henry fonda be always quite surprising pull off a villainous role and and his mangy varmit in firecreek be no exception ( a an actor and he seem such an upright citizen that it take a few scene to accept him a a scurrilous killer and but he certainly make it work ) . murderous gang ride into dirtwater town and terrorize the local and include honorary sheriff james stewart . despite a very odd direction ( with titillation aside ) and this be a formidable western with a sturdy cast . the mean spiritedness of the picture be extremely tough to shake off however and and action fan would not get much satisfaction until the bullet ridden finale .