Hour of the Gun (1967)

Director:

John Sturges

Writer:

Edward Anhalt (written by)

Release Date:

1968 (Austria)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

Wyatt Earp - hero with a badge or cold-blooded killer?

Plot:

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. |

Plot Keywords:

Wyatt Earp | Revenge | Doc Holliday | Posse | Gambling

Cast

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

Also Known As:

The Law and Tombstone (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Norway:16 | Netherlands:AL (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Company:

Mirisch Corporation, The

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 (1957). 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" (1966) and was unable to break away to play Morgan Earp. Thus, both Earp brothers were recast.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Curly Bill Brocius is shot by Wyatt Earp, only a tiny entrance wound is shown in his forehead as he falls over, even though Earp fired a shotgun. A shotgun blast would have blown Brocius's head apart.

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Star Trek: Spectre of the Gun (#3.6)" (1968)

A Lesser-Known 'Earp' Movie

Here is yet another Wyatt Earp story. I wasn't aware of this version until early in the summer of 2005. I thought I had seen them all. Judging by the amount of reviews in here, I wasn't alone in not knowing about this film. I am glad I got it, but It was just okay; nothing special.

None of the three top characters: James Garner as Earp, Jason Robards as "Doc Holliday" or Robert Ryan as "Ike Clanton" can match up to their best of their counterparts in other Earp films.....but they were still pretty good and certainly three famous actors. The only one who might have been a little out of place was Robards, who played a little too subdued "Doc."

Still, the similarities are there in all the Earp movie versions including this one: the gunfight at the OK Corral, the courtroom trials, the train scene near the end, Holliday's illness, etc. One thing missing from this is any love interest, which actually was nice to have left out for once.