Shoot-out at Medicine Bend (1957)

Randolph Scott is Buck Devlin, a former Cavalry officer whose brother dies because he tries to fight off the Sioux with faulty ammunition, bought in the town of Medicine Bend.

Devlin wants to find out who sold that ammunition and heads off to investigate along with sidekicks John Maitland (James Garner) and Wilber Clegg (Gordon Jones).

Their journey is interrupted when someone robs them while they’re bathing.

The bandits make off with their horses, their uniforms and the money the settlers have given them to restock with quality firearms and goods.

As a result, they wind up heading into Medicine Bend in religious garb, which turns out to be an effective disguise.

There Devlin finds a town, a marshal and a mayor controlled by Ep Clark (James Craig), who plans to make a fortune by gouging settlers by charging premium prices for inferior goods and running all of his competitors out of town.

And when he’s short of merchandise, his men rob those very same settlers.

Review:

Having Randolph Scott, James Garner and Gordon Jones show up in Medicine Bend as “brothers” of the church allows director Richard Bare to be playful at times, but the opening Indian attack and the climatic fight between our hero and our villain are also well done.

Harry Harvey and Angie Dickinson play uncle and niece shopkeepers trying to stay afloat in spite of Clark’s best efforts to shut down their store. Angie, playing Priscilla King, takes a quick liking to Buck Devlin.

But she’s not the only dame in town. Dani Crayne plays Nell Garrison, Clark’s on-again, off-again girlfriend. She nicknames Scott, Jones and Garner as “high, wide and handsome” and turns the head of handsome (Garner).

The best scenes in the movie occur after our three heroes have been robbed of their clothing and show up at a prairie church meeting wearing nothing but towels, and when Crayne gets Jones drunk in order to find out if he’s the religious fanatic he pretends to be.

This marked just the third feature film for James Garner.

Directed by:
Richard Bare

Cast:
Randolph Scott … Buck Devlin
James Craig … Ep Clark
Angie Dickinson … Priscilla King
Dani Crayne … Nell Garrison
James Garner … John Maitland
Gordon Jones … Wilber Clegg
Trevor Bardette … Sheriff Massey
Don Beddoe … Mayor Pelley
Harry Harvey … Elam King
Myron Healey … Rafe Sanders
John Anderson … Clyde Waltes
Robert Warwick … Brother Abraham

Runtime:

Saloon song: “Kiss Me Quick”
performed by Dani Crayne

Memorable lines:

John Maitland: “Ammunition like this, a man would be better off throwing rocks.”

Buck Devlin, after their uniforms are stolen: “What was it you said you were gonna do when we hit town, Johnny?”
Wilber Clegg: “He said he was going to walk up and down Main Street and let all the girls look at him.”
Devlin: “It’s gonna come as quite a surprise.”

Man who’s been robbed: “I want my money back.”
Sheriff Massey: “Hold up your right hand. Go ahead, hold it up.”
The man follows directions.
Sheriff: “I hereby swear you in as a deputy sheriff. Now go out and find your own bandits.”

John Maitland, in Quaker garb, taking in saloon gal Nell Garrison: “Gee, she can sing too!”
Buck Devlin: “What do you mean, too?”
Maitland: “Well, it stands to reason she can do other things. Like sewing or knitting.”
Devlin guides Maitland in the opposite direction: “Thee is not finding out.”

Preacher: “Timothy 5:23 — Drink no longer water, but take a little wine for thy stomach’s sake.”
Wilber Clegg, forced to give up alcohol while posing as a “brother”: “Amen!”

John Maitland: “Seems to me thee are out of place singing in a saloon.”
Nell Garrison: “What do you know about saloon singers.”
Maitland: “I’ve spent quite a lot of time and money looking into the subject. Before I was converted, that is.”

Randolph Scott as Buck Devlin, returning home too late to save his brother in Shoot-out at Medicine Bend (1957)

Dani Crayne as saloon girl Nell Harrison and Angie Dickinson as storekeeper’s niece Priscilla King in Shoot-out at Medicine Bend (1957)