The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp

For my wife when she was a girl, Hugh O'Brien was Wyatt Earp. A cleaner better hero would be hard to find. When he finally killed someone, Wyatt was devastated and the star portrayed it beautifully. Oddly, there is some evidence this was historically accurate. No semi-professional gambling, no failed businesses, no "wives" and yet the staging of the famous Tombstone street fight was, garb apart, among the least inaccurate. Based on Stewart Lake's imaginative biography this series did for the 1950s what Lake's book did for the 1930s: cemented the Legend of Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp for as long as anyone remembers the Old West. Recently (2009) I watched the episodes contained in a boxed set of DVDs and was frankly astonished at Hugh O'Brien's portrayal of Wyatt Earp. There was an edge, a darkness to his Earp that I missed when I was young. O'Brien certainly captures the nobility that Lake's book placed to the fore but the actor also captured very subtly the coldness, the reserve, the calculating quality of the real Earp. I now, half a century after first watching "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp", have belatedly realized what a fine actor Hugh O'Brien was. Thank you, Mr O'Brien!

When TV Land recently began showing reruns of "Wyatt Earp," I had forgotten that, apparently in the early episodes, the only music heard was an a cappella male quartet. Not only did they sing the theme song, but periodically during those episodes, to augment certain special "drama," they would chime in, humming either low in the background for sentimentality, or swelling to full volume when the emotions were supposed to be at peak. The only lyrics heard were those of the theme song; otherwise, the musical accompaniment consisted entirely of that periodic humming in four-part harmony. Written out, it appeared, "mmmm-oooooo-AAAAHHHH-OOOOOHHH!!" Bypassing a full orchestra was one sure way to save a chunk of cash for the budget. Then in other, perhaps later, episodes, orchestral music replaced that humming, and the a cappella quartet only sang the theme song. I must admit that the humming contributed a rather corny element to the show.

The 226 half-hour episodes of the western series "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" were originally broadcast on ABC from 1955-1961. This DVD set contains a selection of 26 episodes from throughout the run of the series. Thus the secondary title "From Ellsworth to Tombstone".

The series is somewhat obscure relative to that era's lineup of adult westerns although it was the most realistic of the group and even managed a surprising degree of historical accuracy. It is loosely based on the career of the real-life Wyatt Earp (played by Hugh O'Brian) and sequentially follows the assorted career moves and location changes of this lawman/saloonkeeper.

The series starts with Wyatt becoming the marshal of Ellsworth, Kansas. A few episodes later he moves to Dodge City (shades of "Gunsmoke's" Marshall Dillon). The last two seasons take place in Tombstone, Arizona and feature the famous shootout at the O.K. Corral (which is included in this DVD set).

O'Brian's acting in the series is a vast improvement over his performance in "Rocketship X- M" a few years earlier. He plays Earp as a strong and rugged character but with a nice touch of humanness and wry charm. Many sidekicks come and go over the course of the series but none rise to the level of a Chester or Festus from "Gunsmoke" or even a Pat Brady from "Roy Rogers". Two actors play Doc Holliday (Douglas Fowley and Myron Healey) and Mason Alan Dinehart plays Bat Masterson. Interviews with O'Brien and Dinehart are included on one of the DVD's.

Because the episodes were only a half-hour and because no cast member other than O'Brian really caught on the reputation of the series has suffered in comparison to other examples of the genre. But it features some quality western action without the fluff and philosophy of the longer shows. And it is fair to say that it had considerable influence on development of the adult western series.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I'll tell you a story a real true life story. A tale of the Western frontier. The West, it was lawless, but one man was flawless, And his is the story you'll hear.

Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp, brave courageous and bold. Long live his fame and long life his glory, and long may his story be told.

Well he cleaned up the country, the old wild west country. He made law and order prevail. and none can deny it The legend of Wyatt forever will live on the trail.

Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp, brave courageous and bold. Long live his fame and long life his glory and long may his story be told.

