User Reviews

This exemplary entry in the Wyatt Earp TV series offers a vivid recreation of the famous gunfight which took place at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona on October 26, 1881, between Wyatt Earp and his brothers and Doc Holliday on one side and the Clanton and McLaury brothers and one confederate on the other. It is told as a flashback as Wyatt Earp (Hugh O'Brian) is being questioned at an inquest by Judge Spicer (James Seay). We see some of the buildup to the gunfight in the provocative behavior by Ike Clanton (Rayford Barnes) and Tom McLaury (Gregg Palmer), in which Ike keeps muttering threats at the Earps and Tom bumps into Wyatt and challenges him, prompting Wyatt to dare him to draw. When Tom does so, Wyatt pulls out his pistol with its long barrel and clouts Tom on the head, putting him out of action, if only temporarily. There was a lot more buildup than that in real life, but a full accounting would take much longer than a half-hour TV episode.

Before too long, the cowboys (Ike Clanton and company) converge on the O.K. Corral and issue further challenges to the Earps, who respond in force and are joined by Doc Holliday (Douglas Fowley) who memorably asserts, "I'm steadier than any of you. I had whiskey for breakfast." County Sheriff Johnny Behan (Steve Brodie), who's in league with the cowboys, tries to dissuade Earp and his men from going to the corral, insisting that he's disarmed the cowboys. Earp & co. proceed with determination. The gunfight commences when Billy Clanton (Ralph Reed) draws and fires first, prompting the Earps and Doc to begin firing back and the McLaurys to begin shooting as well. The fight is filmed with a succession of medium close shots devoted to each of the main participants, with the firing of guns and the falling of mortally wounded combatants captured in slow motion (eight years before Sam Peckinpah popularized the technique in THE WILD BUNCH). This isn't done to create excitement but to give us a sense of how shooting and killing have consequences. Three men die rather senselessly, and the viewer feels for them, even though they seem to have provoked it and one can't quite blame Earp & co. for their actions. It's not a pleasant sight nor is it a source of exhilaration. Earp himself expresses regrets at the inquest.

There were numerous, conflicting eyewitness accounts of the gun battle and some historians side with one version of events over others. This version begins a little differently from how I've assumed it happened, based on my reading of different books about it, but it conforms to others' readings. Either way, it's about as accurate a rendition as we're likely to get. Taking place in a matter of seconds, it's also a far cry from the lengthy, choreographed gun battles made up out of whole cloth for the celebrated film versions of this encounter found in John Ford's MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946) and John Sturges' GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL (1957) and its unofficial sequel, HOUR OF THE GUN (1967). The movie versions of the gunfight that compare most favorably, from an accuracy standpoint, with this TV version are found in George Pan Cosmatos' TOMBSTONE (1993) and Lawrence Kasdan's Wyatt Earp (1994).

The supporting cast is filled with quite an array of dependable character actors, including Rayford Barnes (so memorable as Buck, an ill-fated member of THE WILD BUNCH) as Ike Clanton; James Seay (VERA CRUZ) as the judge in the case; Stacy Harris ("Dragnet") as Mayor John Clum, a celebrated figure in his own right; Steve Brodie (OUT OF THE PAST, THE STEEL HELMET) as the duplicitous Sheriff Behan; Gregg Palmer (TO HELL AND BACK) as Tom McLowery (as it's spelled in the credits); George Wallace ("Commando Cody") as Frank McLowery; John Anderson (COTTON COMES TO HARLEM, SOLDIER BLUE) as Virgil Earp; and veteran character actor Douglas Fowley (SCARED TO DEATH) in his recurring role as Doc Holliday.