Grade: C+
Synopsis: Wyatt Earp (Burt Lancaster) and Doc Holliday (Kirk Douglas) shoot it out with the Clanton gang at the O.K. Corral.
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is an agreeable, if certainly fictional; take on the friendship between Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. Rather than focus on historical accuracy, director John Sturges lets his two larger than life stars carry the picture, which they do with ease.
Lancaster is great as a stoic Earp, and Douglas (who wisely eschews any kind of deep southern accent) is every bit his match in terms of screen presence. Credit also goes to Douglas for pulling off Holliday’s wheezing cough with frightening realism.
If Gunfight at the O.K. Corral has one weak spot it’s the theme song which, while catchy, is also pretty hokey and undercuts the film’s dramatic impact.
Director John Sturges would later directed a psuedo-sequel, Hour of the Gun (1967) starring James Garner as Wyatt Earp and Jason Robards as Doc Holliday.
One Response on “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)”:
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Peter Cave said:
Grade: A+
One of my favorite Westerns. A classic in my oppinion. Altho, Tombstone is probably my favorite on the same subject. It is hard to disinguish the history involved, so what we have is a different story. But, it does not matter it is all fun anyhow.
