Just a quick thought on the difference of attitudes:
In Tombstone (1993) the Earps get involved into being lawmen by referencing “innocent people’s suffering” (scene with Johnny Behan talking to Earps at approx. the 55th minute of the film).
You know you men are making a lot of money in this town. That’s good, that’s good… Good for you. In the meantime a lot of decent people are suffering. But please, don’t let me take up any more of your precious time.
Johnny Behan
And later Virgil Earp (who, according to “The Making of Tombstone” represents the the Law) is guilt-driven into taking the job:
These people are afraid to walk down the streets and I am trying to make money out of them like some God damn vulture.
Virgil Earp (explaining why he took the job of the lawman)
Being the lawman is a job in the Classic Westerns, and as any other job is supposed to be done professionally to gain respect. In Gunfight At The OK Corral Wyatt says “if you can’t do your job anymore – turn in your badge”. As in “you are getting paid to do the job – so do it or resign”. It’s work ethics. It a matter of professionalism.
From watching the “Making of” I’ve gathered that Kurt Russel was really into the story, that’s why it’s so strange to me that the film turned out such a typical 90s action film rather than a good western.
The film opens with a stylized silent film sequence and a narrator voice. The sequence could have been suitable due to fact that the real White Earp lived to see the silent films era, but seeing Val Kilmer in one of the silent clips is weird, as that becomes not the 20th re-telling, but a documentary. Did have the “breaking the fourth wall” effect on me.
To sum up my first problem with the film, I will put it like this: it is an incredibly naive “Good” vs “Bad” story. Straight away, in the first scene you “meet the bad guys”, then, in scene 2, the good guys are presented to you.
The scene with Wyatt arguing with Virge and Morg about getting involved would have worked if the previous scene wasn’t such a pathetic tear-jerker – the town, oppressed by the horrible cowboys, terrorizing the citizens on a daily bases ( just for the sake of it, it seems), Virgil looking at a scarred woman, holding her little son…
Let’s make it obvious how bad the bad guys are – true maniacs. And only Earps can stand up to them
Scene 1 – Dear Viewer, let me present you the Bad Guys of this movie
“Baddie’s” evil laugh – approx 3 minutes into the film just made me laugh too. Curly Bill is a raging maniac here. Not like he was a nice guy, but shooting down an entire Mexican village is just laughable. I am guessing the origins of the scene go into the documented “practical jokes” of Curly bill who made a preacher “dance” and the villagers to dance naked. But the way it is in the film – it’s an absolute overkill.
“Of course” they are shown as a gang of “inhuman” beings who kill a number of innocent, defenseless people. Also, if that’s not enough for you to hate the “baddies” – Curly Bill tortures and kills the newly wed husband, and then Johnny Ringo shoots the priest dead. These are the Bad guys, got it now?
Scene 2 – Now, please meet our Good Guys! (Don’t forget to applaud at how touchingly good they are)
Meet Wyatt Earp, first shown protecting his horse from a whipping. Yes, real Wyatt Earp did like animals, but again the implementation of that fact is far too on the nose. I remember a book on Screenwriting I read, when I was at a film school – there was a part about writing a likeable character, presented as bullet points list – “He/she should love animals, children….” I guess they’ve read that book too.
A couple more weird bits
I find it hard to believe that Morgan has no idea about his brother’s religious beliefs. Morgan Earp: Wyatt, do you believe in God? No, c’mon really, do you?Wyatt Earp: Yeah. Maybe… Hell, I don’t know.Yes, it is true – the whole bit about Morgan being fascinated by what people see when they die, it’s just the dialogue as it is in the film seems to be unnatural way of introducing this fact
Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that the idea of some guy with a shotgun (his face hidden under a hood), bursting into Virgil Earp house, and unloading his shotgun just over the heads of the Earp’s women is downright ridiculous. Maybe I’ve missed some hidden meaning of that scene?
Best bits
There are some notably good scenes and lines of dialogue ‘though.
One is the scene with Wyatt getting 25% of the saloon revenue.
And the following scene with Doc sending off a guy with the shotgun “I apologise, I forgot you were there. You may go now.”
In the theater after an exerpt from Faust, where Faust sells his soul to the Devil, Holliday remarks with a nice line: “very instructive”.
The scene with Doc mocking Ringo when they first meet.
A bit of a summary
It seems that the intentions were good, there was love and interest in the story, but something went very wrong along the way. From what I read there were massive production problems and replacements, so that might be the reason.
