Wichita

The same year that Wichita came out, 1955, the TV series about Wyatt Earp debuted with that famous theme song, "Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp, brave courageous and bold." And certainly Hugh O'Brian was all these things in that series.

But the western hero that fit all those virtues was certainly Joel McCrea. After portraying Buffalo Bill Cody in the way Cody would have liked to have been remembered it was only natural that Wyatt Earp be done the same way.

Wichita was the first town that Earp had a job in law enforcement and he was there one year, 1875-1876. Wichita is purportedly the story of that year and how he cleaned up the town and made law and order function in Wichita. It's certainly all been done before, but the story is in the hands of a capable cast.

Particularly to watch is the double dealing role that Edgar Buchanan has and how a bad case of mistaken identity costs him dearly.

Tex Ritter sings a nice title song over the credits and while it didn't exactly have the impact that his same efforts had in High Noon, it certainly sets the tone for this film as well. After all back in the day Tex made a western or three.

The now-familiar and evergreen story of Wyatt Earp's maverick attempts (& succeeding) at ridding all guns from the Western frontier town of Wichita, is again shown here, directed with some style by Jacques Tourneur, from 1955.

Joel Mc Crea - not quite a superstar of Westerns, is suitably refrained but still somehow imposing as the law enforcement officer Earp. There's good action at the start, as bands of outlaws ride in, guns blazing, fights in Saloon bars and general terrorising of the residents.

Mc Crea is good, Vera Miles lovely and a turn from Lloyd Bridges is always welcome. The colour and clarity are also good, though the Technicolor less vibrant and saturated than is often the case, making the film look more natural.

Though I'm no expert on the Western, I do enjoy a good one and whilst this was entertaining enough, it didn't strike me as one to particularly remember. It didn't drag, wasn't boring and is probably better than average, but not quite enough for 7/10.

Joel McCrea delivers the goods once again in "Wichita". McCrea gives a solid performance in this movie. The rest of the cast is also strong. The movie looks great too. The story is well told and quite exciting at times. "Wichita" is a rock solid 1950s western. I can't wait until I see it again. Honorable mention: a never dreamier Vera Miles.

jacques tourneur, of Cat People fame, might seem an unlikely candidate to helm an above average B+ western. But that was the case in 1955 with Wichita, about the early days of Wyatt Earp. Some liberties with the facts are taken, including the notion that Earp had never worn a badge before he arrived in the Texas cowtown. In fact, Earp was the marshal of Ellsworth, Kansas in 1875 and was wooed away by the larger Wichita - even as Dodge City would then talk him into moving there. Many incidents in this film actually took place in Ellsworth, as the two towns are 'collapsed' into one another. That aside, the film is fine - whether individual things we see happened in one town or the other, the point is that the savvy screenplay conveys a strong understanding of the politics in such a city, and with no simple good guys in white hats or badguys in black ones, we realize that Earp had more problem with greedy townspeople than with outlaws. Bat Masterson (whom he actually knew from buffalo hunting days) becomes a deputy though he really wants to be a newspaperman, and while that had not yet occurred to him, Bat would, after leaving the rest, become a famous sportwriter in New York. One terrific sequence involves the attempt of a corrupt businessman to hire a pair of gunmen to kill Wyatt, though they turn out to be two of his brothers, and this incident really did take place. Joel McCrea makes a sturdy Earp (he later played Bat in gunfight at dodge city), and Keith Larson is fine as the young Bat. Great title song, by the way, by Tex Ritter. As to the upper level of B westerns in the fifties, they really don't get much better than this.

Wichita is directed by Jacques Tourneur and written by Daniel B. Ullman. It stars Joel McCrea, Vera Miles, Wallace Ford, Edgar Buchannan, Lloyd Bridges and Keith Larsen. It's filmed in Cinemascope/Technicolor with cinematography by Harold Lipstein and music by Hans J. Salter.

Wichita is an origin story, that of one Wyatt Earp (McCrea), the story is set before he gets to Dodge City, where apparently some famous gunfight occurred. From a narrative stand point it's a town tamer story, Earp arrives in a newly thriving Wichita, at this point he's a hunter of buffalo only. But as the cowboys converge on the town, and things turn very dark, Earp - a bastion of good and just righteousness - finds it impossible to continue in turning down the town superior's offers of becoming the town Marshal.

It's one of those Western movies that made Western movie fans become Western movie fans. A film you would have watched as a youngster and just bought totally into the good guy against the baddies central core. Of course as youngsters we wouldn't have cared a jot about thematics such as capitalism ruling over common sense, or metaphysical leanings ticking away, all while a genius director is composing shots and frames of great distinction. Hell! Even the intelligence and maturity in the writing would have escaped us, the dark passages merely incidents of no great concern...

Wichita is damn fine film making. OK! It isn't wall to wall action. Sure there is a good round of knuckles, a bit of trench warfare and the standard shoot-outs, but these are just conduits to smart and compelling human drama, richly performed by McCrea (brilliantly cast) and company. Tourneur, Ullman and Lipstein make sure there is no waste on the page or via location framing, the costuming authentic and pleasing, and of course the story itself, the set up of the iconic man himself, is as compelling as it is splendidly entertaining.

It be a traditional Western for the traditional Western fan. Nice! 8/10