Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957)

Wyatt Earp Movie #3

Synopsis: It’s a bit like Tombstone...only sanitized.

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “Considered to be one of the best Western films ever made, Gunfight at the OK Corral explores the relationship between two of the West’s most celebrated legends – Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.”

What Did I Learn?: Back in the 1950s, movie audiences couldn’t understand what was going on unless their eardrums were repeatedly assaulted by cheesy, narrative ballads.

You Might Like This Movie If: You’ve always wanted to see Douglas and Lancaster take on some “nasty boys”. [I own a copy of this film, and I’ll review it in good time].

Really?:  1) It’s a Western, and yet there isn’t so much as a speck of dust on anyone’s clothing, and all of the sets are amazingly clean. 2) Strangely, DeForest Kelley’s voice sounds almost nothing like Dr. McCoy’s, although there’s no indication he was dubbed over.

Rating: Gunfight at the OK Corral is an *ahem* ok Western, and Kirk Douglas does an excellent job of portraying the cynical and self-loathing Doc Holliday. While I consider myself a fan of both Douglas and Burt Lancaster, the film suffers from an awful, overpowering musical score by Dimitri Tiomkin and don’t get me started on Frankie Laine’s ballad. More importantly, this might be the least historically accurate Wyatt Earp movie I have reviewed, and it whitewashes many of the events: Wyatt Earp’s philandering (he doesn’t even HAVE a wife in this film, let alone a wife addicted to opium), the Earp family’s entrepreneurialism, the fact that several men at the OK Corral weren’t armed, etc... 7/10 stars.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050468/