Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Burt Lancaster is Wyatt Earp, Kirk Douglas is Doc Holliday, there's a certain gunfight. Besides Lee Van Cleef and Jack Elam in small parts, there's also a young Dennis Hopper. Directed by John Sturges.

The film is closer to the real story than My Darling Clementine, but there are still some simplifications. There is no sheriff Johnny Behan for one thing. And Burt Lancaster doesn't wear the kind of soupcatcher mustache that the real Wyatt Earp had. The real shootout was over in 30 seconds - here it's dragged out to several minutes. There are two women in the film also, the classic good girl and bad girl, but they never really play a big part in the story. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, after all. Lancaster is fairly restrained as Wyatt, it's Douglas who's got the showy role as the terminally ill Doc. Besides being overlit in typical 50s style, it's not a bad film.

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