A gang operating in Colorado has an ingenious method of thievery.
They break an outlaw out of jail. They make him the front man for their holdups, the one man who can be identified. Then, when the reward on said outlaw climbs high enough, they kill him and collect the reward money too.
The National Detective Agency of Wichita wants to break up the gang, but has already lost one undercover officer trying to do it.
Now they’re sending one of their best, Ben Gifford (Audie Murphy) posing as an outlaw named Judd Tanner.
Tanner manages to get thrown into jail easily enough. And, before long, the gang breaks him out.
Now it’s a matter of time. Can he find out who’s behind the thievery before the reward on his head climbs too temptingly high?
Jan Merlin plays Nielson, the detective assigned to keep an eye on Gifford. Ben Cooper is Kid Carter, a reluctant member of the gang and, Gifford thinks, the most likely to help him when the time is right.
What he doesn’t know is that there aren’t too many people who can be trusted in nearby Comanche Creek.
Audie Murphy as Ben Gifford, giving the option of killing a friend or blowing his cover in Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1964)
Ben Cooper as Kid Carter, the young outlaw Ben Gifford tries to set on a better path in Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1964)
Review:
If the plot sounds familiar, that might be because this is a remake of the 1957 George Montgomery film called “Last of the Badmen.” Not that the earlier version was so great it was just begging to be remade.
Murphy plays a lady’s man, which is a bit unusual for him. Cooper is fine as the member of the gang who’s never killed anyone and dreams of a life outside the gang. We also get DeForest Kelly in one of his bigger pre-Star Trek roles as a snarling member of the outlaw gang.
Colleen Miller is the top-billed female, but her role is relatively small, that of a saloon owner Gifford flirts with Murphy’s character a bit when he first arrives in Comanche Creek. She does play a key role in the film’s climax. This marked her final credited film role.
Oh, and perhaps the film’s biggest flaw: The constant narration, as though the plot’s so complicated the viewer can’t figure out what’s happening.
Colleen Miller as Abbie Stevens, the saloon owner who takes a liking to the man she knows as Judd Tanner in Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1964)
DeForest Kelly as Amos Troop, leader of the outlaw gang in Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1964)
Directed by:
Frank McDonald
Cast:
Audie Murphy … Ben “Gil” Gifford
Ben Cooper … Kid Carter
Colleen Miller … Abbie Stevens
DeForest Kelly … Amos Troop
Jan Merlin … Nielson
Susan Seaforth Hayes … Janie
John Hubbard … Marshal Shearer
Adam William … Jed Hayden
Mort Mills … Ben Brady
John Milford … Bill Peters
Michael Mikler … Reno Waller
Thomas Browne Henry … Mike O’Bryant
William Wellman Jr. .. Day
Runtime: 91 min.
John Hubbard as Marshal Shearer, the man who locks up Ben Gifford in Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1964)
Susan Seforth Hayes as Janie, the young girl who’s fallen for Kid Carter in Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1964)
Memorable lines:
Ben Gifford, trying to charm his way into a saloon girl’s room: “How about tonight? Just to talk. Please.”
Abbie Stevens: “No. You’re too good a talker.”
Ben Gifford: “What makes you think I’d be the one to jump you instead of him?”
Kid Carter: “Well, right now, because he’s asleep.”
Gifford: “That makes sense.”
Waller: “You don’t expect a man to go on a bank raid with an empty gun. We might have to shoot our way out.”
Troop: “When you keep a rattlesnake around, you always pull its fangs.”
Audie Murphy as Ben Gifford, informed a detective friend has died and he’s about to go on a dangerous mission in Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1964)
Thomas Browne Henry as Mike O’Bryant, head of the National Detective Agency in Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1964)
Jan Merlin as Nielson, the deputy tasked with keeping an eye on Gifford while he’s undercover in Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1964)
Mort Mills as Ben Brady, a member of the gang who butts heads with Ben Gifford in Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1964)
Adam Williams as gang member Jed Hayden (center), wondering whether Gifford can be trusted in Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1964)
Laurie Mitchell as Tina Newville, her tryst with detective Bob Gifford (Audie Murphy) interrupted by a jealous lover in Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1964)
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