Review of Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) by Jason P — 22 Feb 2010
Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas make an okay movie great. Burt Lancaster is the agressively moral lawman, Wyatt Earp. Kirk Douglas is Doc Holliday, a man whom trouble "just seems to follow" as he goes about from town to town and saloon to saloon, gambling and drinking himself to an early grave (he was in fact dying of Tuberculosis).
His woman Kate (Jo Van Fleet) has a vicious love/hate affair with him (she loves him, he hates her), that will eventually lead him to the famous gun battle at the O.K. Corral. Historically accurate or not, the film packs quite an entertaining wallup, with even the ensemble cast (a young Dennis Hopper and a young DeForest "Dr.
Bones McCoy" Kelley) giving excellent performances. There's the grandeur of an epic here, even if the film itself doesn't live up to it. And as the famous gun battle draws closer, the film stumbles over itself trying to justify the battle taking place at all, falling down to a basic revenge scenario.
It's a great battle none-the-less. The most odd thing about the film is the Frankie Laine title ballad, which is so incongruous to the atmosphere of the film it's almost laughable. And yet, I can't get the damn song out of my head.
"Ok... Corral...".
This review of Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) was written by Jason P on 22 Feb 2010.
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral has generally received positive reviews.
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