Fri 9 Jun 2017
A Western Movie Review: GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL (1957).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Western movies[11] Comments
GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL. Paramount Pictures, 1957. Burt Lancaster (Wyatt Earp), Kirk Douglas (Doc Holliday), Rhonda Fleming, Jo Van Fleet, John Ireland (Johnny Ringo), Lyle Bettger (Ike Clanton), Frank Faylen, Earl Holliman, Ted DeCorsia, Dennis Hopper, Whit Bissell, DeForest Kelley, Martin Milner. Screenplay: Leon Uris. Director: John Sturges.
I don’t think I’m exaggerating one iota when I say that there is an entire generation of Americans (mine) who grew up thinking they knew everything there was to know about the famed Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Well, as everybody knows now, and should have known then, there’s a lot more fiction than fact in the story of that gun battle, and what led up to it.
I won’t go into that. I’m sure you can find plenty of sites on the Internet that go into that, in quite come detail,and it won’t take a lot of effort on your part to find one of them. Let’s suffice to say that for the most part the names are the same, although not always, and that Laura Denbow (Rhonda Fleming), Wyatt Earp’s romantic interest, seems to seems to have made up out of whole cloth. [CORRECTION: See Comment #3.]
What this is is a buddy film, with the often prickly relationship between Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday holding the various short episodes together. In one Wyatt saves Doc’s hide, in the next Doc is the only one to come to Wyatt’s assistance.
It is therefore the performances of Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, perfectly cast that makes this movie so memorable. Burt is tall and and as upright as if he were to preach a sermon, and Kirk so scruffy and so disreputable a scoundrel that the audience can’t help but love him.
Rhonda Fleming is but an afterthought, but a most beautiful one, but for some reason Jo Van Fleet, as Doc’s lady companion/common law wife whom he treats as if with a combination of dislike and contempt, but who has no choice but to come back each time for more. For some reason this made an impression on me when I first saw this movie in my mid-teens that it came back to me immediately when I saw it again last week.
Although they appear into the movie only as the story needs them, there’s quite a supporting cast of cowboy actors who ought to be mentioned, particularly (and most recognizable) Lee Van Cleef, Jack Elam, Dennis Hopper and DeForest Kelley
I see that I have not yet mentioned the gunfight. I found it both highly choreographed and confusing, and way down on the list of reasons why I think you should see this movie, if you haven’t already.
June 9th, 2017 at 7:33 pm
John Ireland has a small part in this that echoes his part in MY DARLING CLEMENTINE.
I saw this as a kid, at the local flea-pit, on a double-bill with FORBIDDEN PLANET. You got a real Bang for your Dime in those days!
June 9th, 2017 at 8:35 pm
As Johnny Ringo, John Ireland actually has a bigger part in the series than the others I mentioned, in and out of the story a couple of times, including the final shootout.
It had not occurred to me that he was in MY DARLING CLEMENTINE also. I had to look it up. He played Bill Clanton in that one, the part played by a very young (21) Dennis Hopper in this one. I wonder how many other actors in this one are still active?
I had to spend 12 cents to see a double feature when I was a kid. It was quite traumatic when the upped the price to 14 cents without notice. I had to go without Jujubes from the candy machine.
June 9th, 2017 at 8:54 pm
Laura Denbow is fictionalized variation of Josephine Marcus, who for more than forty years was Wyatt’s wife or companion, depending on what and who you read. And she was pretty good looking too, as was Wyatt, therefore he is always played by a tall, handsome, blondish actor. From what I know, Josephine let the side down in the end, but Wyatt deserves his place. And by the way, so intimidating, that most of the time, he managed with out going armed. I think this film stinks, other than the song, but that is my opinion on anything written by Leon Uris.
June 9th, 2017 at 10:01 pm
I did a quick bit of research before I wrote this review, but obviously it wasn’t enough. I never made the connection between Laura Debow and Josephine Marcus. Now I know. Thanks!
I didn’t care all that much for the basic story line all that much either. I think it was the performances of Douglas and Lancaster that made this movie the hit it was.
June 9th, 2017 at 10:15 pm
Sure, Burt and Kirk, made something out of nothing.
June 10th, 2017 at 6:28 am
The director, John Sturges, was also disappointed in the film’s lack of historical accuracy. And when he revisited the story in 1967’s ‘Hour of the Gun,’ he tried sticking a little closer to the facts. Unfortunately, the latter film is less enjoyable, and its stars, James Garner as Wyatt and Jason Robards as Doc, seem miscast.
June 10th, 2017 at 9:36 am
And as I recall (and I checked just now to be sure), not a single woman appears in the film.
June 10th, 2017 at 11:07 am
Re Gunfight and Leon Uris. The star in the dust allusion is the kind of pointless, derivative nonsense that Uris, despite some narrative gifts is consistently guilty of. No one, other than Gary Cooper in a much better picture, throws away his badge. And as we know, it was properly motivated. Here, all it proves is that the filmmakers saw High Noon. Not good enough.
June 11th, 2017 at 3:50 am
Barry,
Plus the fact Earp then became a Federal Marshal in order to polish off Ike Clanton and Ringo.
Deforest Kelly, who appears in this also appears in WARLOCK based on the Oakly Hall novel, yet another retelling of the story.
Re Laura Denbow, it is possible Josie was still alive when this was made. Ford also made up a highly fictional character for CLEMENTINE to be Earp’s romantic interest, and Josie was younger than Wyatt.
June 11th, 2017 at 10:46 am
David,
Despite Josie dying in 1944, long before Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, your point is well taken because she did set the agenda relative to earlier films, including Law and Order, Frontier Marshall, and while My Darling Clementine came a bit later, they just ignored the truth of her character. Tombstone the screenplay, not quite the completed picture came pretty close.
March 22nd, 2020 at 1:23 pm
according to wikipedia, Denbow was based on Lottie Deno.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lottie_Deno