Wikipedia says:
“The film was a big hit and earned $4.7 million on its first run
and $6 million on re-release.”
Budget was $2 million.
And all that wouldn’t even buy you a plot on Boot Hill these days.
Meanwhile I had other concerns …
In 1957 I was an 8-year-old kid living in Guildford, Surrey, England.
Mum was visiting her folks.
My only concern at that time was whether
tuppenny-ha’penny
| would buy some Sherbet from the local Sweet Shop.
Well … I couldn’t just gallop past the Gunfight at the OK Corral
without a few parting shots – so to speak.
Deal me in …
I figure that the ‘Definitive Film’ on this most famous gunfight
in the Old West will never be made.
Why? Because even though some folks think they’ve got it all figured out
there’s just too much conflicting testimony –
even among professed eyewitnesses.
Some don’t even agree on just which ones wuz the Badguys?
– the Earps or Clantons?
Amongst all known or unknown facts however, only one thing IS clear:
Them Earps had had enuf of them Clantons.
Stirring the pot:
One thing does make me wonder?:
I’ve seen it said that Ike Clanton didn’t have a gun.
That the Earps had disarmed him earlier in the day?
So … if you were going a gunfight …
wouldn’t you bring a gun?
” …Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton’s six-shooters were in plain sight. Virgil (Earp) said, “Throw up your hands; I have come to disarm you!” Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury laid their hands on their six-shooters. Virgil said, “Hold, I don’t mean that!” I have come to disarm you!” Then Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury commenced to draw their pistols. At the same time, Tom McLaury throwed his hand to his right hip …”
Compared to film/movies, live re-enactment of anything – especially outdoors – have several disadvantages. In the particular case of the OK Corral gunfight the actual setting cannot be accurately reproduced. That’s the first thing. Next you can’t re-shoot anything, theatrically speaking. There’s also no close ups, no fancy camera angles, no overhead shots, no lighting, no sound projection, no special effects, no editing … etc. etc… You’ve got a script – you rehearse – and you go – whatever happens happens.
Then there’s weather – which can be something else – blazing hot, windy, rain … ?? But you advertised and sold the tickets and ‘the show must go on’ as they say.
Then there’s the manpower: It takes 3 Earps, 1 Holliday, 2 Clantons, a Claiborne, 2 McLaurys, and Sheriff Behan at a minimum: 10 Players. And for the most part these are not professional actors making lots of money. They make something? (I guess) and do a pretty good job, but I doubt that it’s lucrative. Mainly they just love to do this thing – the Old West and it’s Lore – they enjoy what they do in their fraternity of Western Players.
Nor would I say it’s that easy to find people for this. The requirements are pretty unique. Firstly, you gotta have the guns and know how to handle them – no phonys allowed. Those guns aren’t toys and can be dangerous. Nor are they cheap. Then there’s the costumes/outfits. A knowledge and respect for all things Western – especially a knowledge of the OK Corral event, would also be a necessity … most of these guys ARE experts on the whole History, People and Events that surrounded this incident … and so on …
So … how to portray that on an open stage? Combining factual history with a flare of entertainment? Not that easy a task.
Anyhow … let’s go …
Most folks know the basic storyline: there’s been ‘bad blood’ between the Earps and the Cowboys (Clantons, McLaurys et al) for quite a while and lately the Cowboys have been stirring things up around Tombstone – uttering threats and challenging the Earps … a confrontation seems inevitable.
The Set
L to R: OK Corral, CS Fly Studio, Oriental Saloon, City Jail, and Tombstone Epitaph Newspaper
Introduction of the Players
Wyatt Earp and Morgan Earp tending to affairs at their Oriental Saloon. Sheriff Behan sets out on his roundsDoc Holliday arrives from Tucson – Gets a polite warning to behave from Virgil EarpWyatt comes out Wyatt fills Doc in on the situation …Meanwhile, drunks Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury and staggering around town uttering threats toward the Earps
Things are coming to a head …
Wyatt sends a message Tom McLaury gets ‘buffaloed’ (pistol whipped)Ike didn’t get the memo – shows up at Earp’s bar threatening them againOld enemies Ike Clanton and Doc Holliday get re-acquaintedNo more warnings …
An inevitable conclusion
Morgan, Virgil and WyattDoc shows … we gotta put a stop to this … “I just heard the ‘Cowboys’ are down at the OK Corral” Doc gets a badge … and a shotgun.
