To give it the feel of a 1940s detective story, there’s an unseen and unnecessary narrator (R eed Hadley) throughout. It seems easier to just rob banks than go through the gang’s lunatic scheme. But the film’s main problem is that the premise never struck me as something believable. There’s also a tepid romance thrown in with Audie and the attractive lady casino owner ( Colleen Willer ). Ben’s the go-between for the secretive big boss in town, who gives the marching orders.Īudie plays the role of the cool ladies man too lighthearted and the tension never builds as it should. There Gifford meets Winton’s unhappy granddaughter Janie ( Susan Seaforth ) and field gang leader Troop ( DeForrest Kelley ), Hayden ( Adam Williams ), the confused lovesick youngster Carter (Ben Cooper) and the always angry Ben Brady (Mort Mills). Miller graduated from high school in Portland at age fifteen. Miller was born in Yakima, Washington, and raised in Portland, Oregon. She starred in several films, such as the Westerns Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1963) and Four Guns to the Border (1954). When Gifford is easily freed from Marshal Shearer’s (John Hubbard) jail, he’s taken to the mountain ranch owned by the elderly Winton (Damian O’Flynn). Colleen Miller (born November 10, 1932) is an American actress. The detective’s best friend, Nielson ( Jan Merlin ), is assigned to be his watchdog. When a ruthless gang, working mostly out of the Colorado territory, springs wanted men from jail and then forces them to be unmasked as front men in robberies, and then kills them to collect the now higher reward, the National Detective Agency, located in Wichita, assigns its top agent Bob Gifford (Audie Murphy) to Comanche Creek to pose as wanted stage coach robber Judd Tanner and infiltrate the gang. It’s written by Edward Bernds, as a hybrid detective story and Western. Audie Murphy plays the detective part previously played by George Montgomery. The gunfight at the end of the film is well worth waiting for.GUNFIGHT AT COMANCHE CREEK (director/writer: Frank McDonald screenwriter: Edward Bernds cinematographer: Joseph Biroc editor: William Austin music: Marlin Skiles cast: Audie Murphy (Bob Gifford/ aka Judd Tanner ), Jan Merlin (Nielson), Reed Hadley (Narrator), Colleen Willer (Abbie Stevens), DeForrest Kelley (Amos Troop), John Hubbard (Marshal Shearer), Adam Williams ( Jed Hayden), Damian O’Flynn (Winton), Ben Cooper (Phil Carter), Susan Seaforth (Janie), Mort Mills (Ben Brady), Michael Mikler (Reno Waller), Laurie Mitchell (Tina), John Milford ( Bill Peters) Runtime: 91 MPAA Rating: NR producer: Ben Schwalb Allied Artists 1963)įrank McDonald (“Isle of Fury”/”Smart Blonde”/”My Pal Trigger”) directs this routine Western that’s set in 1875, in Comanche Creek, Colorado. Audie has to rely a lot on his wits to keep from being discovered. Gunfight At Comanche Creek was done very well for low budget studio Allied Artists and goes at a real nice pace and maintains suspense throughout. Not at all saying however that some of his westerns weren't good.
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After failing with a television series Whispering Smith, as so many of his fellow players did, Murphy kept doing westerns of varying quality until the end of the Sixties and the end of the B westerns which played the bottom half of double bills. Murphy himself was getting older and could no longer be cast as callow western youths as he was early in his career. If he hadn't signed for Star Trek, Kelley might well have kept in this career path. Leonard McCoy of the star ship Enterprise, DeForest Kelley did a lot of western roles where he was mostly a really nasty villain. One undercover detective has already been killed for the reward on his head so Audie has to watch himself from all angles. He just breaks wanted criminals out of jail gets the use of their service and then kills them for the reward which has gone up in value like a stock in the bull market. Comanche Creek, Colorado, 1875: Prisoner Jack Mason is broken out of jail by a gang of strangers. Kelley has a unique recruiting method to supplement the hard core of his gang for jobs. A Gunslinging Detective Smashes The Most Ruthless Outlaw Gang Of All Time Masked marauders.
The film has a plot not dissimilar to that of the great urban noir drama A Street With No Name. The events leading up to the Gunfight At Comanche Creek find Audie Murphy working as an undercover detective who has infiltrated an outlaw gang led by DeForest Kelley.