Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1963)

First up for Audie Murphy month is 1963's Gunfight at Comanche Creek.  Obviously, with that kind of title, you know this is undoubtedly a Western, but it's definitely much more than that. Also starring Ben Cooper and DeForest Kelley, the film is done somewhat in documentary style, with a narrator informing us of dates, places, and actions.

At sunrise in Comanche Creek, Colorado, a man exits a cafe, bound for the local jail, a breakfast tray for the prisoner and deputy in his hands.  Before reaching his destination, he is intercepted and knocked out by three men, who then enter the jail and release the prisoner, Jack Mason.  In the jailbreak, one of the outlaws shoots and kills the deputy, and Mason is fingered as the killer, and a price is put on his head. Although the men are complete strangers to prisoner Mason, he rides off with them.

Two weeks later, all four men enter a bank in Harmony, Colorado, and with Mason being recognized from flyers, he is fingered in the robbery, adding to the bounty on his head.  Since he's wanted dead or alive, he is shot by his new gang, who then collect the reward.

Meanwhile in Wichita, the National Detective Agency has been formed in order to fight the lawlessness of the West.  Having realized how the Colorado gang operated, they had been working undercover to bring them down.  The prisoner set free and subsequently killed for reward was their own man, as was the accosted breakfast-carrying man.  Needing to get another man inside the gang, they again send one of their own---Bob Gifford (Audie Murphy)---to Northwest Colorado, with his partner Nielsen keeping an eye on him at all times.

Leaving his credentials behind, Gifford takes on the identity of Judd Tanner, a man wanted for train robbery. Things go according to plan, and "outlaw Judd" is arrested in Comanche Creek and locked up in jail.  As expected, he is broken out by the murderous gang and taken to their hideout, where the next robberies are planned.

Judd soon realizes that gang leader Troop (DeForest Kelley) is working under the orders of someone in Comanche Creek...someone who, like himself, is not what he appears to be.  Judd needs to find out who that is, and he need to do so soon---before the bounty on him gets so high that, like Mason, he is killed for the reward money, and before the gang realizes a lawman has infiltrated their ranks.  How it all plays out is the balance of the film.



This film is interesting, exciting, and a solid 3, maybe even a 3.5.  While I found the documentary style a bit annoying (and unnecessary), the story kept me on the edge of my seat.  The acting was decent, and each man was believable in his role.  Since there are horses, guns, outlaws, and frontier towns, without question, this is a Western, but it's also very much an undercover crime drama.  Thus, even if Westerns aren't your thing, you ought to give Gunfight at Comanche Creek a try.  You might be surprised and find you quite enjoy it. (Remember, Westerns aren't my genre of choice, and I'm at 3 or 3.5 stars on this.)

Though not on the TCM schedule anytime soon, the film is out on DVD and ought to be fairly easy to track down.

Happy viewing!