Wyatt Earp

I bought this movie because Ross Martin was in it, and as soon as I saw him I realized how wonderful an actor he was all over again. My heart was breaking as I watched this performance, his Jacob Speigler. The movie itself is not the greatest movie I have ever seen, but it has that feel of "Little House on the Prairie" since Allison Arngrim appears in the movie, and Marie Osmond is so sweet. Matthew Perry's father was immediately recognized. However, as I have said, Ross Martin's performance was what drew me to this title. He was a master character actor and it shows in this role. In his first scene he treats Osmond's Josie with such tenderness that I thought my heart would break. I will never get over my girlhood crush on Ross Martin, even though he was old enough to have been my grandad, both having been born in 1920.

I came into this movie with low expectations, and that is exactly what I would recommend to anyone viewing 'I Married Wyatt Earp'. Temper your expectations, and be prepared for some nice surprises.

You must know that this is a made-for-TV-movie, and thus is shot in a made-for-TV-movie frame (no Panavision here), and makes use of a made-for-TV-movie musical score. And, it stars Marie Osmond. But having said all that I was quite delighted to find the film has a fair amount if gravitas, and worth recommending.

In fact this version of story of Wyatt Earp might be a good entrée for men wishing to entice a wife or girlfriend to sit through a Western. There's something for both sexes here. Marie Osmond's version of performer Josie Marcus, who goes on to marry Wyatt Earp, is that of a strong woman. But not the I-can-karate-chop-your-head-off-even-though-I'm-half-your-weight strong woman of today's Hollywood. No, she's got moxy, and she's not afraid to grab the reigns of a team of horses or pick up a rifle to hold the bad guys at bay... even though she knows nothing of either. For the men there are a number of tense moments of drama between the good guys and the bad guys, not only with firearms but with up close and personal stare down confrontations that rank as some of the best I've seen in all the Earp movies (I' can't believe I'm actually saying this).

In terms of how accurate this movie was in portraying the actual events, I must confess that I have given up on that game. In going through the many Earp films I came to realize that the Wyatt Earp myth is just that... myth. It's become folklore. Sure, there were the original events in 1881, but that story soon became a legend, which evolved into a myth. Every telling of that myth is drawing from the 'template' or 'archetype' of the original circumstances, and each of these tellings in my view stands on its own. I watch a Wyatt Earp movie now for both entertainment as well as the lessons brought out. And believe me, each telling has its own lessons. It's great that all the Wyatt Earp movies are not the same.

Whereas some Earp movies focus on, say, the relationship between Wyatt and Doc Holiday (My Darling Clementine, 1946 or Gunfight at the OK Corral, 1957), or the relationship between Earp and Ike Clanton (Hour of the Gun, 1967), I Married Wyatt Earp focuses on Josie Marcus as she reacts to the very unfamiliar environment she has placed herself in, and the very different kind of men pursuing her (along with a sub-theme based on the conflict between Earp and Sheriff Behan).

The rendering of events in this movie leaves no ambiguity regarding the Earps. They are cast as solid good guys with few if any shades of gray. We watch as Josie iterates from bad-guy Behan, whom she somehow does not recognize his slimy character for some time, to good-guy Wyatt, who must contain his desire for Josie due to his married status (like I said, pure good guy).

As we approach the climax of the movie Josie attempts to be a voice of reason to the testosterone-fired men who see a gunfight to the death as the only viable solution. I liked they way they played this here because you get to see both sides of the coin. The idea of a group of men standing a few yards apart and shooting led into each other is arguably an insane act. It should be stopped! But on the other hand we're dealing with evil personified here, and the only way to be sure these bedeviled men won't hunt you and your family down however long it takes it to place each and every one of the bastards 6' below the surface of the earth.

In other respects we get a standard issue telling of the story with the obligatory walk down Main St. to the OK Corral, and once there the shootout is staged more accurately than other renderings. The shootout itself is placed about 3/4 of the way through the film (unlike some other versions where it occurs at the very beginning or very ending of the movie).

The ending of I Married Wyatt Earp is different form any version I've seen. This is actually great because here is where the second surprise is delivered (the first being a much higher caliber film then anticipated); it's a very satisfying ending! See for yourself.

Since the whole gunfight at the OK corral has been done before, this attempts a look at the Wyatt Earp back story. Concentrating on his love affair and eventual marriage to singer, Josie Marcus.

Unfortunately, this is just not as interesting as the gunfight and plays very much like Hallmark card western. Or perhaps like an episode of old TV series like 'Bonanza' or 'The High Chaperal,' where the talk always dominated any action.

But the main fault is that the leading character, the future Mrs. Earp is downright dull. Marie Osmond might have a pleasant singing voice, and since there are two musical interludes, I assume this is one of the reasons she got the part, she is just not a good actress.

In fact her role of Josie is so wet and feeble, it beggars belief she would be the reason two men are so crazed about her and fall hopelessly in love with her. She comes across as more a young Dorothy from the 'Wizard of Oz' rather than the strong independent woman the script is trying to make her out to be.

And since the film revolves mostly around her relationship with Wyatt Earp, it also makes her the weak link. The other Earp brothers hardly get a line between them and only Doc Holiday has a little bit more to do.

The film tries for a sweeping grandiose epic feel of a momentous event in western lore but just ends up been slow. The denouement with the villains takes an age to arrive.

With true classic films like 'My Darling Clementine' & 'Gunfight at the OK Corral,' and even the more recent 'Tombstone' to compare this to, it comes off very poorly. And you'd be advised to watch any or all of the others mentioned for a much better version of what happened at the infamous OK corral.

This is exactly what it purports to be - a made for TV movie. But to suggest that by watching "My Darling Clementine" one will get "a much better version of what happened at the infamous OK corral" is ludicrous. Only by examining the actual transcripts of the trial and sifting through the evidence, does a true picture of what happened on October 26, 1881 emerge. The aforementioned movie with Henry Fonda in the title role (with a truncated mustache) is so full of inaccuracies, it beggars belief (Doc Holliday is killed mid-cough!). For the real story, read the actual transcripts of the evidence in Alford E. Turner's "The O.K. Corral Inquest" (1981) and in the best documented biography of Wyatt Earp, "Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend" by Casey Tefertiller. As for "Tombstone", one of my favorite movies despite the liberties with the facts =( see the article re inaccuracies at: fern canyon press . com/ tombstone (take out the "e" in tombstone) / movie.s h t m l (take out the spaces).