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"Coroner Creek" marked a departure for Randolph Scott in the character he plays. He usually played square-jawed righteous heros with a clear set of moral values. In this film he plays a character bent solely on revenge, even to the point of almost shooting the villain in the back as he tries to escape. He is driven by hate and has few if any redeeming qualities.

Scott is on the hunt for the person responsible for his fiance's death. He finally tracks him down in the town of Coroner Creek and sets out to force a final showdown. True to the Hollywood Production Code of the day, Scott's character sees the error of his ways at the end.

"Coroner Creek" boasts an excellent cast. George Macready plays the chief villain in a cold, cruel and calculating manner. Marquerite Chapman is the nominal heroine who tries to get Scott to change. Sally Eilers as a rancher and Barbara Read as Macready's alcoholic wife are the other female characters. Edgar Buchanan plays the spineless sheriff who eventually finds his courage and Wallace Ford plays Scott's only real friend and ally.

The rest of the cast is made up of many veterans of "dusters" both of the "A" and "B" variety. On the wrong side of the law are Forrest Tucker, Douglas Fowley and Joe Sawyer. On the right side of the law are Russell Simpson, William Bishop and Forrest Taylor. Charlie Stevens appears as (what else?) an Apache who provides Scott with information on the killer. And if you look close you'll see Joe DeRita (of the Three Stooges) and Dewey Robinson as bartenders.

"Coroner Creek" was a grim, realistic western for its time. Don't miss the brutal encounter between Scott and Tucker about half way through the film.

Spectacular scenery highlights this Randolph Scott movie. Scott was 50 yers old when this was made and he never looked better. He is a man out to avenge his fiance's death caused by veteran bad guy, George MacReady. Lots of action and great fun watching Scott do his thing.

When I saw that British TV was screening an unfamiliar 1948 Randolph Scott Western, I assumed it would be one of his less exciting films in black and white - it's his later efforts that are usually shown. In the event, I was pleasantly surprised; it was shot in good quality colour that showed the outdoor scenery to advantage and the plot was better than in most contemporary Westerns (though not up to that of Red River, released the same year). Several of its features bring to mind later, better known, films.

Scott looks thinner than we are accustomed to see him, almost haggard, which suits him in the role of a driven man seeking vengeance for the death (and presumed rape) of his woman; this reminds one of Rancho Notorious and Scott's own Ride Lonesome. He has a very violent fist fight with Forrest Tucker (less weather-beaten than in later films), with the two men viciously stamping on each other's gun hands - a forerunner of James Stewart's fate in The Man from Laramie. And when Marguerite Chapman overcomes her religious scruples to come to the aid of her man, one thinks of Grace Kelly doing the same in High Noon.

George Macready makes a sinister villain and Edgar Buchanan is in his familiar role as a half-good, half-bad guy - and he doesn't growl as much as usual.

There are some unconvincing touches. When Scott rides into his enemy's town the citizens stare after him in a weak attempt to suggest that they sense that nemesis has arrived; this was better done by Burt Lancaster in Lawman and by Clint Eastwood in many of his films. Yet minutes later this supposedly sinister stranger is entrusted with driving a drunken, attractive woman home. And it's not giving anything away in a Western of this (or almost any) era to say that the villain gets what he deserves, but his precise way of dying is unrealistic.

On the other hand we are spared the sight common in Scott's later Westerns of an actor in his fifties (Scott was born in 1898) romancing someone half his age; indeed the love interest throughout is very low key, with the emphasis being on Macready's failed marriage.

All in all it's a good, enjoyable film to watch.

With his square-jawed determination, Scott (Danning) makes a riveting screen presence. So, by golly, he's going to get whoever is responsible for his fiancé's death and nothing's going to stand in his way. Not even the comely Chapman (Kate) or the Big Guy in the Sky. But he's got a tough bunch to deal with, especially blond bruiser Tucker (Ernie), who would rather grind hands than seeds. That fist-fight with Danning may be a stretch, but it's sure imaginative. Then there's that arch baddie Macready (Miles) and veteran sneer merchant Douglas Fowley (Stew). So Danning's got his work cut out for him.

You gotta love those red rock Sedona AZ locations. They turn up in so many horse operas of the time. Speaking of turning up and lending color—yes indeed, there he is, old gravel- voiced grouch Edgar Buchanan as the sheriff. No western of the day worth its salt was without his particular brand of character color. And, guys, there's not just the usual one good-looking woman in the movie. There're three, so which one will Scott end up with.

Can't help noticing that Harry Joe Brown produced this film along with Scott's later The Tall T (1957). Then too, the plot here is similar to many of the Scott-Buddy Boetticher classics of a decade later. But then, Scott was so good at grim determination, it's hard not to make him a revenge-seeker. Anyway, better than most six-gun directors, Enright knows where to put the camera, helping to make this one of Scott's more memorable westerns that even non-fans may enjoy.

When Randolph Scott was on your trail there was no one worse to have as an enemy in the old west. Proof of that is to be found in Coroner Creek one of the best westerns he ever did.

Scott's bride-to-be was among several passengers killed during a stage holdup, perpetrated by Indians, but led by a renegade white man played by George MacReady.

Armed with only a general description, Scott tracks him down to a town called Coroner Creek where the renegade is now has a veneer of respectability. No one knows of his past there. But he doesn't have a bunch of gun hands like Forrest Tucker and Douglas Fowley for nothing.

Coroner Creek is adapted from a western novel by Luke Short, but it bears a big resemblance to the larger budgeted James Stewart western, The Man From Laramie. Personally I think Coroner Creek is better even though it is a B western.

The highlight of the film is a nasty fight between Forrest Tucker and Randolph Scott. Tucker stomps on Scott's right hand, breaking his trigger finger. When Wallace Ford holds MacReady's men at gunpoint, Scott evens the score in a savage fight where Scott beats him even though he is only able to use his left hand. Scott then does the same thing to Tucker. You next see him sporting a left handed holster and he proves pretty adept with his left hand. The look on Randolph Scott's face as he tears into Tucker is unforgettable. He's more than a man, Scott is a force of nature in Coroner Creek.

In a career where he played a couple dozen villains, one of the meanest George MacReady ever played was in Coroner Creek. You will not easily forget MacReady, his veneer of sophistication hiding barbaric acts of unspeakable cruelty.

Coroner Creek is the finest introduction you could make concerning the films of Randolph Scott. You will be a fan after you see this.