A legendary shoot-out at the OK Corral is brought to life in one of the great western films with 2 legendary stars. The beginning with the title song by Frankie Lane sets the tone for the story of a classic struggle of unmitigated evil against the not-so-clean good.
November 11, 2008 |  | Get the Heck Outta Dodge--OK by ME |  |
I was fortunate to see this movie the year it was released. I was a kid on a vacation with my family to the Rocky Mountains and we saw it in Dodge City, Kansas, of all places. Quite a big deal, locally. Although it was "glammed up" in costuming, sets, and charisma of the of the personalities (Burt as Wyatt and Kirk as Doc) for Fifties audiences, it was the epitome of Westerns for the time. It was an experience I will never forget--family together, great action on the screen and 'here we are in Dodge City.' Not very realistic, perhaps, but great entertainment.
September 17, 2008This movie hit the theaters on May 30 1957 starring Burt Lancaster as Marshal Wyatt Earp, Kirk Douglas as Doctor John Holliday and Rhonda Fleming as Laura Denbow. This movie was bad because it was a remake of My Darling Clementine and wasn't you seeing the plot the first time you don't want to see it again. Sure, this movie was the at the famous "Old Tucson" facility, not far from the real Tombstone. However, its "town street" set was used surprisingly as Fort Griffin, Texas, in the opening reels, while later Tombstone street scenes were shot in southern California, on the same Paramount Ranch set that was later used as Virginia City, Nevada, on TV's "Bonanza" (1959). The actual gunfight took place on 26 October 1881 and lasted a mere 30 seconds, resulting in three dead men after an exchange of 34 bullets. Compared to this adaptation, the movie gunfight took 4 days to film and produced an on-screen bloodbath that lasted 5 minutes. I give this movie 1 weasel star because it was a remake and no one likes remakes.
July 4, 2008Gunfight at the OK Corral is not only a silly retelling of the Earp legend, it is a yawner. It barely makes it as a "good western." Burt Lancaster is horribly cast as Wyatt Earp. We must remember that while Burt is good when type cast as the super cool good guy, he is horribly miscast as Wyatt Earp, he would have been better to have played a bartender in this film. Kirk Douglas is no better as Doc Holliday. This film may have been considered good during the McCarthy years in Hollywood, but since the early 90's we have seen what can be presented as a western, and OK Corral is no Tombstone.
This story travels far from the truth, only mixing some of the original stories to come up with a lame plot. No mention of Bat Masterson, no mention of Big Nosed Kate, no mention of Sheriff John Benham. In fact, this film would have us believe that Earp is hunting for Ike Clanton in Texas. Then we are blessed with the same set as used in Rio Bravo. It's just lame. Don't bother buying this film, and I only recommend watching it if you are bored stiff, and you want to see how horribly Hollywood can butcher a great story.
June 24, 2008I saw this film when I was a teenager and liked it a lot; however, after having grown up and seen Wyatt Earp and Tombstone, Gunfight at OK Corral is definitely outdated. The production design, customs, etc., belong to the 1950s Hollywood. Burt Lancaster has a modern haircut and no mustache, and the rest of the characters are somewhat robotic with clean clothes most of the time. The best thing about this film is Dimitri Tiomkin's score, who gets most of my three stars.
June 12, 2008More reviews at Amazon.com ...
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