Touches You

Thanks for the memories!

People are voting emotionally.

good back-story, and good acting

It deals with the gun-down that cracked the West wide open , as Bat Masterson (Joel McCrea) doesn't look for problems , but he doesn't walk away from it . When an army sergeant in Hays City attempts to shot Bat and dies for this attack , Bat heads for Dodge City where Ed , his brother , is city marshal and a candidate for county sheriff running against the nasty Regan (Don Haggerty) . While Masterson buys a share in a local saloon called ¨Lady gay¨ , partnering with the widow Lily (Nancy Gates) . Then , after an ambush carried out by the corrupt Dave Rudabaugh (Richard Anderson) , Bat , helped by a fine Doctor (John McIntire) , finds himself a candidate for sheriff and the heir to Ed's intentions toward Pauline (Julie Adams) , a minister's daughter . As Bat Masterson is elected to the job and is determined to find the killer and to maintain law and order and make Dodge City safe. Better than average Western with Joel McCrea as the famous gunman and gambler Bat Masterson . As it stars Joel MacCrea who performed lots of Westers as ¨Unión Pacific¨, ¨Buffalo Bill¨ , ¨the Virginian¨, ¨Ramrod¨, ¨South of St Louis¨ , ¨4 faces West¨ , ¨The Oklahoman¨ and his final classic ¨Ride the high county¨ along with Randolph Scott . It contains a good cast as John MacIntire as a good Doctor , Richard Anderson , Don Haggerty , Timothy Carey , James Westerfield as reverend and two gorgeous girls : Julia Adams and Nancy Gates who previously played opposite a different Bat , George Montgomery , in the Western ¨Masterson of Kansas¨ . The movie is inspired on true events . Thus , Bartholomew ¨Bat¨ Masterson (1853-1921) spent the last twenty years of his life as a popular sports writer on New York newspaper . Previously he had taken part in the battle of Adobe Walls in 1874 in which a small party of hunters beat off a fierce attack by hundreds of Indians , events narrated in the meeting between Bat and the old man at the beginning of the film . In 1878 the marshal of Dodge City was shot by two cowboys , Bat rushed to the scene and gunned down the killer . Bat was appointed as deputy U.S. marshal by the Mayor and shortly after captured noted outlaw . Along with Bat were hired to keep the peace as lawman Wyatt Earp and Bill Tilghman . In 1902 he settled in N.Y.City and became a successful sports writer on the Morning Telegraph and he died at his desk from a heart attack . Masterson said he has not killed as many men as was popularly supposed though he had experienced a great many difficulties . The picture is set in Dodge City , Kansas , the most celebrated of the cowboy cattle towns , became a major railhead cowtown for the cattle driven up from Texas over the long trails , during the cattle boom Dodge shipped more than 250.ooo head a year . The free-spending cowboys attracted professional gamblers , badmen , saloon and brothel keepers and became a rough town in the best traditions of the wild west . Dodge City reigned as ¨Queen of the Cowtowns¨ until final XIX century when the free range cattle industry came to an end . The film is an enjoyable western and well written by Martin Goldsmith based on a story by Daniel Ullman . Agreeable and evocative musical score by Hans J. Salter . Colorful and glimmer cinematography by Carl E. Guthrie . Production is in charge of Walter Mirish , an usual western producer: the Magnificent Seven saga . The motion picture was rightly directed by Joseph M. Newman . Joseph made all kinds of genres : drama , thrillers as ¨King of the roaring¨, ¨The story of Arnold Rothstein¨, ¨Love nest¨, ¨Great Dan Patch¨ , ¨Jungle Patrol¨ and a classic Sci-Fi : ¨The Island Earth¨. The flick will appeal to western moviegoers.

This is old formula Western, which of course is better than the new formula crap that was shoved down our throats from about 1965 till about 2000, whether we liked it or not.This was made in the days when the characters in the Westerns were written to look like mature grown up people who knew what rugged life was about. Lets face it. The spaghetti westerns ruined the genre for a quarter of a century, because the characters came across like spoiled brats who never walked outside of an arcade room.This Western is loosely about a fictional part of Bat Masterson's life. It would be better if it wasn't Bat, so we could accept the plausibility of the story, but that doesn't matter. This story is certainly more feasible than the "Tombstone" version of Wyatt Earp.What sells the story is the characters, the good and the bad guys. The two bad guys are very three dimensional. One is a little loco, so his fate is understandable.The final gunfight with the more rational bad guy at the end was what weighted this down. At the end, we see a change in the bad guy, not that he's good, but that he's somewhat alert to the changing of the times. I thought the final gunfight was contrived, and it would've been better with a more toned down ending.Still, it is the characters that make this worth watching.

Technically well-made, first-class production values, viewed wide-screen it is impressive. As a legitimate effort from the grand days of the Western film, it doesn't deserve its near-forgotten status. However, despite good acting by McCrea and especially by Julia Adams this movie suffers from being a bit too formula overall and too superficial in its psychological aspects.The way Masterson rides back to town in the end and faces everything is very manly and should have more impact. McCrea was certainly an actor capable of delivering such an impact. But the director has made this with a glossed-over style as if he is just skimming the surface, rather than with cinematic impact in mind. See the classic "High Noon" for such an ending done more effectively.Many psychological westerns are successful, however this one has so little psychological conflict between the protagonists (Masterson and the first Sheriff) that the result is merely a formulaic western punch-out relationship between the good guys and bad guys.Julia Adams delivers a fine acting performance. She and McCrea do a great job. Their performances are really the chief reasons for you to watch this. McCrea was a subtle and effective actor, and here he foreshadows his work in the legendary "Ride The High Country" a few years later.

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.