Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957)

Burt Lancaster is Wyatt Earp, Kirk Douglas is Doc Holliday in this story of how the two men became friends and wound up standing side by side in the gunfight at the OK Corral.

The story starts in Fort Griffin, Texas, where Ed Bailey shows up looking to avenge his brother’s death. Doc kills the man, but that’s the last straw for the law-abiding folks who decide the best way to cure his gun lust might be a lynching. Just in the nick of time, girlfriend Kate Fisher (Jo Van Fleet) and Wyatt come to the rescue.

Doc repays the favor in Dodge City. When all of Wyatt’s deputies are away, Doc joins him in tracking down a gang of bank robbers. And when Shanghai Pierce and his cowboys balk at Wyatt’s no-guns-in-town rule, Doc’s there to stand by his side.

It’s also in Dodge that Wyatt meets lady gambler Laura Denbow (Rhonda Fleming). She winds up being the one woman who just might convince him to take off his badge and settle down.

Then comes a plea for help from his brother Virgil in Tombstone. Seems Ike Clanton (Lyle Bettger) has a herd of stolen beef he wants to ship out of the town. And that puts him at odds with the Earp brothers. Virgil wants Wyatt’s gun on his side.

Forced to choose between family loyalty and love, Wyatt opts for the former and heads to Tombstone. Doc shows up there too.

Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp, making it clear he has no intention of negotiating with the Clantons in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday, trying to locate a wayward lady love in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Review:

One of the genre’s best. So good you don’t mind that the climatic gunfight is one of the most oft-told tales of the West.

Lancaster turns in one of his best performances in a Western as the stalwart defender of justice, but a man who will sometimes bend the rules for a friend. Douglas nearly steals the show as the ailing Doc Holliday.

But it’s also a deep cast and the subplots that make the film so successful. In addition to Wyatt’s romance with Laura, we have Doc’s on-again, off-again abusive relationship with Kate and Wyatt’s efforts to turn young Billy Clanton away from a lawless life.

As for that supporting cast, it includes Earl Holliman as one of Wyatt’s deputies, DeForest Kelley as one of the Earp brothers, John Ireland as Doc’s nemesis Johny Ringo and, in an early performance, Dennis Hopper as Billy Clanton.

A decade later, director Sturges would tackle the aftermath of the Gunfight at the OK Corral in “Hour of the Gun,” starring James Garner and Jason Robards.

Rhonda Fleming as Laura Benbow, meeting Wyatt Earp for a the first time in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Jo Van Fleet as Kate Fisher, begging Doc Holliday to take her back in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Directed by:
John Sturges

Cast:
Burt Lancaster … Wyatt Earp
Kirk Douglas … Doc Holliday
Rhonda Fleming … Laura Denbow
Jo Van Fleet … Kate Fisher
John Ireland … Johnny Ringo
Lyle Bettger … Ike Clanton
Frank Faylen … Cotton Wilson
Earl Holliman … Charles Bassett
Ted de Coria … Shanghai Pierce
Dennis Hopper … Billy Clanton
Whit Bissell … John P. Clum
George Matthews … John Shanssey
John Hudson … Virgil Earp
DeForest Kelley … Morgan Earp
Martin Milner … James Earp
Kenneth Tobey … Bat Masterson
Lee Van Cleef … Ed Bailey
Joan Camden … Betty Earp
Olive Carey … Mrs. Clanton
Brian G. Hutton … Rick
Nelson Leigh … Mayor Kelly
Jack Elam … Tom McLowery

Runtime: 122 min.

Title tune: “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral”
by Frankie Laine

Lyle Bettger as Ike Clanton, laying out a plan for getting even with the Earps in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

John Ireland as Johnny Ringo, the man who steals away Doc’s girl in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Memorable lines:

Bartender: “You act as though you want to get killed.”
Doc Holliday: “Maybe I do.”

Wyatt Earp, after Laura Denbow arrives in Dodge: “What’s she doing here?”
Charles Bassett: “Gambler.”
Wyatt: “Very funny.”
Charles: “If you think that’s funny, why don’t you take a little walk over to the Long Branch Saloon? You’ll die laughing.”

Laura Denbow, flipping Wyatt Earp some poker chips: “Oh, I won’t be needing these while I’m in here (jail). Why don’t you buy yourself a new halo? The one you’re wearing’s too tight.”

Doc Holliday: “I do handle (a gun) pretty well. The only problem is, those best able to testify to my aim aren’t around for comment.”

Wyatt Earp: “Look, Holliday, as long as I’m the law here, not one of those cowpokes is going to cross that deadline with a gun. I don’t care if his name *is* Shanghai Pierce.”
Doc Holliday: “Well spoken. I’ll repeat those words at your funeral.”

Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp and DeForest Kelley as Morgan Earp in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Martin Milner as James Earp and John Hudson as Virgil Earp discussing the state of affairs in Tombstone in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Wyatt Earp, as he lifts Laura Denbow from a buggy: “You’ve lost your poker face. You look like a scared little girl.”
Laura: “I’m not scared. And I’m certainly not a little girl.”

Johnny Ringo, after being winged in the arm: “Alright, Doc, but we ain’t over yet.”
Doc Holliday: “You would have been. But I feel in a charitable mood tonight.”

Wyatt Earp: “I must go to Tombstone.”
Laura Denbow: “Fine. Go. Clean up Tomstone. There are 100 more Tombstones, all over the frontier, waiting for the great Wyatt Earp. Go on. Clean them all up. Go on.”
Wyatt: “I love you, Laura.”

Wyatt Earp to Billy Clanton: “You think you’re pretty tough, don’t ya, son? I never knew a gunslinger yet so tough he lived to celebrate his 35th birthday. I learned one rule about gunslingers. There’s always a man faster on the draw than you are, and the more you use a gun, the sooner you’re gonna run into that man.”

Kenneth Tobey as Bat Masterson and Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp, watching a beauty arrive in town in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Rhonda Fleming as Laura Benbow, waiting for Wyatt Earp (Burt Lancaster) to lock her in a cell in Gunfight at the O.K Corral (957)

Dennis Hopper as Billy Clanton, being lectured by Wyatt Earp on the perils of being a young gun in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Frank Faylen as Cotton Wilson, trying to negotiate a compromise with Wyatt Earp for the Clantons in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Ted de Corsia (middle) as Shanghai Pierce, a trail boss determined to cause trouble for Wyatt in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp and Earl Holliman as Deputy Charles Bassett, cracking down on guns in town in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday, as deadly with a knife as with a gun in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Rhonda Fleming as Laura Benbow, watching Wyatt ride off toward Tombstone against her wishes in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday, rebuffing the advice of Wyatt Earl (Burt Lancaster) to move to a healthier climate in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)