Spikeopath Gunfight at Comanche Creek is directed by Frank McDonald and written by Edward Bernds. It stars Audie Murphy, Ben Cooper, Colleen Miller, DeForest Kelley and Jan Merlin. A Panavision/De Luxe Color production with cinematography by Joseph Biroc and music by Marlin Skiles. Murphy stars as an agent for the National Detective Agency who goes undercover to find the outlaw gang that has been breaking convicts out of jail to help them to commit more crimes. The resulting crimes cause the bounties upon the fugitives' heads to rise, thus the outlaws then kill the convicts and claim the rewards.Apparently a remake of 1957 film The Last of the Badmen, Gunfight at Comanche Creek is a suspenseful and entertaining blend of detective shenanigans with Western staples. It's an interesting role for Murphy, playing Bob Gifford (AKA: Judd Tanner) as a fearless ladies man having to just use his wits instead of guns just to survive the undercover operation. It's not exactly what you would call a high energy action movie, since we don't really get the pulse raised until the finale, but there's enough twists and intelligence in the plotting to keep the story intriguing.Negatives? There's a continuous narration by an uncredited Reed Hadley which is most intrusive. Instead of letting us be involved fully with the unfolding story, the makers felt the need to have Reed fill us in on what is happening at every turn in the plot! Clearly they were going for a hard-boiled detective angle, but it's misplaced. While Miller is saddled with one of those token female roles. But the support cast do what is required to make the film work, Murphy delivers a good one for his fans and Biroc's colour photography is very easy on the eye. 7/10

zardoz-13 Veteran director Frank MacDonald's "Gunfight at Comanche Creek" qualifies as an adequate but unexceptional western about an undercover detective trying to flush out a gang of outlaws. This lackluster remake of director Paul Landres' 1957 hold-up thriller "Last of the Bad Men" casts Audie Murphy in the role originated by George Montgomery. Although an element of mystery about the identity of the leader of the outlaw gang generates a modicum of interest, "Three Stooges" scenarist Edward Bernds has penned a thoroughly routine screenplay and cluttered it up with unnecessary narration by Reed Hadley that adds little to the action. The only thing of significance about this modest but well-made sagebrusher is that long-time heavy Jan Merlin plays a good guy who sacrifices himself when his friend is caught between a rock and a hard place. If you look carefully, this Allied Artists release used the same town set that appeared as Virginia City in the NBC-TV show "Bonanza."No attribution to the Montgomery film appears in the credits to "Gunfight at Comanche Creek," but the plot about a gang of bank robbers who use a notorious felon with a price on his head as their front man makes this an unmistakable remake. None of the writers from the first film receive any credit as source material on this one. Murphy walks through his role as National Detective Agency operative Bob 'Gif' Gifford aka Judd Tanner. After the National Detective Agency figures out what the outlaws are doing, they send in Gifford with gold certificates from a robbery. He flashes the loot around in Comanche Creek and is promptly arrested by Marshal Dan Shearer (John Hubbard of "Duel at Diablo") who locks him up. No sooner has Gifford been locked up than the villains spring him. It seems that they prefer to use wanted felons because once they run the bounty up on their heads, they can kill them and turn them in for the reward. The National Detective Agency sends another agent to keep tabs on Gifford. Nielson (Jan Merlin of "Hell Bent for Leather") hides out in the rocks overlooking the line shack where the outlaws conceal themselves. Eventually, Nielson is caught by Amos Troop (DeForrest Kelly of "The Law and Jake Wade") and the rest of the gang. Troop sticks a revolver in Gifford's fist and forces him to shoot Nielson. Of course, if Gifford refuses to shoot Nielson, Troop and his cronies will know that he is detective. Instead, Nielson turns and charges Jed Hayden (Adam Williams of "The Big Heat") and Jed guns him down in cold blood. One of the other outlaws, likable Bill 'Kid' Carter (Ben Cooper of "Johnny Guitar"), learns that Gifford is a detective and decides to aid him. Unfortunately, Carter doesn't get far before he is gunned down, too.By this time, the reward money on our hero has risen to $4-thousand and Troop and company are itching to cash Gifford in, but things are complicated when they abduct another outlaw. They break another outlaw out of jail, Buck (Tim Graham) after they clobber Marshal Shearer, and then they learn that there is an undercover agent in their midst. During the big finale in Comanche Creek, they plan not only to rob the bank but also eliminate both Gifford and Buck. However, additional agents of the National Detective Agency arrive in town and sling lead alongside Marshal Shearer when the outlaws try to ride out. The mystery as to the identity of the outlaw gang leader is resolved. As it turns out, none other than Marshal Shearer, a man that the detectives did not suspect, is revealed as the inside man. When he gets a chance, Shearer seizes local saloon owner Abbie Stevens (Colleen Miller of "The Rawhide Years") and uses her as a human shield, but Gifford does not allow him to escape. Interestingly, Amos Troop survives and is arrested."Gunfight at Comanche Creek" ranks as little more than a potboiler and Murphy spends most of his time without a gun in his grip. Long-time Robert Aldrich lenser Joseph Biroc makes this mediocre western look better than it deserves and the best that can be said of MacDonald is that "Gunfight at Comanche Creek" does not wear out its welcome.

