This is another Hollywood version of a western legend. It has Burt Lancaster playing straight as an arrow marshal, Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas playing playing hard drinking, tuberculosis stricken, Doc Holiday. It’s a normal casting decision with two of Tinseltown’s biggest stars at that time.
The film is a good western, with the good and bad. The Earp’s and Doc Holiday on the side of good, and the Clantons representing the evil side. There is bad blood between the two sides. It is brought to a head, when James Earp is shot down in the street, by the Clantons. There is powerful acting by Kirk Douglas in this film. He shows this, when he finds out, that his lover, Kate Fisher, (Jo Van Fleet), knew about the Clanton’s plan to murder the Earp’s. He confronts her without saying a word. She begs him not to kill her. He moves toward her, and collapses in a coughing fit. After this, Holiday is convinced, that he must join the Earp’s in their fight.
There is a point right before the climactic gun battle, when Wyatt Earp, confronts Billy Clanton, ( a very young Dennis Hopper, letting him know, he doesn’t have to side with his family. Clanton tells Earp, that he has no choice.
The confrontation comes and the gunfight happens, with the Clanton’s dispatched to their final reward, in the gunfight that lasts several minutes. The real one lasted less than a minute. Billy Clanton, being young and foolish, doesn’t heed Wyatt’s advice, and gets shot up. He staggers into a store, where Wyatt follows him. Before he can pull the trigger, Doc Holiday shoots and kills him. Dennis Hopper, before his character is shot, gives a performance in the best western tradition, of a dying bad guy. He staggers around, and knocks things over, before being put out of his misery. Hopper made his way through films for years, until finally getting meaty parts, mostly as bad guys.
John Sturges has succeeded in making the second filmed version, of that legendary confrontation. He’s gotten a fine performance out of Douglas, who doesn’t overact, or give too much raw emotion to Doc Holiday. He also has the added benefit of making the film in color. This adds to it holding up against its predecessor, My Darling Clementine. This western isn’t as good as another Sturges effort, The Magnificent Seven, but it is a very watchable film.
It is impossible to judge a western that is based on real events and people. That’s because Hollywood when making most westerns, has a line drawn between good and evil. The record shows that the Earp’s weren’t saints and that the Clanton’s and McLowery’s were not as bad as they are portrayed. The facts being what they are, and Hollywood being the dream factory, the movie should be enjoyed, for what it is. Gunfight at the OK Corral, is a semi factual film, with some fine acting, and a good title song. It’s a catchy tune that will stay in your head for a while.