Hour of the Gun (1967)

Marshal Wyatt Earp kills a couple of men of the Clanton-gang in a fight. In revenge Clanton's thugs kill the marshal's brother. Thus, Wyatt Earp starts to chase the killers together with his friend Doc Holliday.

Director:

John Sturges

Writer:

Edward Anhalt

Stars:

James Garner, Jason Robards, Robert Ryan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Garner	...	Wyatt Earp
Jason Robards	...	Doc Holliday
Robert Ryan	...	Ike Clanton
Albert Salmi	...	Octavius Roy
Charles Aidman	...	Horace Sullivan
Steve Ihnat	...	Andy Warshaw
Michael Tolan	...	Pete Spence
William Windom	...	Texas Jack Vermillion
Lonny Chapman	...	Turkey Creek Johnson
Larry Gates	...	John P. Clum
William Schallert	...	Judge Herman Spicer
Bill Fletcher	...	County Sheriff Jimmy Bryan
Karl Swenson	...	Dr. Charles Goodfellow
Austin Willis	...	Anson Safford
Monte Markham	...	Tucson Sheriff Sherman McMasters

Storyline

Marshal Wyatt Earp kills a couple of men of the Clanton-gang in a fight. In revenge Clanton's thugs kill the marshal's brother. Thus, Wyatt Earp starts to chase the killers together with his friend Doc Holliday.

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Plot Keywords:

wyatt earp | revenge | doc holliday | bar shootout | cowboy boots | 

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Taglines:

He lived through the gunfight at the O.K. Corral ...that may have been a mistake!

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Genres:

Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1968 (Austria)

Also Known As:

The Law and Tombstone

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mirisch Corporation, The, Mirisch-Kappa Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Prior to production, United Artists had made it quite clear to director John Sturges that none of the primary roles were to be filled by the actors who played the same characters in Sturges' previous Wyatt Earp film, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Wanting to distinguish this film from the previous one, they demanded different actors be cast in the roles. However, Sturges believed that the roles of Virgil and Morgan Earp from the previous film were small enough that the same actors who played them could do it again without harming the film's uniqueness. The studio agreed and allowed Sturges to cast John Hudson (Virgil Earp) and DeForest Kelley (Morgan Earp). Unfortunately, Hudson had retired from acting in the early '60s and was unwilling to do the role. Kelley, on the other hand, was currently working on the TV series Star Trek and was unable to break away to play Morgan Earp. Thus, both Earp brothers were recast.

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Goofs

In the O.K. Corral duel time, the county sheriff was John Behan, not Jimmy Bryan according to the movie.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[The Earps and Doc Holliday approach the O.K. Corral]
Wyatt Earp (Tombstone city marshal: Ike Clanton, Andy Warshaw, Latigo, Curly Joe Brocious... Who's in the corral, Virg?
Marshal Virgil Earp: Billy Clanton and the McLowerys.

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Connections

Follows Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

User Reviews

Flawed Western, but worth a look.

"Hour of the Gun," director John Sturges' sequel to his 1957 "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral," is an austere study of the events following the famous gun battle, and a somewhat muddled psychological picture of what motivated Wyatt Earp. Was he, as the posters and ads for this picture asked, a 'hero with a badge or cold-blooded killer?' In the hands of a director like Sam Peckinpah this idea probably would have been more interestingly handled, but Sturges was a largely workman-like director, and so this film starts well but soon seems tiresome. Still there's much to admire here. James Garner is very good as Earp, and Jason Robards has fun as Doc Holliday, though he's hardly consumptive and too old for the part. The Panavision widescreen photography is beautiful to look at (making a letterboxed presentation of this film a video necessity), but this film's real saving grace is a magnificent, masterful score by Jerry Goldsmith. Fans of film music have remembered it better than the movie it so well supports.