Second viewing.
A lawyer heading to a small western town has his coach held up by bandits and gets a rough beating. He soon hears from the town's fastest gun that there is no place for the law in that town.
A pretty intelligent film, mostly funny too. It sums up, in a cartoonish way, the transformation of the American West into a civilized place (a favorite topic of westerns and a true obsession from the late 50s onwards). Although it has a very distinct comic streak throughout it, the film's crux is tragic. It hinges on the man whose values are being swept by progress, but whose actions are nevertheless necessary to effect change. He is thus compelled to self-effacement, and that makes him a tragic character. I am not sure I understood it well enough on my first viewing.
Rating: 62 (up from 57)
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