The Gunfight
The Earps and Holliday start to ‘pull’ …… the shooting begins … *Blam Blam !! Pow Pow !!*… Morgan and Virgil are wounded … … shooting continues … *Bang Bang !! … Pow Pow !!* … Frank McLaury falls … Tom McLaury and Billy Clanton lie dead … Ike Clanton and Bill Claiborne ran off.
Aftermath …
Earps 3 … Cowboys 0… the rest is silence …
… “Damn” …
Of interest: the 2 principle players in this event emerged unscathed: Wyatt Earp and Ike Clanton.
Also interesting: Clanton and Billy Claiborne were both unarmed and ran. If you were planning on a gunfight, wouldn’t you bring a gun?
(Q) Up to that time, did you see any weapon of any kind drawn by or in the hands of either of the Clantons or McLaurys? (A) No sir. They all had their hands up, up to that time. Tom McLaury had his hands up, holding his coat open.
– Testimony of Ike Clanton
OK Corral Exhibit / Shop
Out front …
Inside …
Insert wallet here
Boot Hill please …
Insert body here …
Out back …
Surrey With The Fringe On Top – Unknown riderSluice
Gunfight Mockup
A not too impressive mockup of the Gunfight – though it does include a decent audio component.
“Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything.” – Wyatt Earp
The Gunfight at the OK Corral
Map of downtown Tombstone showing location of OK Corral\“Gunfights Daily” ! Probably could have published this in 1881 and the gunfights would have been Free !
Yeah Yeah .. I know you were wondering when I was going to get over to the the OK Corral. I’ve been kinda dragging my boot heels cuz the Earpsand the Gunfight at OK Corralis about the biggest event in American Western History. Name a bigger one. Maybe the Alamoor Little Big Horn have equal stature?
Any way you look at it The Gunfight at the OK Corralis Genuine, authentic, unique American History. Americana.
Depictions in Film
The Real Players
And I can’t of any other Western Event that’sdepicted as an essential climatic element – in 5 different separate movies ? – and mostly of them regarded as Western Classics.
All the more interesting since we know pretty well what the heck is going to happen – and who wins!
Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp, Virgil Earp, Doc HollidayIke Clanton, Billy Clanton, Billy Claiborne, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury
Billy Clanton and both McLaury brothers were killed. Ikeand Billy Claiborneran.
Controversial: The Earpmovies seem to portray the Earps as protagonists – albeit somewhat ruthless: But were the Earps right in what they did? or were they just a bunch of thugs wearing badges and legally carrying guns? Did the Clantonset all deserve to be shot down like dogs by professional gunmen? There are still folks around that think this shootout was outright murder. Not that the Clantons were a bunch of nice folks or anything – as they were rustlers, murderers and robbers to be sure … but …
Well I’m sure they deserved a spanking … and were asking for it.
Epic! The famous ‘Walk’ to the climactic gunfight at OK Corral
Gunfight at the OK Corral– Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, John Hudson, DeForest KelleyHour of the Gun Frank Converse, Sam Melville, Jason Robards, James Garner
Tombstone Val Kilmer, Sam Shapard, Kirk Russel, Bill PaxtonWyatt Earp Dennis Quaid, Michael Madsen, Kevin Costner, Linden Ashby
‘The Wild Bunch’ … doing ‘the Walk’? You betcha!
