The Age of Commercialism

Really Surprised!

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

If this had been a black and white film, I probably would have rated it where I go with almost all of them, a solid 'six' and not much more. But you don't see many 'B' Westerns in color, hence the bump up a notch. That, and the main character named Bat Masterson, portrayed by the generally competent Joel McCrae in the lead role. The story plucks Bat from his buffalo hunter days and puts him directly into a situation challenging Dodge City sheriff Jim Regan (Don Haggerty). Standing up to bully Regan gets him elected handily, though it took the murder of Bat's brother Ed (Harry Lauter) to help push the story along.Masterson's legacy as a real life gambler is dealt with neatly in the story line. Arriving in Dodge City, Bat's described as a dealer of black-jack with three fingers - thumb, index and trigger. Later, when asked if he's giving up his half interest in the Lady Gay Saloon after being elected sheriff, he declines citing Wyatt Earp's ownership of three gambling joints in Wichita.I was a little surprised to see Bat put a move on his dead brother's girl (Julie Adams), and I probably would have been disappointed if the picture went in that direction. Fortunately he figured out that the relationship would have been doomed from the start. However there was a fall back position with partner Lily (Nancy Gates) from the Lady Gay which wound up working out in the end.I had to do a double take with the gunfight finale here, as all the while it had the earmarks of the James Arness weekly opening of 'Gunsmoke' which ran for twenty one seasons. It made some sense, since Matt Dillon was the marshal of Dodge City too, probably right after Bat left if I had to guess. Interestingly though, the first season of Gunsmoke occurred four years earlier, making McCrae's showdown somewhat unoriginal in the execution.

We've seen it all before in so many Westerns, even to the cosy buggy ride out into the country for a bit of romancing. If the tagline was "All The Thundering Might Of The Most Famed Gunfight Of Them All!", then this was hyperbole even by Hollywood standards; when I sat down to watch it it I thought it might be a reworking of the OK Corral shootout, but it wasn't; the inevitable gunfight at the end was quite tame, and its outcome predictable. McCrea was in his latish fifties when the film was made, and it would have been a sad swansong for an usually-watchable actor; thank goodness he went onto make "Ride the High Country".

Absent from this film are Wyatt Earp, Masterson's close friend and colleague in Dodge City, and Masterson's dapper clothing, a lifelong trademark, two major flaws in the film. His avoidance of public office doesn't ring true, either. The plot itself takes considerable liberties with the truth. (The television series "Bat Masterson" was closer to the truth in spirit and sometimes in fact.)However, McCrea's intelligent and introspective portrayal of Masterson is on the mark. The acting of him and the rest of the cast carry the film, which is saddled with uninspired direction.

Just what the audience could expect from director Newman: a routine action-packed western with veteran Joel McCrea as the legendary Bat Masterson. It is not so much the story that makes this film worth watching, but the appearance of Timothy Carey (uncredited-unbelievable!) as one of villain Haggerty's henchmen.