Wichita (1955)

Ex-Buffalo Hunter and entrepreneur Wyatt Earp arrives in the lawless cattle town of Wichita Kansas. His skill as a gunfighter make him a perfect candidate for Marshal but he refuses the job... See full summary »

Director:

Jacques Tourneur

Writer:

Daniel B. Ullman (story)

Stars:

Joel McCrea, Vera Miles, Lloyd Bridges

Won 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview:
Joel McCrea	...	Michel (Wyatt) Earp
Vera Miles	...	Laurie McCoy
Lloyd Bridges	...	Gyp Clements
Wallace Ford	...	Arthur Whiteside
Edgar Buchanan	...	Doc Black
Peter Graves	...	Morgan
Keith Larsen	...	Bat Masterson
Carl Benton Reid	...	Mayor Andrew Hope
John Smith	...	Jim
Walter Coy	...	Sam McCoy
Robert J. Wilke	...	Ben Thompson (as Robert Wilke)
Jack Elam	...	Al
Mae Clarke	...	Mrs. Mary Elizabeth McCoy
Walter Sande	...	Clint Wallace

Storyline

Ex-Buffalo Hunter and entrepreneur Wyatt Earp arrives in the lawless cattle town of Wichita Kansas. His skill as a gunfighter make him a perfect candidate for Marshal but he refuses the job until he feels morally obligated to bring law and order to this wild town.

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Plot Keywords:

town | kansas | cattle | wyatt earp | newspaper | 

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Taglines:

THE TRUE SAVAGE STORY OF WYATT EARP! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Romance | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 July 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Ronda da Morte

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Allied Artists Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sam Peckinpah, plays a bit part as a bank teller in this picture

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Soundtracks

"Wichita"
Music by Hans J. Salter (as Hans Salter)
Lyrics by Ned Washington
Sung by Tex Ritter

User Reviews

Wyatt Earp cleans up wichita, kansas with young Bat Masteron's help

jacques tourneur, of Cat People fame, might seem an unlikely candidate to helm an above average B+ western. But that was the case in 1955 with Wichita, about the early days of Wyatt Earp. Some liberties with the facts are taken, including the notion that Earp had never worn a badge before he arrived in the Texas cowtown. In fact, Earp was the marshal of Ellsworth, Kansas in 1875 and was wooed away by the larger Wichita - even as Dodge City would then talk him into moving there. Many incidents in this film actually took place in Ellsworth, as the two towns are 'collapsed' into one another. That aside, the film is fine - whether individual things we see happened in one town or the other, the point is that the savvy screenplay conveys a strong understanding of the politics in such a city, and with no simple good guys in white hats or badguys in black ones, we realize that Earp had more problem with greedy townspeople than with outlaws. Bat Masterson (whom he actually knew from buffalo hunting days) becomes a deputy though he really wants to be a newspaperman, and while that had not yet occurred to him, Bat would, after leaving the rest, become a famous sportwriter in New York. One terrific sequence involves the attempt of a corrupt businessman to hire a pair of gunmen to kill Wyatt, though they turn out to be two of his brothers, and this incident really did take place. Joel McCrea makes a sturdy Earp (he later played Bat in gunfight at dodge city), and Keith Larson is fine as the young Bat. Great title song, by the way, by Tex Ritter. As to the upper level of B westerns in the fifties, they really don't get much better than this.