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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

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.1 / 10

5.9K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

100 %

Tomatometer

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

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.

Day of the Outlaw

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Tall in the Saddle

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High Noon

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Ramrod

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Rio Bravo

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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.

Frontera

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After crossing the border illegally for work, Miguel, a hard-working father and devoted husband, finds himself wrongfully accused of murdering a former sheriff’s wife. After learning of his imprisonment, Miguel’s pregnant wife tries to come to his aid and lands in the hands of corrupt coyotes who hold her for ransom. Dissatisfied with the police department’s investigation, the former sheriff tries to uncover the truth about his wife’s death and discovers disturbing evidence that will destroy one family’s future, or tear another’s apart.

Death of a Gunfighter

Death of a Gunfighter

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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

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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.

Where it lives

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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.