This prime-time Emmy nominated series along with "Gunsmoke", and "Cheyenne" set the stage that launched a great era of television Westerns. "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" was one of the tremendously popular half-hour shows that featured changes in locate while adding characters and changes of the actors playing the parts. Originally offer to George Montgomery, the title part went to lean and athletic actor Hugh O'Brien who remained with the series throughout it's entire six-year run who appeared in all 229 episodes. This was one of the great Desilu produced Westerns to come out of the mid-1950's with big name guest stars and superb writing and direction in all episodes. "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" premiered on ABC's prime-time schedule on September 6, 1955 premiering exactly four days before "Gunsmoke"(which aired on a rival television network) and produced by Robert Sisk, Louis F. Edelman, and Roy Rowland(who served as the executive producers of this series). "Wyatt Earp" was placed on ABC's Tuesday night schedule in prime-time for the remainder of it's run which aired at 8:30pm eastern/7:30pm central. The series was produced by Desilu Productions(the production company founded by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball)and was filmed at the Desilu-Cahuenga Studios. The show's sponsors throughout it's run were The General Mills Corporation, Proctor & Gamble, and The Parker Pen Company. A total of 229 episodes were produced in black and white from September 6, 1955 until the final episode of the series on June 27,1961. Interesting note about this show. An off-camera barbershop quartet(The Ken Darby Singers)sang the theme song and hummed the background music during the first two seasons.

Hugh O'Brien was the perfect choice as Wyatt Earp,the fictional character whose reign of law and order in the Old West set the stage for what was to come. During the series six-year run, it started with Wyatt's experiences as the deputy town marshal for the first four episodes in Ellsworth, Kansas and then moving towards Wichita,Kansas. There the show shifted from his stint in Dodge City, Kansas to Tombstone,Arizona Territory(toward the show's final two seasons). This brilliantly produced and intelligent writing of this series brought on board great guest stars as well as keeping TV-Viewers tuned in for some great action sequences that made this show stand out from all the other Westerns that came during the mid-1950's. Some of the best writers lend themselves to some of the great episodes ranging from John Dunkel to Wells Root, Frederick Hazlitt-Brennan, Buck Houghton, Dan Ullman, to Michael Fessier, Thomas Reed, Richard Sanville, and Celeste Plank. Big name directors like Frank McDonald, Roy Rowland, Paul Landres, Sidney Salkow and Lewis R. Foster contribute to some of the episodes.

Several big name guest stars appeared on this series ranging from newcomers like Angie Dickinson, Ed Nelson, James Coburn, Stacy Harris, Mike Connors(the future "Mannix"), Ron Ely(the future "Tarzan"),and James Best, Robert Fuller(the future "Laramie"), along with Steve Brodie to seasoned actors like Morgan Woodward, Paul Brinegar, Ray Kellogg, Denver Pyle, Lash La Rue, to Glenn Strange, John Anderson, John Dehner, Gloria Talbott, Gregory Walcott, Jean Allison, Harold J. Stone, along with Barney Phillips, Adele Mara, Whit Bissell, Sheb Wooley, Eddy Waller, John Carradine, Patricia Donahue, Frank Ferguson, Ellen Corby, and Marie Windsor. After "The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp" was canceled on June 27, 1961 after six seasons and 229 episodes, the show that replaced it in the fall of 1961 was the short-lived situation comedy series "Calvin and the Colonel"

My parents remember this show when they were teenagers, and so we decided as a family to watch the series together.

Wow! What a treat! The writing in a lot of episodes is excellent, and many episodes could make a movie all it's own, enough to put modern tv series to shame. Many characters are woven into the series and once in a while make reappearances.

The acting is phenomenal. Hugh O'Brien is perfect for this role. His range of acting can range from comical to sheer wrath.

We have a friend that talks about the Gibb-slap, a reference to the TV series NCIS. Now we have a running joke: the Earp-slap! There are scenes where O'Brien surprises real genuine slaps so suddenly! No mere acting here!