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Dodge City

Dodge City

Western · 1939

In this epic Western, Wade Hatton, a wagon master turned sheriff, tames a cow town at the end of a railroad line.

Movie details

Dodge City

“West of Chicago there was no law! West of Dodge City there was no God!”

1939 Western 1h 44m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

In this epic Western, Wade Hatton, a wagon master turned sheriff, tames a cow town at the end of a railroad line.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Dodge City?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Open Range

Open Range

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A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.

Tall in the Saddle

Tall in the Saddle

Western · 1944

When Rocklin arrives in a western town he finds that the rancher who hired him as a foreman has been murdered. He is out to solve the murder and thwart the scheming to take the ranch from its rightful owner.

High Noon

High Noon

Western · 1952

Will Kane, the sheriff of a small town in New Mexico, learns a notorious outlaw he put in jail has been freed, and will be arriving on the noon train. Knowing the outlaw and his gang are coming to kill him, Kane is determined to stand his ground, so he attempts to gather a posse from among the local townspeople.

Ramrod

Ramrod

Western · 1947

A cattle-vs.-sheepman feud loses Connie Dickason her fiance, but gains her his ranch, which she determines to run alone in opposition to Frank Ivey, "boss" of the valley, whom her father Ben wanted her to marry. She hires recovering alcoholic Dave Nash as foreman and a crew of Ivey's enemies. Ivey fights back with violence and destruction, but Dave is determined to counter him legally... a feeling not shared by his associates. Connie's boast that, as a woman, she doesn't need guns proves justified, but plenty of gunplay results.

El Dorado

El Dorado

Western · 1966

Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Harrah. Together with a fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.

Rio Bravo

Rio Bravo

Western · 1959

A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.

Run for Cover

Run for Cover

Western · 1955

An ex-convict drifter and his flawed young partner are made sheriff and deputy of a Western town.

Death of a Gunfighter

Death of a Gunfighter

Western · 1969

In the turn-of-the century Texas town of Cottonwood Springs, marshal Frank Patch is an old-style lawman in a town determined to become modern. When he kills drunken Luke Mills in self-defense, the town leaders decide it's time for a change. That ask for Patch's resignation, but he refuses on the basis that the town, on hiring him, had promised him the job for as long as he wanted it. Afraid for the town's future and even more afraid of the fact that Marshal Patch knows all the town's dark secrets, the city fathers decide that old-style violence is the only way to rid themselves of the unwanted lawman.

Firecreek

Firecreek

Western · 1968

A peace-loving, part-time sheriff in the small town of Firecreek must take a stand when a gang of vicious outlaws takes over his town.

Badland

Badland

Western · 2019

Detective Matthias Breecher, hired to track down the worst of the Confederate war criminals, roams the Old West seeking justice. His resolve is tested when he meets a determined pioneer woman who is far more than she seems.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Michael Curtiz

Written by

Robert Buckner

Errol Flynn

Errol Flynn

Wade Hatton

Olivia de Havilland

Olivia de Havilland

Abbie Irving

Ann Sheridan

Ann Sheridan

Ruby Gilman

Bruce Cabot

Bruce Cabot

Jeff Surrett

Frank McHugh

Frank McHugh

Joe Clemens

Alan Hale

Alan Hale

Rusty Hart

John Litel

John Litel

Matt Cole

Court is in session

Put Dodge City on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Patience is part of the point.”

Duration becomes texture. The film asks you to inhabit its world instead of merely processing its plot.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“A test of endurance, your honour.”

Stillness keeps submitting itself as meaning. At some point, contemplation needs something worth contemplating.