries. In the meantime his gang of outlaws are bored and want to have a good time which means getting drunk, causing trouble and rape as they desire the local native Indian woman.The town puts up with the outlaws because they are afraid, this is a community of losers who themselves run away from trouble. When a young man is found hanged because he shot one of the bad guys who was trying to rape the native Indian woman, Stewart realises he needs to make a stand and fight back.I never believed for a moment Stewart as a part time sheriff with young kids and a wife who is about to go into labour. I thought they were his grand-kids. In the climatic shootout, badly staged he is too busy fixing his injured leg when the bad guys are looking for him.Fonda is essentially a decent man who finds some tenderness with the granddaughter of the man who runs the local boarding house. His inability to rein in his wild men causes problems for everyone. You wonder whether he was an effective leader of his men if he could keep them calm for a few days.It is a low key, old fashioned film. A derivative B western with some big stars. This film was made in 1968, t a year before Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The quality and the generational divide is plain to see.

I wonder if anyone has ever figured out how many Western movies have been made over the years. Thousands? And they all boil down to a half-a-dozen basic plots. You could probably take 90% of the Westerns ever made and dump them in a vat of hydrochloric acid, and not many people would ever notice. You'd still have hundreds left.So the question is, what makes a Western worth watching now that we are well over the 1950s mania for Westerns. Well, somewhat unique plots get extra points (perhaps along the lines of "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence"). Star power is another factor (such as in "Rio Bravo"). Or the unique ability of a particular director who can weave something special out of very common cloth (such as John Ford)."Firecreek" is certainly not one of the GREAT Westerns. But I wouldn't dump it in that vat of HCL acid, either. It's saving grace are the performances of the 2 primary stars -- Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda. And, the director (whom you probably never heard of) does a nice job (though not award winning level) of telling the story. That story is simple -- the bad guys ride into town (in this case they appear to be ex-Confederates), and it's up to the honorary sheriff (Stewart) to solve the problem. There is a twist -- the chief of the bad guys is none other than Henry Fonda. Of course, Stewart has a family, including a wife who is about to deliver a baby.There's a problem here, and one that I rarely am concerned with. Jimmy Stewart was 60 years old when he made this film, and yet he's going to be a father again. Not impossible, but this was out of his age range. I much preferred him in "Bandolero" (with Dean Martin), made the same year, where he pretty much acted his age. So, to enjoy "Firecreek", you're going to just have to get over the age issue. I was thinking that they could have solved the issue by having the wife of Stewart's son, who was away for some reason, and Stewart acting as the father/grandfather. That would have worked. I've always felt, also, that Stewart sometimes overacted PHYSICALLY in some action scenes, and he does here; perhaps it's just because of him being so lean and lanky. But it's still a really fine performance.I'm a little surprised that Henry Fonda accepted this role. In it, he plays a totally pathetic character. He has far fewer good scenes than Jimmy Steward, although a few are really good.Another problem with this film is that most of the film is a growing menace, and it takes a very long time for the real action to start. When it does, I am reminded of Gary Cooper in "High Noon". Although it's hardly the same story, once again it is one man against the bad guys.One of the best scenes in the film belongs to Dean Jagger.The film has some of the best supporting actors around at the time. Inger Stevens An old Dean Jagger. An old Ed Begley. An old Jay C. Flippen. Jack Elam in one of his final films.This is not one of the great Westerns, but it is heads above your average Western. Recommended.

I don't know how I have missed this one! I cannot think of a human dilemma that is not sensitively addressed in this film. never been a James Stewart fan, but I've never seen him pull off his one trick so well. but the real stars are the supporting cast, and the evocative screenplay, along with imaginative direction. I have always thought of jack elam as the prince of baddies, but here he is almost shaded by his compadres, whose personalities are much more developed than in an average western. henry Fonda puts in another fine turn, as the world-weary outlaw leader. his eyes in the final scene are alone worth the price of admission.even minor players are allowed to contribute significant lines. all -in -all, a very refreshing change from the spaghetti westerns of the time, and harking back to classics such as "the gunfighter", and my personal all-time favourite, "gunfight at the OK corral".