CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

FightingWesterner Ronald Reagan quits his job as sheriff of Tombstone (No, he's not Wyatt Earp.) and heads for greener pastures in an attempt to start a new calmer life for himself and his brothers, only to find out that his new home is run with an iron hand, both figuratively and literally, by old foe Preston Foster and his sniveling sons.A solid studio B-western, this looks like a million bucks in gorgeous Technicolor and has a script that really knows what buttons to push.One of Reagan's better roles, he strikes all the right notes and is definitely well cast.This is also a great showcase for up and coming future stars Russell Johnson (the professor on Gilligan's Island) and an almost unrecognizable Dennis Weaver, who really makes the best out of his role as one of Foster's sadistic sons.The final fist-fight between Reagan and Foster is well staged, exciting, and immensely satisfying.

classicsoncall Hey, wasn't that a great way to open the film - Ronald Reagan rides into view wearing that tin star, championing law and order and democracy. One of history's great ironic tributes to life imitating art.Ultimately though, the film is largely a run of the mill Western, a notch above the 'B' programmers churned out incessantly from the 1940's and '50's. This one was done in color, so it gets some points for that, and it was admirable to see that the nominal comic relief character (Chubby Johnson as Denver) had guts enough to stand with Frame Johnson (Reagan) and his brothers when things got rough. By the time Jimmy (Russell Johnson) duped Denver to open the cell door, it seemed almost out of character for him to get taken like that.You know, I got curious watching Reagan get on and off his horse. Twice when he dismounted, he did it by swinging his right leg over the saddle and sliding to the ground. The only time he mounted was from a raised deck where he was relatively level with the saddle. I'm wondering if Reagan might have been physically impaired during filming to allow for more mobility.The other point has to do with brother Jimmy. Right after Lute (Alex Nicol) dies, it only takes about a minute for Jimmy to get staggering drunk at the bar downstairs. However when he's on the run from Cottonwood after being sprung from jail, he manages to down a whole bottle of tequila with no ill effects!Some time during the '50's, and maybe earlier, it seemed to become the custom to show the best assets of a film's leading lady in profile. This is done extensively here with Dorothy Malone as Reagan's romantic interest, and to a lesser extent with Ruth Hampton's character. Somehow I don't think the ladies of the 1880's really looked like that, but who knows. At the same time though, Jeannie (Malone) had one of the picture's most memorable lines describing her man - "You're big and you're ugly and you're stupid, and I happen to be in love with you".

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) Law and Order is the story of Frame Johnson (Ronald Reagan) a town tamer who wants to retire. He has two brothers played by Alex Nicol and Russel Johnson who help him and a fiancee Dorothy Malone. Sounds familiar? Yes, it is Wyatt Earp all over again, but in the story of Wyatt there was the gunfight at the O.K. corral, which involved strategy, and also a lot of conflicting feelings from different factions.Here it is basically Reagan fighting a bandit called Durango Kid at the beginning,and then moving to another town where the bad guy is Preston Foster. There is a lot of action but a lack of anything else. Reagan, who was a good actor, and the excellent Dorothy Malone don't have much of a chance to show their feelings. Alex Nicol, with the collar of his jacket lifted, looks more like a model for a fashion magazine. But if your looking just for plain entertainment, this film is ok.

funkyfry Merely serviceable B western with no special moments or performances. Reagan plays a hired gun trying to settle down to a life as a rancher who must take up the marshall's badge to clean up his new town after one of his brothers is killed. Malone is the woman he falls for. Strictly an attempt to replicate Randolph Scott's success in similar vehicles, but with so-so results.