Sometimes I get obsessed with a theme and dive into a marathon of movies and/or books about it. This week it was the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. It all started because I read the book Tombstone – Wyatt Earp, the O.K. Corral, and the Vendetta Ride, by Sean McLachlan. It’s a straightforward account of the gunfight and the events leading to it and spreading from it. That got me thinking about all the movies I had seen that misrepresented the episode, so I decided to watch them again.
I couldn’t find Law and Order (Edward L. Cahn, 1932) or Frontier Marshal (Allan Dwan, 1939), so I started my marathon with Tombstone, the Town Too Tough to Die (William C. McGann, 1942). It’s a simplistic tale where Wyatt Earp (Richard Dix) and his friends are all good and courageous and Curly Bill Brocious (Edgar Buchanan) and his band of bandits are all bad and mischievous. No room for subtleties here. And then there is Johnny Duane (Don Castle) – is he a replacement for Johnny Ringo? -, a bad boy who is actually a good boy, so Wyatt Earp is determined to bring him to the light side of the force. Doc Holliday (Kent Taylor) looks pretty healthy, no signs of tuberculosis. The actual gunfight at the O.K. Corral is handled poorly, and with almost no importance in the plot.
The next one was My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946). Despite all the critical acclaim, to me it’s the worst movie made about the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Yes, it’s a well told story (probably the reason people like Akira Kurosawa or Sam Peckinpah listed it as one of their favorite movies), but it’s not even close to what happened (the reason it displeased me so much). It starts with Wyatt Earp, played by Henry Fonda, taking a herd of cows to California with his brothers, and he only stops at Tombstone because his cows were stolen and his younger brother was killed. (In fact, the Earp brothers went to Tombstone following a plan to invest in many businesses there and become rich, and there was no cattle involved. Also, they took their wives, which don’t show up in the movie. Also, James Earp was not the younger brother and he wasn’t murdered in Tombstone but died of natural causes many years later in California). Then Wyatt Earp meets Doc Holliday, poorly played by Victor Mature, for the first time in Tombstone. (In fact, they were already friends at that point.) This Doc is not a gambler, doesn’t travel with a prostitute, looks very robust for someone suffering from tuberculosis, and doesn’t even have a mustache. Then there’s the love interest, Clementine Carter (Cathy Downs), who used to be Doc’s girl. She’s not the real Doc’s Big Nose Kate and she’s not the real Wyatt’s Josephine Marcus, just a made up character. To make it more dramatic John Ford makes the fight at the O.K. Corral happen at sunrise. (In fact, it happened at 3 PM.) On one side, Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp, and Doc Holliday. Virgil Earp is missing because he had been killed earlier. (In fact, Virgil was in the fight, wasn’t killed before or during the fight, and survived even when he was shot later. Also, Virgil was the older brother, and not Morgan like in the movie.) On the other side, Old Man Clanton and his sons. (In fact, the cowboys on the other side were Billy Claiborne, brothers Ike and Billy Clanton, and brothers Tom and Frank McLaury. Old Man Clanton had been killed in another incident a couple of months earlier.) The fight lasts a few minutes, with both sides shooting at each other from afar. (In fact, the fight only lasted 30 seconds and they were fairly close to each other.) And Doc Holliday gets shot and dies. (No, no, no, he wasn’t shot in the fight and died six years later in a hospital bed.) If that’s the story you want to tell, tell it without using the names of people from a different story. I don’t care if it’s John Ford, his movie is ridiculous.
