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.

fredcdobbs5 "Shootout at Medicine Band"--the title shootout of which doesn't occur until the film's almost over--is a flat, dull, by-the-numbers western and Scott's last for Warner Brothers, where he made some of his best ones. Scott seems to have some idea of what a dog this picture is, as it's plain to see that his heart isn't in it and he basically sleepwalks his way through it. Can't blame him, though. Even a supporting cast of familiar western faces--Trevor Bardette, Harry Lauter, Harry Harvey, among others--can't make up for the inept direction, hackneyed and predictable script and feeble attempts at comic relief in the form of Gordon Jones, a good character actor who does much better in actual comedies ("The Abbott & Costello Show", "My Sister Eileen", "McLintock", among others) and is badly miscast. James Garner and Angie Dickinson do well enough in early roles, but while blonde dance-hall girl Dani Crayne--better known later on as the widow of David Janssen--is absolutely gorgeous, she's not much of an actress, which doesn't really matter since she's not given much to do except look great (which she does well), warble a song (which she doesn't do well) and wind up with James Garner.All in all, this is one of Scott's lesser--much lesser--westerns and worth a look only if you're a Randolph Scott fan and have never seen it before. That's why I watched it, and I was sadly disappointed at its low quality. If you're a Scott fan you no doubt will be, too.

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

classicsoncall Here's something I never thought about before - Randolph Scott and James Garner appearing in the same picture. Appropriately it was a Western, with the pair, along with Gordon Jones, comprising a trio of cavalry men resigning their posts to investigate the killing of Captain Buck Devlin's (Scott) brother due to faulty ammunition he purchased via a trading post in Medicine Bend. Along the way, the boys are hijacked of their clothes and horses while taking a swim, and manage to reinvent themselves due to a chance encounter with a band of Quakers who have been similarly robbed by the same bunch. Interestingly, by the time the story was over, it was never established who those robbers were, but all signs point to Ep Clark (James Craig) and his bunch at Medicine Bend.If I hadn't seen Angie Dickinson's name in the opening credits, I wouldn't have been on the lookout for her, and probably would have missed her presence as Priscilla King, niece of a shopkeeper in competition with the entire Clark enterprise. She manages to figure out Buck Devlin's connection to recovered stolen money and goods suffered by local homesteaders, becoming a willing ally and nominal romantic interest for Scott's character. Garner and Jones have to tough it out under wraps as Quakers for the entire picture, swigging buttermilk at the local saloon instead of whiskey. Except for that unfortunate incident when Private Klegg (Jones) spills his guts to Ep Clark's saloon singer Nell (Dani Crayne) when he drops his guard and starts knocking 'em down. It all worked out OK though; about that time Nell had a change of heart and opted out of the murder racket.Whenever I see Randolph Scott pop up in a picture, I'm always on the lookout for a fair share of outfit changes, and in this one, they were built into the story. His character is in and out of the Quaker duds more than once, exchanging them for an all black outfit in which he lays waste to Clark's henchmen while recovering money and jewelry for the homesteaders. As I think about it now, Devlin shouldn't have been able to get out of that scrape of falling through the trap door in the floor of Clark's business office, but then the story would have ended right there. After all, the good guys have to come out on top.Here's the thing I couldn't figure out - in the early going, Devlin managed to filch a couple hundred bucks from Clark and his goon Walters without their knowledge. Clark got so incensed that he had Mayor Sam (Don Beddoe) set a reward of a thousand dollars for the capture of the perpetrator. You don't need a whole lot of math experience to know that that was a bad deal.