Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die

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 film begins in the late 1800's with "Wyatt Earp" (Richard Dix), "Virgil Earp" (Rex Bell) and "Morgan Earp" (Harvey Stephens) riding into the town of Tombstone, Arizona. Once there, they find a number of cowboys led by a man named "Curly Bill Brocious" (Edgar Buchanan) firing their pistols in the air and causing a great commotion. It is soon revealed that these same cowboys generally act with impunity due in large part to the corruption of the town mayor "Dan Crane" (Chartles Halton) and the local magistrate "Judge Fred Horgan" (Charters). At first, the Earp brothers pretty much take everything in stride until a young boy is shot and killed by one of these cowboys and nothing is done about it. It's then that Wyatt decides to become the town sheriff and with the help of "Doc Holliday" (Kent Taylor) and his two brothers decides to clean up the town once and for all. What they don't fully appreciate, however, is the fact that Curly Joe and his outlaws have no intention of allowing anyone to dictate how they will, or will not, behave. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a decent Western which--like most films based on true events--is somewhat embellished by Hollywood to attract larger audiences. To that effect, I suppose it succeeds to a certain extent. Having said that, however, I must admit that the story drags in certain places and perhaps encompasses too much detail in some aspects. Be that as it may, I found the movie to be quite watchable and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

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.

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.