Firecreek is a somber western indeed about a man who is a sheriff and in the end forced to act like one. And an outlaw who's also forced to act like one.
Five outlaws led by Henry Fonda are dodging a posse and go to this out of the way town called Firecreek. Fonda leads a real motley crew of killers in Morgan Woodward, Jack Elam, James Best, and Gary Lockwood. Though Fonda says stay out of trouble and don't start anything, their outlaw natures get the better of them.
James Stewart is the part-time sheriff here. The place is so small it doesn't usually need and can't afford a real professional lawman. It makes the town of Hadleyville in High Noon look like Chicago. Stewart is more of a constable who usually just has to jail those who get inebriated on Saturday night.
Stewart also has other problems like a wife who's about to give birth to their third child. That's the conflict he's undergoing.
Fonda in a performance similar at times to Gregory Peck in The Gunfighter is weary of the life and finds a little romance going with Inger Stevens. But Peck rode alone and Fonda is responsible for the leadership of this gang.
A whole gang of familiar players like Ed Begley, John Qualen, Dean Jagger, and Jay C. Flippen are some of the town citizens. But the most touching portrayal is that of J. Robert Porter who plays the tragic, slightly retarded stable boy. What happens to him sets the stage for the climax.
Other than separate appearances in How the West Was Won, the only joint screen effort for Princeton graduates and lifetime best friends, James Stewart and Henry Fonda was in On Our Merry Way. This second joint venture was not greeted with glowing reviews at the time. But Firecreek has definitely held up well over the years.
Though the climax is completely ripped off from High Noon it is still a well choreographed gun battle just as High Noon was.
The job of sheriff even in a hole in the wall like Firecreek is not one for amateurs.
