Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

A (fairly loose with historical accuracy) retelling of the famous gunfight of the title. In some ways this is seen as the "classic" version of the story, but it's flaws are also fairly widely acknowledged. Personally, I prefer My Darling Clementine, although that's even looser with historical accuracy.

The primary problem I think, is that it's a bit long. The opening 30 minutes—setting up the characters of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday away from the main storyline—are excellent, as is the ending in Tombstone where it builds towards the gunfight of the title. However, there's a good chunk in the middle set in Dodge City which seems only marginally related to the main plot. It's primarily an excuse for Earp and Holliday to get to know each other a bit better, to introduce Johnny Ringo (Holliday's adversary), and for Earp to have a bit of romance. However, it seems only loosely tied to the main plot, since Earp's girlfriend/fiancée does not appear afterwards, and it largely focuses on a showdown with a cattleman called Shanghai Pierce who does not appear again either. I can see why this is there, since it does set up the characters more, but it means the middle third of the film is detached from the ending third, and that key characters such as the other Earp brothers don't appear until quite late.

With respect to the acting, Kirk Douglas is excellent as Doc Holliday. This seems to be a role that a lot of actors have fun with (probably because it requires overacting) and Douglas is no exception. His version of Doc Holliday is probably my favourite version of the role. I'm less convinced by Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp, although I can't quite put my finger on what he does wrong – I think it may just be that he doesn't quite look right (no moustache?). The rest of the cast is good, although not especially notable.

The title song, by Frankie Laine, is probably the definitive Western title song, and the music throughout the film is excellent, using extra verses of the song at key moments, reusing the orchestral backing, and having Doc Holliday whistling the whistled piece of the theme. Possibly the whistling in theme might have been an inspiration for Morricone and his spaghetti western themes?

The film itself if beautifully photographed, with the slightly faded pastel colours that also seem to characterise Warlock, The Law and Jake Wade, Man Without A Start and a few other 50s films from a similar era. The TV version I saw looked good, and I imagine the DVD is the same.