The plot is really rather simple, but has lasted as long as the western: Henry Fonda and his band of rugged, uncouth outlaws ride into a "farm town", ran by a "farm sheriff", up to no good. Jimmy Stewart is the sheriff, just a mind-his-own-business, genial, wise and respected member of his little town who doesn't want any funny business or trouble, but the beauty of this western is he'll get it regardless. When we get a good look at Stewart (as Johnny Cobb), the film goes out of its way to portray him as a non-violent man who doesn't seem like the kind of person capable of drawing a weapon opposite gunslingers more than willing to shoot or harm anyone that crossed them.
Bob Larken's (Henry Fonda) bunch is a nasty brood, each actor blessed with interesting faces and able to convey a dark streak making them wholly unpleasant. They interrupt a sermon preached by "fire and brimstone" preacher Ed Begley (whose voice carries gravitas and bluster), with disgruntled Gary Lockwood (as the always-looking-to-pick-a-fight Earl) sawing away inside, visibly eager to put a bullet in somebody, leaving the "church" (basically a store used as a place of worship) just gnawing on some way to get even with the preached word aimed in his direction. A complaint: Why is it that in most westerns, the gospel song sang is "Bringing in the Sheaves"?!?!
When James Best (Roscoe on Dukes of Hazzard and a few memorable Twilight Zone appearances) tries to rape Meli (secretly Cobb's brother's half breed wife), Cobb's "limp brain" stable boy, Arthur (a sympathetic Robert Porter, who looks to Cobb for guidance and wisdom) shoots him as a means to protect her, spurning the wrath of Earl and his colleagues (including sleazy Jack Elam and scar-faced Morgan Woodward who hardly speaks but produces a menace that talks for him). Because he has remained peace-minded and willing to tolerate Larken's gang of irritating galoots, Cobb is finally pushed over the edge when Arthur is a victim of their rage. The final twenty minutes, after a grueling night where his pregnant wife suffered through a difficult labor not yet producing birth, has Cobb, belly full of distaste and anger towards the outlaws plaguing his town, decides to pack a pistol and face off with Larken.
"Firecreek", plot-wise is unremarkable and we have certainly seen better westerns starring Fonda and Stewart. Still these pros are sincere and have conviction (conviction for where they stand, criminally or honorably depending on their ideals and principles) in their parts. Seeing Cobb enter, hesitantly and reluctantly, into the town bar as Larken's gang tears up the saloon, Stewart subtly informs us that his character is in a very precarious, uncomfortable situation. You often here in the dialogue that by morning these cretins will be gone, if the town can just outlast their uncivilized, obnoxious behavior throughout the night.
The results of the film, that violence will erupt and the outlaws pay for their sins, is unsurprising and expected. Fonda is close, although a bit of humanity shows itself when on screen with Inger Stevens (as a local woman tending to his bullet wound) as he recovers from injury, to the character he portrayed in "Once Upon a Time in the West", certainly in that he will stand behind his boys, regardless of how they act towards others, and use violence if necessary to be a "leader". I don't think we fault Stewart for taking a stand, although unlike "Firecreek", his Mann westerns weren't always as black and white as this film. Does show the Peckinpah approach to the 60s western in how vile and filthy the outlaws are, as well as, the level of violence presented on screen.
Considerably aged, Stewart is even more effective, I think, because his character "gave up opportunities" in order to settle in this farm town in the middle of nowhere, with citizens all "running away" from life. Great part for Dean Jagger as a shop owner who speaks about the travails of unfulfilled life, not speaking favorably of the town he calls home. Stevens, a fine actress, proves here just how much a tragedy it was she would commit suicide just a few years later it's too bad because, along with "Hang 'Em High", "Firecreek" proves she had potential (her best work was on Twilight Zone, I believe).
Bob Larken's (Henry Fonda) bunch is a nasty brood, each actor blessed with interesting faces and able to convey a dark streak making them wholly unpleasant. They interrupt a sermon preached by "fire and brimstone" preacher Ed Begley (whose voice carries gravitas and bluster), with disgruntled Gary Lockwood (as the always-looking-to-pick-a-fight Earl) sawing away inside, visibly eager to put a bullet in somebody, leaving the "church" (basically a store used as a place of worship) just gnawing on some way to get even with the preached word aimed in his direction. A complaint: Why is it that in most westerns, the gospel song sang is "Bringing in the Sheaves"?!?!
When James Best (Roscoe on Dukes of Hazzard and a few memorable Twilight Zone appearances) tries to rape Meli (secretly Cobb's brother's half breed wife), Cobb's "limp brain" stable boy, Arthur (a sympathetic Robert Porter, who looks to Cobb for guidance and wisdom) shoots him as a means to protect her, spurning the wrath of Earl and his colleagues (including sleazy Jack Elam and scar-faced Morgan Woodward who hardly speaks but produces a menace that talks for him). Because he has remained peace-minded and willing to tolerate Larken's gang of irritating galoots, Cobb is finally pushed over the edge when Arthur is a victim of their rage. The final twenty minutes, after a grueling night where his pregnant wife suffered through a difficult labor not yet producing birth, has Cobb, belly full of distaste and anger towards the outlaws plaguing his town, decides to pack a pistol and face off with Larken.
"Firecreek", plot-wise is unremarkable and we have certainly seen better westerns starring Fonda and Stewart. Still these pros are sincere and have conviction (conviction for where they stand, criminally or honorably depending on their ideals and principles) in their parts. Seeing Cobb enter, hesitantly and reluctantly, into the town bar as Larken's gang tears up the saloon, Stewart subtly informs us that his character is in a very precarious, uncomfortable situation. You often here in the dialogue that by morning these cretins will be gone, if the town can just outlast their uncivilized, obnoxious behavior throughout the night.
The results of the film, that violence will erupt and the outlaws pay for their sins, is unsurprising and expected. Fonda is close, although a bit of humanity shows itself when on screen with Inger Stevens (as a local woman tending to his bullet wound) as he recovers from injury, to the character he portrayed in "Once Upon a Time in the West", certainly in that he will stand behind his boys, regardless of how they act towards others, and use violence if necessary to be a "leader". I don't think we fault Stewart for taking a stand, although unlike "Firecreek", his Mann westerns weren't always as black and white as this film. Does show the Peckinpah approach to the 60s western in how vile and filthy the outlaws are, as well as, the level of violence presented on screen.
Considerably aged, Stewart is even more effective, I think, because his character "gave up opportunities" in order to settle in this farm town in the middle of nowhere, with citizens all "running away" from life. Great part for Dean Jagger as a shop owner who speaks about the travails of unfulfilled life, not speaking favorably of the town he calls home. Stevens, a fine actress, proves here just how much a tragedy it was she would commit suicide just a few years later it's too bad because, along with "Hang 'Em High", "Firecreek" proves she had potential (her best work was on Twilight Zone, I believe).