Wyatt Earp and his brothers Morgan and Virgil ride into Tombstone and leave brother James in charge of their cattle herd. On their return they find their cattle stolen and James dead. Wyatt takes on the job of town marshal, making his brothers deputies, and vows to stay in Tombstone until James' killers are found. He soon runs into the brooding, coughing, hard-drinking Doc Holliday as well as the sullen and vicious Clanton clan. Wyatt discovers the owner of a trinket stolen from James' dead body and the stage is set for the Earps' long-awaited revenge.Written by
Doug Sederberg <vornoff@sonic.net>
The only reported instance of John Ford's famous temper flaring up during the writing phase involved the scene where Wyatt rides out after Doc to accuse him of killing his brother. Fox studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck suggested Ford have Doc on his horse rather than riding shotgun on a stagecoach (as scripted and eventually filmed). Zanuck thought it would be better just to have the two men confront each other and made the mistake of noting that, with the stage driver present, the scene might feel too "cluttered." The remark launched Ford into a ten-minute tirade about his ability to direct scenes with any number of people in them that never felt cluttered. "He was volatile," Zanuck recalled. "He could be the nicest guy in the world and he could be the meanest. You never knew which was going to happen." See more »
Goofs
There was not a Clanton brother named Sam. See more »
Quotes
Wyatt Earp:
I've heard a lot about you, too, Doc. You left your mark around in Deadwood, Denver and places. In fact, a man could almost follow your trail goin' from graveyard to graveyard.
Doc Holliday:
There's one here, too... the biggest graveyard west of the Rockies. Marshals and I usually get along much better when we understand that right away.
See more »
Alternate Versions
In 1994, an alternate "preview" version of the film was found that runs 103 or 104 minutes, according to different sources. In June 1946, director John Ford showed producer Darryl F. Zanuck his cut of the film. Zanuck's opinion was that the film had some problems, so Zanuck reshot certain scenes with Director Lloyd Bacon. Zanuck also recut other scenes, changed the music at certain points, and slightly altered the finale. In all, 35 minutes of footage was shot or recut, and the film was released at 97 minutes. Both the 103-104 min. archival preview print and the 97 min. release print are on the Fox DVD released January 6, 2004. See more »
Great western. Dark and moody with a wonderful feel to it. You almost feel you are there watching history unfold in a story based on an actual historical event. The story mostly fabricates what actually took place in Tombstone with many things completely false. Brother James dies at the hands of the Clantons but he was not actually there. Virgil gets gunned down before the famous ok corral fight he took part in and didn't die until his later years. And of course the fight didn't actually take place in the OK Corral. But one of the most annoying inaccuracies is having Doc die during the fight. Many other things in the movie were wrong like Billy Clanton dieing before the OK Corral fight, having a fictitious Clanton patriarch in the fight, Ike Clanton dieing in the Corral shootout, Wyatt taking the lead marshal job when actually it was Virgil who did, ect ect. But that doesn't change the fact that it's a great movie and anyone that loves westerns will enjoy it immensely.
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Great western. Dark and moody with a wonderful feel to it. You almost feel you are there watching history unfold in a story based on an actual historical event. The story mostly fabricates what actually took place in Tombstone with many things completely false. Brother James dies at the hands of the Clantons but he was not actually there. Virgil gets gunned down before the famous ok corral fight he took part in and didn't die until his later years. And of course the fight didn't actually take place in the OK Corral. But one of the most annoying inaccuracies is having Doc die during the fight. Many other things in the movie were wrong like Billy Clanton dieing before the OK Corral fight, having a fictitious Clanton patriarch in the fight, Ike Clanton dieing in the Corral shootout, Wyatt taking the lead marshal job when actually it was Virgil who did, ect ect. But that doesn't change the fact that it's a great movie and anyone that loves westerns will enjoy it immensely.