Fred MacMurray made some good westerns in the 1950's, and this one heads the list. In this tense-filled film he is not a gunfighter or a marshal but a storekeeper, and they are rarely protagonists, however, MacMurray becomes a town hero when he downs one of the bank robbers. But the adulation MacMurray receives is short-lived when it's known that the dead robber's brother and his gang are out for retribution. In High Noon tradition, the town abandon their fellow citizen and even ask him to leave.
In the real west the town members wouldn't be so scared - they lived in a harsh land after all - but this is, after all, a movie. A cowardly town makes for good drama and you end up rooting for the storekeeper who refuses to leave town and decides to stand up to the gang. Very good film that has plenty of tense moments, great dialogue, and there's a refreshing focus on the interactions between the town members. The ending is well done.
Review of At Gunpoint
