Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

bsmith5552 "Shootout at Medicine Bend" is one of many formula "B" plus westerns turned out by star Randolph Scott in the 1950s. This one, for some reason was shot in black and white, the only Scott western of the decade not shot in color.Three army buddies, Captain Buck Devlin (Scott), Sgt. John Maitland (James Garner) and Pvt. Wilbur Clegg (Gordon Jones) are returning home after mustering out of the service. They arrive at Devlin's brother's ranch just as it is being attacked by Indians. The brother is killed due to faulty ammunition that fails to work under fire. Devlin and friends set out for the town of Medicine Bend to investigate. Along the way they are robbed of all of their possessions including their clothes.Coming upon a wagon train of Quaker like people, they are given plain clothes by the group and proceed to the town where they find everything controlled by businessman Ep Clark (James Craig). We learn that Clark and his gang are responsible for robberies of local ranchers including Devlin and his pals.Maitland and Clegg go to work for Clark under the watchful eye of Rafe Sanders (Myron Healey), Clark's second in command. Devlin meanwhile aligns himself with Clark's competitor Elan King (Harry Harvey) who just happens to have a sweet as apple pie daughter Priscilla (Angie Dickenson). Saloon girl Nell Garrison (Dani Crayne) tries to help out John and Wilbur when they are arrested for the murder of Clark henchman Clyde Walters (John Alderson). Then it gets interesting.Randolph Scott was nearing the end of a long career, so it was kind of hard to imagining him romancing the young Angie Dickenson even though it's only suggested. The best female part however goes to Crayne who gets to warble a forgettable tune as the good/bad saloon girl.As with most of Scott's westerns, he was given an excellent supporting cast. In addition to those already mentioned we have Trevor Bardette as the Sheriff, Don Beddoe as the Mayor, Harry Lauter as henchman Briggs, Robert Warwick as Brother Abraham, Ann Doran as Devlin's sister in law and Phil Van Zandt as a street barker all familiar to western fans. Also watch for a brief appearance from Nancy Kulp as a nurse and stuntman Dale Van Sickle as one of the boys.James Garner was on the brink of stardom as he was about to embark on his long running "Maverick" TV series.Scott wasn't through yet as he was about to appear in a series of acclaimed Budd Boetticher directed films.

Spikeopath In 1957 Randolph Scott was in the middle of producing his best work in the Western genre. A run of seven films in collaboration with director Budd Boetticher and a magnificent career closer with Sam Peckinpah in 1962, would cement Scott's rightful reputation as a genre legend. So where did this oddity come from then? Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend was actually wrapped in 1955, a year which found Scott especially prolific with four other films up for release. This was Scott's last film on his long term Warner Brothers contract and the fact is is that the studio didn't know what to do with the film. This can be put down to a couple of things. Firstly it's shot in black & white, making it the only fully fledged black & whiter he made in the 50s. Secondly is that it's a somewhat bizarre Western as it mixes a revenge driven theme with outright comedy. In the end, after it sitting on the shelf gathering dust for two years, WB execs stuck the film on the bottom rung of 1957 double bills. All of which hopefully explains why the film is little known and rarely thought about in the context of Scott's career.As another IMDb reviewer has rightly pointed out, the plot synopsis is wrong. Not only on IMDb, but also on TCM and some other on line sites! There is no Sioux massacre of the cavalry in this film. The plot sees Scott as Captain Buck Devlin, who along with two fellow cavalry officers (played by Gordon Jones and James Garner) muster out the army and head for Buck's brothers home. As they arrive they find that the Devlin home is under Indian attack, an attack that sees David Devlin killed on account of him not being able to fire his rifle due to faulty ammunition. Fighting the Indians off, Buck and pals learn of the faulty ammunition and trace it to a store in Medicine Bend. Swearing revenge the men set off to get to the bottom of it.After a brisk and dramatic start the film quickly takes you by surprise before the three men even arrive at Medicine Bend. A comedy sequence suddenly unfolds and although it's real funny, it throws you a little off kilter. Here's the thing for first time viewers to note, this is a comedy Western, very much so. We then watch as the three men disguise themselves as Quakers as they go undercover in the town. This basically involves them wearing Quaker apparel and saying "thee" in every sentence! Oh and swearing off whiskey and women, something that doesn't prove easy for Garner & Jones' characters! It's great fun that sees Scott play it with tongue firmly in cheek, and even tho the comedy is at nearly every turn, there's also plenty of action to enjoy. There is after all a matter of revenge and some baddies {led by James Craig} to deliver divine retribution too. There's even a delightful tune into the mix as Dani Crayne (very sexy) huskily warbles "Kiss Me Quick," a tune that puts one immediately in mind of "Little Joe, the Wrangler" from Destry Rides Again. While the appearance of a young Angie Dickinson adds further sex appeal to proceedings.The title is a little misleading since it lends one to expect a Gunfight at the O.K. Corral type movie. It's not of course, but in its own way this is very much a must see for those Western fans who might need a pick me up. Hey it's even got a nice print too. 7/10

MartinHafer 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!

wombatdc 'Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend was entertaining, but not a great Scott western. I enjoyed the 'Quaker' touch though; for a western, it was different. Simply, Scott is out for revenge for his brother who was killed, along with his men, using defective ammunition. James Craig had substituted gunpowder with coal dust to make a larger profit on ammunition sold to Scott's brother and friends. He also cheats his customers and competitors in other ways; he is the original 'shoddy retailer of the west.' Along the way to revenge, he mixes with 'Quakers' and learns to respect their ways. In the end, there is a comedic brawl with the James Craig faction in which Scott exacts his revenge. Scott is ably helped by James Garner and Gordon Jones; with Angie Dickinson and Dani Crayne as love interests. This is a definite below average, though very entertaining, western for Scott. I give it a C-.