One of the earliest cinematic tales of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the Gunfight at the OK Corral. It starts with a very vivid, remarkable overview of Tombstone life.
The beginning of the film, when Wyatt calms down a drunk cowboy singlehandedly and gets the job is not bad ( this time it takes a beating to get him to work for the law again).
“Frontier Marshal” – opening sequence
But the further into the film – the more boring and tiresome it gets. Wyatt has a tendancy to stick his nose into other people business and runs around trying to sort out Doc’s love affairs.
As he also does in Wyatt Earp (1994), here he considers it to be OK to buffaloe Doc for “bad behavior” ( I really don’t believe that would help their friendship).
Doc Holliday
As for Doc – he totally lacks his trademark charisma here. Again, they really didn’t bother with any historical accuracy – Doc is a surgeon, and is caught between a saloon girl and a nurse in a love triangle, with the moral views of the authors of this film firmly supporting the nurse. When she calls him by name, she calls him “John”, never “John Henry”.
He is killed even before the Gunfight. Basically, he is a “good” guy, who made some “bad” things due to being scared of his illness. Pathetically “Good Guy” towards the end. And, yes, seeing Doc drinking milk instead of whiskey made me crumble.
Doc Holliday on “Frontier Marshal”
The film is generally weak, far too righteous and naive in a “bad writing” sort of way. We get all the cheap plot devices as shot-down kids (that need to be saved by Doc Holliday, the surgeon) and flat dialogues.
Sarah: John…
Doc: Yes, Sarah?
Sarah: Isn’t it more thrilling to give life than to take it away?
Doc: Yes.
Weak. Moralistic and preaching so much your teeth hurt.
This 50s TV series feature two different takes on Doc Holliday – a darker, fatalistic one by Gerald Mohr and a lively, moody, leaning-towards-comedy by Peter Breck.
Peter Breck as “Doc” Holliday
Peter Breck as Doc Holliday – Maverick TV series – ep. “A technical error”
Peter Breck’s Doc Holliday portrayal combines great humor and a sufficient amount of menace expected from the moody gunfighter. He is absolutely charming, yet dangerous and pretty much steals the screen.
The writers played with the canonical image of Doc Holliday as a hard-drinking gambler and gunfighter, blending it into the Maverick TV series comedy tone with money-as-the-main-agenda routine. They gave Doc great lines of dialogue and Breck done brilliantly with bringing them to life.
Maverick “Triple Indemnity”
Bart Maverick:How are you, Doc?
Doc Holliday: Not too drunk to protect my own interests. This is Helen. Keep your hands off her. Helen, this is Bart Maverick. As far as you are concerned he doesn’t exist. I only introduce him to you because I am polite and now just forget it.
Doc here drinks his whiskey, smokes his cigars and switches from a friendly laughter into a menacing heavy gaze in less than a second. He also has delightfully refined ways of humiliating people.
ep. “One of our trains is missing”
A man: Holliday, better get things fixed – a lot depends on it.
Doc: If it’ll take a load of your rather insignificant little mind, I should tell you that I’ve arranged to delay the train for at least 5 hours.
A man: There’s no need to be rude…
Doc: A very bad habbit of mine. But you could help me overcome it. By keeping your revolting person out of my sight.
Notably, his ability with guns is mostly referenced and he only actually gets to use it a bit in the last episode.
It is a mystery to me why Warner Brothers didn’t bring in Peter Breck as Doc as a regular character to replace an empty spot left for the second central character. Their playing of each other with Jack Kelly is also very enjoyable.
Peter Breck and Jack Kelly
Or they could have made a spin-off about him after Maverick TV series got canceled in the 5th season. Anyways, it’s a pity that they are so few episodes with Peter Breck as Holliday.
John Henry “Doc” Holliday – The Deadly Dentist in the Classic Western Era – links to previous posts:
It’s just remarkable how far away from the actual history can be a move that claims to “finally” tell the true story. That movie is “Doc” (1971) – a typical for it’s time revisionist western and an otherwise mediocre film at best.
“Doc” there is a victim of a very greedy cold-hearted Wyatt. “Doc’s” only desire is to leave with Kate to California, settle down with her and have kids together. Probably, the real historical Kate would love this version of events, but it certainly doesn’t have anything to do with the truth.
