Lawman Wyatt Earp and outlaw Doc Holliday form an unlikely alliance which culminates in their participation in the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
RESEÑA EN ESPAÑOL AQUIFIGHT! - THE TWO STURGESJohn Sturges returns to the Western genre with his take on the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, backed by a really good cast and some genuinely stunning cinematography. The film makes excellent use of the VistaVision format, giving everything a grand sense of scale that perfectly suits the mythic nature of the story.Narratively, there’s a lot of interesting material here, and for the most part the film does a solid job bringing it to life. That said, its slow-burn approach and lengthy runtime do work against it at times. Had it been a little tighter and trimmed down, I think it would have landed even better.One thing that absolutely still works, though, is that theme song—an absolute banger. It immediately sets the tone, capturing the heroic spirit of the Western genre with a melody that’s both catchy and larger than life.Performance-wise, everyone delivers. Burt Lancaster is excellent as Wyatt Earp, bringing a quiet solemnity to a figure who has grown almost mythical over the years. He doesn’t play him as some untouchable superhero, but rather as an everyday man guided by a strong moral compass and sense of justice.That works beautifully alongside Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday. Douglas leans into Holliday’s flaws and self-destructive tendencies while still injecting the character with a good amount of charm and charisma. The chemistry between Lancaster and Douglas is fantastic, and that’s crucial because both individually—and especially together—carry much of the emotional and dramatic weight of the film.All in all, this is another solid Western from Sturges and probably one of his stronger films based on real-life events and figures. Again, I do think a shorter runtime and a slightly faster pace would have made for a more consistently exciting experience. But even as it stands, there’s plenty here for Western fans to appreciate.FIGHT! - THE TWO STURGESTODAY SCHEDULEThe Beautiful Blonde from Bashful BendGunfight at the O.K. CorralThe Law and Jake Wade
theriverjordan3.0
“Gunfight at the OK Corral” boasts all the bluster of the old west and none of the tragedy. The approach is fine for your standard B-level entry in the genre - but with the likes of Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster involved, there should be at least a speck of melancholia amidst the dust kicked up by desert shootouts. There are no poor talents involved in director John Sturges’ interpretation of the most overblown of Western legends. Only poor casting. Opting for Douglas as the doomed Doc Holliday might be just about the most misguided choice in the canon of the genre. Victor Mature and Val Kilmer played the part of the dying dentist/gunfighter with all the poetic romanticism of Percy Shelly reading “Adonais” over the grave of Keats. Douglas — was not a romantic. He was an asshole. And a darn good one! Maybe just about the greatest in cinema history. But it does not fit the cinematically constructed archetype of Doc Holliday. Having Douglas strutting about the bars, chest out, calling the saloon girls sluts — takes away every iota of agony in the inevitability of the good doctor’s fate. On the reverse side, is Lancaster as Wyatt Earp. Far less offensive a choice than Douglas, Lancaster’s major crime is just being so utterly staid. There is a version of this “Corral” that works - and it involves a role swap between its two stars, with Douglas as the sheriff-of-fortune, and Lancaster as the tuberculosis-stricken poet. As it is, “Corral” is a blasé misfire in the course of three legendary careers. It has all the lasting emotional impact of the actual Tombstone, Arizona gunfight: 30 seconds. From West to East(wood): Westerns Ranked
comrade_yui5.0
last time i saw gunfight i made the major error of trying to compare it to john ford's my darling clementine, which isn't just a great western but one of the all-time greatest films, a hard pedigree to match especially for a film which doesn't try at all to do the same thing: this is a picture that veers away from sweeping fordian romance and embodies a more masculine acidic landscape of the west.john sturges' version of the wyatt earp mythos is interestingly low-key, building the suspense of the famous gunfight brick-by-brick with perfect blocking of its central performers -- everyone here is worried about breaking their code, whether it's doc holiday's gentlemanly honor or wyatt earp's lawbook, and the confrontation at the o.k. corral is less an impulsive gambit and more of an inevitable result of individual choices collapsing into a collateral battle -- the whole film is arranged like a chess board, each movement mandates a counter-movement by an opposing party, this dance of hold-ups between those who desire life and those who desire death, reputations preceding our heroes and making them self-conscious of every step -- the climax is a masterful piece of tough action filmmaking from a director who emphasizes tantalizing restraint over empty spectacle.
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Common questions
What is Gunfight at the O.K. Corral about?+
This western depicts the formation of a professional and personal alliance between lawman Wyatt Earp and gunslinger Doc Holliday in the Arizona territory.
Who directed Gunfight at the O.K. Corral?+
It was directed by John Sturges, a filmmaker recognized for his contributions to the western and action genres during the mid-20th century.
Is this film based on true events?+
While it draws from the historical gunfight in Tombstone, the screenplay takes significant dramatic liberties with the real lives of the figures involved.
