Alguacil de la frontera

i liked this western quite a bit.it is made in 1939,and some may find the pace a bit sedate,but that didn't bother me.i liked the story and the cast of characters.the main character is Wyatt Earp(Randolph Scott)newly deputized as marshal to try to bring some law into the town of Tombstone.The character Of Doc Halliday(Ceasar Romero)also plays a prominent role.there were a few scenes which were meant to be funny,and they probably were back in 1939,but they fell a bit flat for me.it's the movie that inspired the John Ford classic My Darling Clementine(1946).the 1957 movie Gunfight at the OK Corral is also apparently inspired by this movie.one thing i should mention is that the sound and the picture were crystal clear,so kudos for Fox for the technical work that went into the DVD.anyway,when all is said and done,i thought this was a pretty good movie.easily an 8/10

Early version of the Earp-Holliday, OK Corral legend.

Thanks to big-budget TCF, this is a well-produced, mid-level Western. Those barroom scenes along with the crowded streets are high energy and appropriate to a boomtown, which Tombstone was. Dwan directs these scenes with flair. Can't say the same for the final shootout that is poorly staged and fleetingly done as if the production had to hurry up to meet schedule. Ford's 1946 remake My Darling Clementine greatly improves on that final showdown with the kind of close-ups and structured tension that're needed.

Scott and Romero cut formidable figures as the legendary heroes. The screenplay suffers, however, by failing to spotlight an equally formidable villain to challenge them, spreading the villainy instead across several minor players. Too bad the impressive Carradine is largely wasted in an incidental role. On the other hand, Kelly is very pretty as the good girl, while Barnes shines as the good-time girl. I like the way their rivalry evolves over time.

I can see why the estimable John Ford saw so much potential in the characters and story. There's a lot of color in the array of personalities and rivalries, including the show biz Eddie Foy Jr., an entertaining contrast to the frontier types. Of course, Ford's version is clearly superior. Still, this 1939 entry remains a respectable little Western with its own modest merits.

That would describe Wyatt Earp. Lucky because I can't think of anyone else who's had more stalwart Hollywood heroes playing him in film. Off the top of my head Tom Mix, George O'Brien, Henry Fonda, Burt Lancaster, James Garner, James Stewart, Joel McCrea right down to Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner. We certainly can't forget Hugh O'Brian on television. And also Wyatt was lucky in that he lived long enough so that no one was around to refute him when he gave a series of interviews to Stuart Lake for an authorized biography shortly before he died in 1929.

As this film is based on Lake's book you won't get anything else but the Wyatt of legend. Certainly Randolph Scott fulfills the legend and that's what we print according to John Ford.

This film isn't too often seen because whole parts of it were taken and used by John Ford in My Darling Clementine. Frontier Marshal should be seen back to back to graphically illustrate the difference between a good routine action western and an almost poetical film expression.

Parts that were played by Victor Mature, Cathy Downs, and Linda Darnell in My Darling Clementine are taken here by Cesar Romero, Nancy Kelly, and Binnie Barnes. It might seem odd that British Binnie Barnes would show up in a western as a saloon girl, but that's no more strange than Marlene Dietrich doing the same that year and being very accepted.

Eddie Foy, Jr. is in the cast playing his celebrated father who was entertaining in Tombstone at the time the Earps were providing law and order.

The Clantons believe it or not are completely eliminated from the story. The chief villain is real life Clanton retainer Curly Bill Brocius played here by Joe Sawyer. Eliminated also are Wyatt's brothers and as you can imagine the final shootout at the OK Corral is staged differently than in any other telling of the tale.

Probably Randolph Scott's Wyatt Earp would be a lot better known had he the benefit of John Ford's direction.

I'm not a huge fan of the Western genre but there are a few Westerns that really enjoy - this film goes into the my liked Western films. It is highly fictionalized version of the events that lead up to the famous gun fight but really fun to watch.

I have to say I enjoyed the entire cast which is one of the reasons why I like this film - it's not just the story and action on screen but the actors themselves that makes this particular film worth watching to me.

Binnie Barnes as Jerry - she really tickled me, constantly trying to keep up her tough exterior but in the end we saw the softer side of Jerry. A character I really liked watching.

Scott and Romero were good together. While Carradine, Chaney and Sawyer was made a great trio of "villains". You can't but to laugh as some of the things that happens - in particular when Doc Halliday (Romeo) gets Pringle (Chaney) to dance... lol.

Anyway, this one worth checking out if you haven't seen it already. Fictionalized Fun.

8.5/10

For seventy-one minutes the film manages to fit in the deteriorating security situation in Tombstone as the camera flashes to the street for all the shootouts and horseplay. Compared to My Darling Clementine, this one is more easy going. Cesar Romero captures best acting over Vic Mature in the role of Doc Holliday, IMHO if only because Mature's part seemed overwrought, and the part of Holliday seems to fit Romero in a decisively more real way. Even still, the script in Frontier Marshal still caricatures Holliday as overly emotional, especially in the scenes in the saloon where he's purposely drinking himself to death because ex-flame Nancy Kelly comes in on the stage. Still, Romero was a great actor, and his scenes with Randolph Scott as Earp are a nice mix of two actors who had real naturalness. The B&W photography (Charles Clarke) stands out throughout and all the scenes in this movie are well assembled. It is over before you know it.