A sheriff of a small town has to defend his congregation from a gang of hired killers lead by Henry Fonda, who are determined to destroy the town, pillage, rape and plunder.
The town comprises mostly of misfits, losers and people who do not fit into society. They are flawed human beings, as are the gang members. This is a running theme in the movie. The good guys are slightly short of bad and the bad guys are slightly short of good. Fonda's gang leader realises towards the end that he and the sheriff are the same, save for their choice of lifestyle. They fail to hate each other and this confuses the story line.
The setting is bleak, even the scenes shot in the day-time are darkened to reflect dark end the awaits the whole town. The suspense builds as you know that eventually Stewarts character must make a stand, as he does in all his movies. The show down towards the end of the movie sees Stewart facing the gang alone.
Bearing in mind that this movie was made in the 60's, the action is quite rewarding. However I cannot help but compare it to other westerns of the 60's such as Clint's spaghetti westerns or the Duke's pilgrim epics and by this account Firecreek just doesn't measure up. Stewart plays the same character in all his movies and this is no different. Consequently you know exactly what's going to happen and you know that he's going to win, because ultimately the good guy must win in all his films.
In this sense, the movie has no surprises, no unexpected endings and no suspense. It is far from being a masterpiece such as many of Stewarts other films (Liberty Valance etc) Disappointing and not worth watching. 5/10
The town comprises mostly of misfits, losers and people who do not fit into society. They are flawed human beings, as are the gang members. This is a running theme in the movie. The good guys are slightly short of bad and the bad guys are slightly short of good. Fonda's gang leader realises towards the end that he and the sheriff are the same, save for their choice of lifestyle. They fail to hate each other and this confuses the story line.
The setting is bleak, even the scenes shot in the day-time are darkened to reflect dark end the awaits the whole town. The suspense builds as you know that eventually Stewarts character must make a stand, as he does in all his movies. The show down towards the end of the movie sees Stewart facing the gang alone.
Bearing in mind that this movie was made in the 60's, the action is quite rewarding. However I cannot help but compare it to other westerns of the 60's such as Clint's spaghetti westerns or the Duke's pilgrim epics and by this account Firecreek just doesn't measure up. Stewart plays the same character in all his movies and this is no different. Consequently you know exactly what's going to happen and you know that he's going to win, because ultimately the good guy must win in all his films.
In this sense, the movie has no surprises, no unexpected endings and no suspense. It is far from being a masterpiece such as many of Stewarts other films (Liberty Valance etc) Disappointing and not worth watching. 5/10