A lean, fast-paced account of a key period in the life of frontier legend Bat Masterson, The Gunfight at Dodge City (1957) was supposed to be the final film for Joel McCrea who wanted to retire after its completion. It was filmed the same year as Comanche Station which starred Randolph Scott, another Western veteran, who wanted the Budd Boetticher helmed oater to be his farewell movie. Ironically, both McCrea and Scott would be lured back to the screen a few years later to co-star in Sam Peckinpah's ode to the vanishing West - Ride the High Country (1962) - but in the case of McCrea, The Gunfight at Dodge City was a more typical example of the actor's work in this genre. There's no elemental deconstruction, no psychological tinkering, no grand theme. Instead, The Gunfight at Dodge City is a streamlined, absorbing drama that doesn't neglect any of the elements that make Westerns such a quintessential form.

The film takes place in a notorious rough 'n' tumble town which needs somebody like Bat Masterson (Joel McCrea) to bring some semblance of order to the place. Masterson is pressured to take the job of sheriff and reluctantly agrees despite sure signs of trouble from the start. For one thing, he's distracted from the job at hand by two local lovelies, Pauline (Julie Adams) and Lily (Nancy Gates). If that wasn't enough Mr. Bat has to deal with both his old wrong-side-of-the-law gang and a passel of corrupt politicians. Yep, there's a gunfight, too.

Excerpt from TCM located HERE