Un jeu risqué

The film was well developed in Wichita where appeared Wyatt Earp (Joel McCrea) as one of the many lawman hired to keep the peace . Wyatt Earp was a gunman and sometime peace officer whose legendary reputation as a paragon of law and order was largely manufactured by himself and his biographer Stuart Lake . Undoubtedly he was also a man of great courage and gunfighting skill . After working as a freighter and buffalo hunter Earp served as a policeman in Wichita (during 1875-76 years) and then as an assistant town marshal of Dodge city . Wichita was a major cattle town that started life as a trading post for the Indians who had a village nearby and later a white settlement developed around . The town was incorporated as a third class city in 1871, and the following year , when the railroad reached the location , it becomes a booming railhead of the cattle drives from Texas up the Chisholm trail . Like other cattle towns (Abilene) the rowdy , free-spending cowboys attracted saloon keepers , gambling houses , brothels , dance houses and all types of frontier riff-raff , the city became notorious for its lawlessness and vice , serving the needs of Texas cowboys . Wichita was the leading cattle shipping center , with 200.000 cattle and 2.000 cowboys flooding into the area at the height of the station . At the movie the cowboys (such as Robert J.Wilke and Jack Elam) amuse themselves shooting the air and is when Wyatt Earp intervenes to keep the order . He is helped by his brothers James (John Smith) and Morgan (Peter Graves) who was badly wounded in the explosive showdown known as the Gunfight at the O.K .Corral (26 October 1881) . At the film appears Bat Masterson (Keith Larsen) working as a journalist . Bat was also a peace officer and gunfighter of legendary reputation as Earp and spent the last twenty years of his life as a popular sports writer on a New York newspaper , moving on to Dodge City , he served as a police officer and became a comrade of Wyatt . The motion picture develops pretty well the events around Wichita . The casting is frankly magnificent as the main characters (Joel McCrea , Vera Miles) as well as the excellent supporting actors (Edgar Buchanan , Lloyd Bridges , Wallace Ford and Sam Peckinpah plays a bit part as a bank teller). The picture was well directed by Jacques Tourneur . Rating : Good Western , well worth watching .

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.

Wyatt Earp was another example of a fascinating person with a fascinating story, so any film about him is always welcome. It is a shame that Jacques Tourneur is as underrated as he is, as he had great talent as a director. One of the best film noirs ever 'Out of the Past' and the very influential 'Cat People' are proof of that. Joel McCrea, Vera Miles and Lloyd Bridges were always worth seeing, and all three have good performances in other films.

Anybody that loves the Western genre, or at least appreciates it, are likely to find a lot to like about 'Wichita'. To me, it is not quite a classic and is a film to be taken on its own and to be dismissed on biographical terms. 'Wichita' still struck me as very good, with a lot of things being excellent. With this film, it is easy to see why those who have heard of Tourneur and like some of his films have found appeal in him and also why the cast are as regarded as they are.

Sure 'Wichita' is cliched, with a lot of elements that people who know the genre will recognise from elsewhere. Those that know intimately about Earp and his life will despair at how the film plays fast and loose with the facts, which were even more interesting than what was presented here.

Perhaps the pace could have been tighter at times.

However, 'Wichita' is very handsomely shot, making the most of the settings that are full of unforgiving grit and atmosphere, and there are no signs of time and budget constraints visually. Tourneur's direction is exemplary, taut, elegant and frames and stages the action with accomplishment and ease. It is a very different kettle of fish to his direction for 'Out of the Past' and 'Cat People', but he didn't seem out of his depth here and it shows that he did have versatility. The music fits very well and the theme song from Tex Ritter is memorable. The script was clearly written with a lot of intelligence and is literate without being too talk heavy.

The story also compels on the most part, it excites, it doesn't hold back in the more tense scenes and it's moving in spots. As well as nostalgic. The action is spectacular, thrillingly staged and beautifully filmed. The romantic angle doesn't feel like padding or tacked on, a mistake that quite a number of similar films make. It may not be completely accurate, but it is a very well told and engaging story in its own way. Earp is a character of real authority here while being characterised in a way that makes one find it easy to empathise with his conflicts. McCrea does superbly at showing all those things in his performance too. Miles is luminous and charming and Keith Larson and Edgar Buchanan are effective in their parts.

Overall, very good and deserving of more credit. 8/10

Wichita is a western that again focuses on a life and deeds of legendary Wyatt Earp, only this time without gunfight at the OK Corral. The action doesn't take place at Tombstone, but in a small cattle town of Wichita where our hero (this time played by Joel McCrea) arrives and very soon is offered a post of a Marshall due to his strong persona and skills in using the gun.

In a very short time he manages to change completely the life of the town from a very dangerous place where one could be killed or robbed at any moment to the most peaceful town in the wild west.

An interesting western directed by Jacques Tourneur, that revisits some of the used western's cliches, but also contains some spectacular action sequences and some personal Tourneur touches in directing which rise the film little above the average and turn it into a pleasurable viewing experience. 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.