Specter of the Spectre of the Gun

The other day we moseyed on down to the Glenntopian Nickelodeon to take in a western movie show. We saw Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, a mighty fine movie from 1957. Burt Lancaster played Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas (yeah, this is my third straight review of a Kirk Douglas movie -- you wanna make something of it?) was Doc Holliday in this treatment of their famous friendship and the legendary shoot-out. Hollywood, as usual, took a lot of liberties with history, but who cares? We really just want to see a good story, interesting characters, and a nice bit of action -- and that's what we get. Lancaster's Wyatt Earp is a bit stiff, but he had a tough row to hoe. The script (and, I think, the public at the time) wanted a lawman who was strong and virtuous; a symbol of order and decency. He also had to play against his pal Kirk Douglas, who got the better part. Doc Holliday is an enigmatic figure, hero and criminal, dying and dangerous, a brilliant rogue with a sense of honor. Kirk practically steals the movie.

There were a couple of things I wasn't crazy about. The Rhonda Fleming character was inserted into the story to create an unnecessary romantic subplot for Lancaster. I'll forgive it because Fleming was so good in the part.

And then there's Frankie Laine. Don't get me wrong, Laine is a great singer and by all accounts a heck of a guy. But every time someone rides a horse you also get Frankie singing about Boot Hill. I guess the idea is to give the movie something of a mythic feel -- a story that will continue to be retold and sung about for years. Still, after a while it began to get funny.

One thing I enjoyed was seeing a terrific supporting cast, including a lot of people that would make their names in later flicks. Look for small parts filled by the likes of Jack Elam, Earl Holliman, Dennis Hopper, Martin Milner as Jimmy Earp, and DeForest Kelley as Morgan Earp, making his first trip to the O.K. Corral. Kelley gets to try again, this time on the Clanton side, in an episode of Star Trek.

What makes the movie (aside from it looking good and all the rip-snortin' action) is the characters and some of their complicated relationships. Doc and Wyatt are an interesting set of friends. Doc and his woman Kate have something of a complicated relationship. In fact, Doc and anybody make an interesting combination. I told you Douglas just about steals the movie.

Pointless Star Trek connections:
*The DeForest Kelley thing, previously cited.
*Whit Bissell plays the head of the Citizens Council. He would later play the head of a space station in "The Trouble With Tribbles."
*Both shows feature cool guys named Kirk.
*Jack Elam performs a mind-meld on Dennis Hopper (okay, I made that one up).