The film is trying to win over its audience by putting the legend of the Gunfight at the OK Corral to its head and presenting the Clantons as a herd of innocent lambs, who were surrendering at the OK Corral at the first request from the Earps and despite that slaughtered by the Earp brothers and the reluctantly participating “Doc”.
Doc had but three redeeming traits. One was his courage; he was afraid of nothing on Earth. The second was the one commendable principle in his code of life, sterling loyalty to friends. The third was his affection for Wyatt Earp.
I found him a loyal friend and good company. He was a dentist whom necessity had made a gambler; a gentleman whom disease had made a vagabond; a philosopher whom life had made a caustic wit; a long, lean blonde fellow nearly dead with consumption and at the same time the most skillful gambler and nerviest, speediest, deadliest man with a six-gun I ever knew.
The most accurate representation of John H. “Doc” Holliday (played by Kirk Douglas) and the most fun one. And accurate is not about whether Doc was walking with a shotgun to the Corral or where he met Wyatt Earp. It’s about capturing the personality – and “Gunfight at the OK Corral” does the best job at it.
Doc in this movie is sharp-tongued, well-mannered, hot-tempered and loyal to his only friend. He gets instantly enraged at the slightest perceived insult to his southern pride ( and Kirk is by far the best at jumping into rage in a split second).
“Doc and Wyatt”
Doc and Wyatt in “Gunfight at the OK Corral” (1957)
Their friendship is the heart of the movie. And thanks for that since the beauty of Doc’s story is that it’s a story of a true friendship. That unlikely friendship makes him stand out from all the other famous gunslingers.
It is probably the most naturally evolving male friendship you can get in the cinema. And definitely works as an explanation of how two completely opposite men became friends for life.
There is no melodrama in their friendship, which appears so often in other adaptations of their story. Their dialogues are usually in a mocking mood even when they are about serious topics, true to a real male friendship.
Doc: You know, Wyatt, you and I are pretty much alike, actually. Both of us live with a gun. The only difference is that badge.
Doc: What’s the matter, “preacher”, don’t you like being preached at?
Wyatt: Shut up and go to sleep.
Gunfight at the OK Corral 1957
They never say too much to each other, but they never do too little.
Special thanks for keeping the beauty of the last meeting of Wyatt and Doc – no tearful, prolonged good-byes, but a simple, over the shoulder “So long, “preacher”” from Doc with Wyatt pausing and looking at him and Doc never turning around to return that look.
Doc and Kate
Doc and Kate in “Gunfight at the OK Corral” (1957)
It’s certainly not love for Doc rather a partnership of convenience. She love-hates him. She wants him to stay away from trouble and when he doesn’t – she blames his friendship with Wyatt as she doesn’t want to accept Doc for who he is. The case of “I want this man, but he has change for me”.
It’s pretty close to the historical dynamics of their relationships, as Kate was extremely jealous towards Wyatt and grew so bitter at the Doc’s decision to stay in Tombstone that she took her revenge by supporting the rumors of Doc participating in a train robbery and helped to get him to the court for this one.
He is mostly sarcastic about their relationship. And as always with a lot of bitterness.
Kate: I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you…
Doc: You’d lose your meal ticket, wouldn’t you?
Gunfight at the OK Corral 1957
Doc hates Kate for not getting who he is. The South, the southern pride mean nothing to her. Doc hates himself for the way he treats her. And the more he hates himself – the worse he treats her.
Wyatt: Just one more thing – you ought to treat that woman decent or leave her.
Doc: Kate? Yes, poor old Kate… She stands for everything I hate in Doc Holliday.
Gunfight at the OK Corral 1957
The unhappiness of this arrangement makes Doc lean towards abusiveness, and yet Kate, in a very unreasonable but believable way, can’t help caring for him, even right after taking her revenge.
***
The “Gunfight at the OK Corral” uses the “creative license” to present the story in the most cinematographic way, but they stay true to the characters and interpersonal dynamics.
Knowing he was doomed to die young from tuberculosis, Doc Holliday had a hot temper, no self-discipline, and a devotion to Wyatt Earp that made him willing and even eager to risk his life for his friend.
From “The Last Gunfight” book by Jeff Guinn
And that’s exactly the description of “Doc” Holliday as portrayed by Kirk Douglas in the “Gunfight at the OK Corral” with his explosiveness, bravado and unlimited loyalty to Wyatt.
From the “Gunfight at the OK Corral” (1957)
John Henry “Doc” Holliday – The Deadly Dentist in the Classic Western Era – links to later posts:
Classic Western Movie Genre 