Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die

Good grief. I must have been watching a different picture than the two reviewers above. This is about the fourth movie containing the famous gunfight at the OK corral I've seen and it is the most uneven version. The others are more action-packed, but this one is a case of a good cast wasted. In order, here are the best "OK corral" movies;

1."My Darling Clementine" (46) - Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Walter Brennan 2."Gunfight At The OK Corral" (57) - Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Lyle Bettger 3."Frontier Marshal" (39) - Randolph Scott, Cesar Romero, Ward Bond 4."Tombstone, etc..." (42) - Richard Dix, Kent Taylor, Edgar Buchanan. This last one is the one we are reviewing and it is the most disappointing.

It starts out with a terrific gun fight by the local hell-raisers, led by Edgar Buchanan. It is put down by Wyatt Earp (Richard Dix), and here follows a long stretch of talking and planning, made worse by the presence of 'Johnny', a young cowhand who is followed to Tombstone by the girl he left behind, Frances Gifford. We are then treated to a romance until the final rousing gunfight between the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys'.

Oh, I almost forgot. The celebrated gunfight at the OK corral is squeezed in between romantic encounters for about 30 seconds. It takes place in close-up since the fight is in such a small area (Gunfight at the OK phone booth?) It could have been so much better but too much time was wasted on a love story - it was only 79 minutes long but seemed like hours longer.

Here's Paramount's production of the Gunfight at the O. K. Corral, offering Richard Dix as Wyatt Earp, Kent Taylor as Doc Holliday, and after that, it departs from the legend, both in real characters, including third-billed Edgar Buchanan as Curly Bill Brocious, and fictional ones, like Don Castle's Johnny Duane. It offers the story as more complicated and nuanced than usual, and the usual big guns don't hold center stage as they typically do. The overall arc is a long-running feud between Wyatt Earp and Brocious; the Clantons are offered as Brocious' uppity henchmen, and the central character theme seems to be the redemption ofCastle's character, through a desire to court Frances Gifford, a saloon singer with a heart of gold; she sings one song, the anachronistic "Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay".

It's one of Paramount's A Westerns, and it shows in Russell Harlan's brilliant outdoors photography -- although the final shootout in the Alabama Hills shows the exact same rocks western fans have seen two hundred times. The net effect is good -- with a cast like this, it's hard not to be engaging, but it's too diffuse to be great. Director William C. McGann had a hand directing two more features, then spent the last decade of his career working in the special effects department. He died in 1977, aged 84.

Gunslinger Wyatt Earp (Richard Dix) applies his sharpshooting talents to enforcing the law as the deputy of Tombstone, Ariz. And Tombstone, it turns out, can use Earp's help. The town is under the control of the bandit Curly Bill (Edgar Buchanan) and his gang of outlaws. With the help of his friend Doc Holliday (Kent Taylor), Earp attempts to run the bandits out of town. But Curly Bill isn't ready to comply. Only a showdown at the O. K. Corral will settle the score.

A decent retelling of the Tombstone legend starts, oddly enough, with narration by the town itself. I found that quite inventive and a great introduction- Richard Dix makes a philosophical Wyatt Earp who tries to reform Johnny -Don Castle - before he goes down the lawless route courtesy of Bill Brocious. Most of the subplot of Earp reforming Johnny takes up most of the film, and it is quite interesting.

If you're expecting an intense or dark version of Tombstone and Wyatt Earp, then you will be disappointed. This 1942 version is a lively, conversational retelling with light moments as well as action-packed ones. The finale at OK Corral is quite well done.

This is an unheralded little gem of a western. Full of rock-solid actors, but no big stars (Richard Dix, the biggest name in the cast, was beginning to settle into character parts after a long career as a leading man), this tight little western moves like lightning. Director William McGann made his name as an action specialist and second-unit director at Warner Bros. (it definitely has the Warner Bros. "look" to it, even though it's from Paramount), and he proved here that he was more than capable of handling a bigger-budget western. Tightly paced, full of rousing action and good performances, it deserves to be better known than it is.

I agree with Frankfob's comment on this film. It's nicely made, with some interesting actors. The only point I would carp about is the unlimited number of bullets that Curly Billy and his gang fire off early on in the film without appearing to re-load their revolvers.

Perhaps Richard Dix is a little old for the film, and he doesn't convey the machismo that Randolph Scott and Gary Cooper retained in middle age, but he does well enough.

Don Castle has a great screen presence - lots of charisma, and it's interesting to note that he later had a minor role as a drunk cowboy in "Gunfight at the OK Corral". The love interest is reasonably muted and Frances Gifford doesn't have too much screen time.

And Edgar Buchanan as Curly Bill doesn't mumble, as he was inclined to do later in his career