Probably like the fourth most interesting version of this story, but still not that bad! Points to being shot in VistaVision and actually having a 4K disc.

Probably like the fourth most interesting version of this story, but still not that bad! Points to being shot in VistaVision and actually having a 4K disc.

“Hey man how was that Corral you visited?”

“Ehh…it was OK 🤷‍♂️”

John Sturges directs yet another big screen retelling of Wyatt Earp’s infamous showdown with the Clanton gang at the O.K. Corral. The point of difference with this adaptation being the strong focus on the alliance between stodgy righteous do-gooder Marshall Earp (Burt Lancaster) and the consumption ridden but papered-over with suave Doc Holliday (Kirk Douglas), a wise choice considering both the star power and chemistry between the leads.

Other familiar faces include DeForest ‘Dammit Jim’ Kelly as Morgan Earp and a baby faced pre-LSD (probably) Dennis Hopper as young Billy Clanton.

It’s the old west and a movie made in the ‘50s so it’s no surprise that women aren’t presented in the most flattering light, but yeesh even by those standards Jo Van Fleet as Kate, Holliday’s frequently drunk due to inattention on again/off again girlfriend really gets a raw deal.

This is shot in glorious VistaVision and makes good use of the Paramount ranch filming locale. The shoot out itself doesn’t quite live up to the build-up, with Ford’s My Darling Clementine in 1946 having greater impact. Of course the historically accurate version of the gunfight would only last 30 seconds.

“Hey man how was that Corral you visited?”

“Ehh…it was OK 🤷‍♂️”

John Sturges directs yet another big screen retelling of Wyatt Earp’s infamous showdown with the Clanton gang at the O.K. Corral. The point of difference with this adaptation being the strong focus on the alliance between stodgy righteous do-gooder Marshall Earp (Burt Lancaster) and the consumption ridden but papered-over with suave Doc Holliday (Kirk Douglas), a wise choice considering both the star power and chemistry between the leads.

Other familiar faces include DeForest ‘Dammit Jim’ Kelly as Morgan Earp and a baby faced pre-LSD (probably) Dennis Hopper as young Billy Clanton.

It’s the old west and a movie made in the ‘50s so it’s no surprise that women aren’t presented in the most flattering light, but yeesh even by those standards Jo Van Fleet as Kate, Holliday’s frequently drunk due to inattention on again/off again girlfriend really gets a raw deal.

This is shot in glorious VistaVision and makes good use of the Paramount ranch filming locale. The shoot out itself doesn’t quite live up to the build-up, with Ford’s My Darling Clementine in 1946 having greater impact. Of course the historically accurate version of the gunfight would only last 30 seconds.

doc holliday is kind of character of all time to me. flops around, coughs, does gay shit, coughs, shoots people, coughs, drinks, coughs, dies of tuberculosis. 

attention tombstone tumblr/ao3 fans! this film is 100% gayer and better! hold tombstone close in your hearts but move on to this one! this was the realest thing ever 

soundtrack was cornnyyyyy but this was such a fun time and so so pretty i love colors. also, we LOVE to see john ireland again!

doc holliday is kind of character of all time to me. flops around, coughs, does gay shit, coughs, shoots people, coughs, drinks, coughs, dies of tuberculosis. 

attention tombstone tumblr/ao3 fans! this film is 100% gayer and better! hold tombstone close in your hearts but move on to this one! this was the realest thing ever 

soundtrack was cornnyyyyy but this was such a fun time and so so pretty i love colors. also, we LOVE to see john ireland again!

Perhaps I’m committing the crime of condemning a movie for simply not being another movie, but I’ve always felt rather endeared to one telling of the story of the Earps and Doc Holliday (Ford’s remains unseen, woefully) and coming out of this, I remain unwavered in such a stance. Lots of things it’s got going for it: beautifully shot, bumpy and rocking music and a climactic shootout that delivers exactly what it promises. The only problem is that I feel like this is an incredibly low stakes and de-fanged take on a story that is ripe with complicated people, circumstances and relationships. Lancaster and Douglas are more than up to task and their on-screen chemistry is the thing that keeps it chugging along, and I wish I liked the movie as a whole as much as I simply like them. Burt’s a fine actor, but the version of Wyatt Earp that he’s playing is one of the more dull and is largely amiss of all of the loneliness and the edge that the real man famously carried, and that portrayals such as Kurt Russell readily embodied. Here, Burt is doing a fine job as a stock Western good guy who happens to be named Wyatt Earp. He also gets points knocked for not rocking the mustache. At no fault to speak of is Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday. Easily the strongest weapon in the film’s arsenal, routinely engaging when he’s around, there’s a direct link between his devilish charm and Val Kilmer’s mythical, sardonic drawl in the same role. Scene of the film is when he’s trying his damnedest to prove to Wyatt that he can abide by the law by not blowing a hole through Ringo (something that bugs me, the Earp and Holliday dynamic is infinitely more interesting when Wyatt is a flawed but principled man who takes Doc for exactly who he is because they’re friends in spite of it, but that’s neither here nor there) and you can see how eager he is to give in to his killer instinct. Moments of depth that the rest of the film desperately needed.

Perhaps I’m committing the crime of condemning a movie for simply not being another movie, but I’ve always felt rather endeared to one telling of the story of the Earps and Doc Holliday (Ford’s remains unseen, woefully) and coming out of this, I remain unwavered in such a stance. Lots of things it’s got going for it: beautifully shot, bumpy and rocking music and a climactic shootout that delivers exactly what it promises. The only problem is that I feel like this is an incredibly low stakes and de-fanged take on a story that is ripe with complicated people, circumstances and relationships. Lancaster and Douglas are more than up to task and their on-screen chemistry is the thing that keeps it chugging along, and I wish I liked the movie as a whole as much as I simply like them. Burt’s a fine actor, but the version of Wyatt Earp that he’s playing is one of the more dull and is largely amiss of all of the loneliness and the edge that the real man famously carried, and that portrayals such as Kurt Russell readily embodied. Here, Burt is doing a fine job as a stock Western good guy who happens to be named Wyatt Earp. He also gets points knocked for not rocking the mustache. At no fault to speak of is Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday. Easily the strongest weapon in the film’s arsenal, routinely engaging when he’s around, there’s a direct link between his devilish charm and Val Kilmer’s mythical, sardonic drawl in the same role. Scene of the film is when he’s trying his damnedest to prove to Wyatt that he can abide by the law by not blowing a hole through Ringo (something that bugs me, the Earp and Holliday dynamic is infinitely more interesting when Wyatt is a flawed but principled man who takes Doc for exactly who he is because they’re friends in spite of it, but that’s neither here nor there) and you can see how eager he is to give in to his killer instinct. Moments of depth that the rest of the film desperately needed.

Kirk Douglas is so cool.

Kirk Douglas is so cool.