Johnboy1221 I liked this film a lot, but then I love westerns. It's got Audie, Ben Cooper, Jan Merlin, and scores of others, so how can it go wrong? Well, for one thing, it's a blatant remake of the earlier western, Last Of The Badmen (1957). How the writers of that film could let writer Edward Bernds get by with taking full credit for writing this film is beyond me. Sure, the setting is different, the characters have different names, but the basic story is almost identical. Both films even feature an annoying narrator, who details facts that none of us need to hear voiced....all the way through the film. If you've seen both films, you'll know what I mean.Which is the better version? It's hard to say. They are bot very good, with excellent casts and fine direction. Both would have benefited from losing the narrator.Johnboy

classicsoncall The setting is Comanche Creek, Colorado, 1875; a band of outlaws headed by Amos Troop (DeForest Kelley) breaks an unsuspecting jailbird out of the town lockup and kills the deputy. The gang then uses the outlaw as a front man for their other robberies. As the reward money on the bad guy escalates, the gang then shoots him and turns him in for the reward, all nice and legal like. Only trouble is, this time the victim was a member of the National Detective Agency gone undercover, and a close friend of Bob Gifford (Audie Murphy). Now the job of infiltrating the gang goes to "Gif", who insinuates himself into Comanche Creek society as a free spending high roller, as the agency creates a back story and wanted poster for "Judd Tanner".The earlier Murphy Westerns usually cast him in the baby face role of a good guy; in 1959's "No Name on the Bullet", Murphy's character John Gant was a hired assassin, and even then his youngish countenance didn't seem to match his character. Here the older Murphy pulls off the outlaw gimmick a bit better, with wits quick enough to match the ever changing dynamics of his masquerade. When the cover is blown on the agency plant, Tanner maintains his cool, only revealing his identity to gang member Bill Carter, who's anxious to leave the outlaw life behind.With a lesser known supporting cast, the gunfight of the title eventually sets things right and settles the score against the bad guys, who have been masterminded by the sheriff of Comanche Creek, Marshal Shearer (John Hubbard).DeForest Kelley is so closely identified with his Star Trek role as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, it's easy to forget that he appeared in a fair share of Westerns, beginning with a 1949 Lone Ranger appearance. He also turned up in episodes of "Gunsmoke", "Trackdown", "Rawhide" and a host of others."Gunfight at Comanche Creek" winds up being a fairly intriguing Western, made so by the plot twists that keep Murphy's character on his toes. I found the background narrative a bit annoying though, as the story played itself out well enough without the commentary (by uncredited narrator Reed Hadley). Otherwise it's a generally worthwhile hour and a half of Audie Murphy entertainment.Update - 7/22/2007 - Apparently, this movie was a remake of the 1957 film, "Last Of The Badmen", with Audie Murphy reprising the role of George Montgomery. Both movies were released by Allied Artists, even though the writers credited for each film are different. Check it out!