Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die

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.

Truth to tell, I had never heard of Director William McGann but I do not feel too ignorant after watching this rather wayward part of the Wyatt Earp saga in the Old West.

Richard Dix plays Wyatt - nowhere near as memorably as Joel McCrea in WICHITA or Burt Lancaster in GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL, among other worthies - but the real show stealer is Edgar Buchanan as Curly Bill Brocius, a hard-drinking and fast-robbing cattle rustler.

Good B&W cinematography by Russell Harlan, terrific editing by Lewis and Rose, and entertaining script from Le Vino and Paramore make this unusual Western a must-see for any lover of Westerns. 7/10.

Previous reviewers of this film damn it with faint praise if that, but I found it noteworthy as yet another chapter in the Wyatt Earp saga as viewed by Hollywood. The real Earp hung around Hollywood till his death around 1929 and got to know some of the movie makers. Stuart Lake's biography was published in 1931, and Clarence Kelland's TOMBSTONE on which this movie is supposedly based, according to the screen credits, was well known. Well, Hollywood and history are only kissing cousins when it comes to factual matters, and this movie brushes along a lot of truths. But the one thing it does well is the depiction of the legendary gunfight at the OK Corral. The actual fight occurred in a very short space and took a very short time totally unlike the depictions in John Ford's MY DARLING CLEMENTINE and the Burt Lancaster/Kirk Douglas GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL. The depiction here comes closest in the movies to every film and TV version (such as the "You Are There" version) to the actual event as detailed in the many recent histories of Wyatt Earp. It also depicts the murder of Morgan Earp very well since that event occurred soon after the gunfight. As a movie, however, it meanders a lot probably because it tries to tell too many stories at the same time. Earp has to contend not only with unruly cowboys and outlaws but also political corruption at the highest level. The horrendous time waster is spent on Earp's attempt to save a totally fictional person, a young man called Johnny, from a life of crime and to promote the guy's romance with a girl who follows him from Kansas. The antagonist for much of the movie is Curly Bill, played by Edgar Buchanan with much juicy relish, and he has his minions in Ike and Phin Clanton and Indian Charlie, who were real people in Earp's life, but who had no such fates as described in the movie. The shoot out at the end following an abortive robbery of a silver shipment provides an exciting climax, but has no relation to actual events. Sadly, Kent Taylor as Doc Holliday has very little to do to show his acting skills, and Richard Dix as Wyatt Earp is sometimes so low key as to seem he is sleepwalking through a movie he finds boring. Because this film is seldom seen, and has some worthwhile parts to it for western movie fans and for Wyatt Earp fans, I recommend it -- not for its historical accuracy, but for its contribution to myth making.

This feels like a 1930s Three Amigos type western, being semi-serious with some decent action. If you prefer more "modern", mature 1950s types of westerns this isn't for you. My Darling Clementine made just four year later is much more serious and a classic take on the OK Corral story.

As mentioned in other reviews the plot cuts quickly from one storyline to another. And Wyatt is too good to be true, he is part psychologist, part matchmaker and a lawman.

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.