The third movie was Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (John Sturges, 1957). This Doc Holliday, played by Kirk Douglas, sports a mustache (a small one, but much better than no mustache) and has a love-hate relationship with Big Nose Kate, played by Jo Van Fleet. But Wyatt Earp, played by Burt Lancaster, has no mustache. Any non-mustachioed Wyatt Earp has zero credibility. DeForest Kelley (yes, that DeForest Kelley, aka Dr. Leonard Bones McCoy) plays Morgan Earp, also without a mustache. A fun fact is that years later in the sixth episode of the third season of Star Trek, Spectre of the Gun, DeForest Kelley, as Bones, would be involved in a re-enactment of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. I also find it interesting how the bromance between Earp and Doc seems very suggestive of a platonic homoerotic attraction between the two. But the movie takes too many liberties with the facts. For example, like in My Darling Clementine, they make James Earp a younger brother (he was actually an older brother) and get him killed to serve as an excuse for the fight at the O.K. Corral (James actually lived until 1926). Also like in the John Ford movie, they schedule the shootout for sunrise (actually, it was at 3 PM). And the fight itself is convoluted, with all the gunmen spread out, and even has a wagon on fire (it was actually at close quarters and over in 30 seconds). In any case, even with the incongruences, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is a better movie than My Darling Clementine.
John Sturges liked this theme so much he returned to it ten years later in Hour of the Gun (John Sturges, 1967). This time he added some more historical accuracy, and the opening states that “This picture is based on Fact. This is the way it happened.” Well, almost. There are still several liberties, like how some of Earp’s antagonists died. They also add a train station at Tombstone, which is completely anachronistic. But it’s good that Sturges decided to correct the falsehoods of his previous movie. However, this is not a remake, it’s a sequel, starting right with the shootout and following it with the trial and acquittal of Doc and the Earps, and then the revenge section fills most of the movie. James Garner, with a mustache, is Wyatt Earp. Jason Robards, with a mustache, is Doc Holliday. Curiously, almost all the women seem to have disappeared from Arizona, as this is a movie about men, for men, and the director only shows men.
The fifth movie was Doc (Frank Perry, 1971). Not a bad idea to tell the same story with Doc Holliday as the protagonist. Stacy Keach is good in the role, as is Faye Dunaway as Big Nose Kate. Harris Yulin lacks charisma to be a good Wyatt Earp, but perhaps that’s part of the plan. The movie has a very 70s vibe, with too much talk and a few artsy-fartsy moments. The imbroglio with Ike Clanton doesn’t follow the historical facts at all, and is just played as a personal conflict. And Ike Clanton beating up Wyatt Earp in a fist fight seems very out of character for both men. Good effort, but still inadequate results.
We had to wait over twenty years to get a good movie about the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (which actually didn’t happen at the corral but nearby): Tombstone (George P. Cosmatos, 1993). Unlike other attempts, this film strikes a remarkable balance between cinematic entertainment and historical accuracy. While there are still some liberties taken for dramatic effect (which is part of cinematic narrative), it manages to capture the essence of the events surrounding the legendary gunfight more faithfully than its counterparts, and distinguishes itself by weaving a compelling narrative while maintaining a level of authenticity that remains true to the spirit of the historical events. It not only serves as an engaging piece of entertainment but also as a more credible and respectful representation of the iconic showdown. Kurt Russell, with a magnificent mustache, plays a solid Wyatt Earp. Val Kilmer, in the best role of his life as Doc Holliday, captures the character’s complexities and showcases his wit, charm, and inner turmoil with remarkable skill. Plus Sam Elliott (king of mustaches) and Bill Paxton as the other Earp brothers, and Powers Boothe and Michael Biehn as the villainous Curly Bill Brocius and Johnny Ringo. Tombstone is easily the best movie made about this theme.
The seventh and last movie in my marathon was Wyatt Earp (Lawrence Kasdan, 1994). Kevin Costner as Wyatt Earp, with an underpowered mustache. The story starts with Wyatt Earp as a kid, which gives some background to the character but also makes for the least interesting part of a very long movie. For the first hour (the whole thing is over three hours) he doesn’t even become a lawman. Dennis Quaid does a good Doc Holliday, but it lacks the finesse shown by Val Kilmer in Tombstone. Well, I can’t say it’s a bad movie or too far from historical fact, it’s just too long and too slow to be really engaging.
And that was my obsession for this week. Onwards to the next one.