The Wild Bunch Edmond O’Brien, Warren Oates, William Holden, Ernest Borgnine
Intentional – or not (and I surely believe it was)
Pekinpah’s Wild Bunch do ‘The Walk’
Sometimes the answers to seemingly complex social problems are hidden in plain sight. Social engineers, lawmakers and “experts” from all around spout off an endless stream of statistics to support or rationalize their position one side or the other of the “gun control” issue. Now I don’t like the term “gun control” for it is ambiguous and usually used to mask the real intent of those advocating it so for the purpose of this discussion let us just say “more restrictive guns laws”. One might think that this is a relatively new idea, it is not! You can go back to the Roman Empire and find the existence of cross bow control, you can look to England and find attempts to disarm the various colonists under their imperial thumb – the American colonists come to mind as an unsuccessful attempt to debar the use of arms to an indigent population. There are many examples of the failure of laws which attempt to disarm the violent in our society but none are more graphic as examples or easier to measure in effect than those in the “wild west” of America circa 1870-1900.
Reporting from Tombstone, Ariz. — A billboard just outside this Old West town promises “Gunfights Daily!” and tourists line up each afternoon to watch costumed cowboys and lawmen reenact the bloody gunfight at the OK Corral with blazing six-shooters.
But as with much of the Wild West, myth has replaced history. The 1881 shootout took place in a narrow alley, not at the corral. Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday weren’t seen as heroic until later; they were initially charged with murder.
And one fact is usually ignored: Back then, Tombstone had far stricter gun control than it does today. In fact, the American West’s most infamous gun battle erupted when the marshal tried to enforce a local ordinance that barred carrying firearms in public. A judge had fined one of the victims $25 earlier that day for packing a pistol.
LANCASTER in ‘VERA CRUZ’ and “GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL’
In rebuilding my ‘Gunfight at the OK Corral‘ page I got to thinking about Lancaster’s portrayal of Wyatt Earp. In earlier films Lancaster had become famous for his trademark smile – which he is said to have referred to as “the grin” – most obvious in ‘Vera Cruz’ (one of My Favorite Westerns). Therefore his stoic and stern portrayal of Wyatt Earp in ‘Gunfight at the OK Corral’ is a stark and deliberate contrast. Was Earp really like this? Because this same humorless image of Earp is carried on through most of the other popular Earp Films: ‘Hour of the Gun‘; ‘Tomestone’ and ‘Wyatt Earp’. Only Henry Fonda‘s portrait of Earp in ‘My Darling Clementine‘ (1946) seems to put a more human face on Earp. Director John Sturges (‘Gunfight at the OK Corral’) continued with this strict image of Earp in ‘Hour of the Gun’ (1968) which starred James Garner as Earp. Garner’s ruthless portrayal of Earp is even more striking because of Garner’s usual soft and often comedic persona from the ‘Maverick’ TV series. It is safe to say however, that Sturges wasn’t very concerned with a historical portrayal of Earp (Lancaster doesn’t even sport a mustache) or the gunfight at the OK Corral. But it seems ironic that the film that makes the greatest effort to paint a historical document of Earp (Lawrence Kasdan‘s ‘Wyatt Earp’ starring Kevin Costner as Earp) is probably the least popular of five films.
I wuz just trying to figure out how to adjust the line spacing on the page … when suddenly … something went terribly wrong … the whole page disappeared … into cyberset. (Cyberset is the Western equivalent of ‘riding off into the sunset’ … ‘cept you don’t ‘ride off’ …. you just vanish … No glory … No completion … No sunset … No kiss. It just takes one slip of your trigger finger …. and before yu can holler “Look out Billy!” the whole damn page disappears. Oft times never to be retrieved …. or even tracked … particularly by a tenderfoot blogger like myself.
And I never learned or noticed – that there was an emergency page retrieval button at the bottom … until I rode back later. Alas … too late.
Worse yet I never figured out how to do that damn line spacing thing until later.
Sooo … I’m having to rebuild the whole page – or at least what I had done so far – which was quite a bit. I will be able to do get it almost identical though, but that will take a while …
Gunfight at OK Corral
In 1957 I was an 8-year-old kid living in Guildford, Surrey, England.
would buy some Sherbet from the local Sweet Shop.
I think it would?
