The year is 1881 and trouble is brewing between the lawman and the cowboy gang in the booming silver town of Tombstone.
Newly elected Sheriff Behan succeeds in disarming Ike Clanton (Jerry Chesser) and his friends, as required by the town’s regulations.
But the cowboys quickly rearm themselves from a stash of guns hidden under a building.
So they’ll need to be disarmed again when Marshal Virgil Earp (W. Clay Lee) shows up with brothers Wyatt (Paul Clayton), Morgan (Ronald Blanton) and Doc Holliday (Charles Gabel).
Gunfire break outs. By the time the shooting ends, Virgil and Morgan are wounded, three of the cowboys are lying dead.
The Earps are promptly tossed in jail. But a judge convinces Behan to set them free under an investigation is complete to decide it they should be tried on charges of murder.
Paul Clayton as Wyatt Earp in Once Upon a Time in Tombstone (2020)
Jerry Chesser as Ike Clanton in Once Upon a Time in Tombstone (2020)
Review:
I doubt Western fans were clamoring for yet another film about the events surrounding the O.K. Corral.
I can pretty much guarantee they weren’t clamoring for one from Christopher Forbes, master of Z-grade, low-budget Westerns.
It’s a zero-energy effort in which actors and actresses recite lines as if they’re reading them for the first time. And trying to decipher the meaning at the same time.
At least I hope that was the case. If not, several of them should have looked at director, producer and script writer Forbes and said: “This makes no damn sense.”
As for the plot, the famed gunfight takes place at the 33-minute mark, in a field of tall grass, not on a dusty Tombstone street.
That sets the stage for the investigation, conducted by a half-breed Pinkerton agent and a lady journalist from Philadelphia! Oh, my.
If you can catch this one for free, fine. If you pay a penny to watch it …. well, that will make no damn sense either.
William Adams as Mason, the half-breed Pinkerton officer investigating the shoot-out in Once Upon a Time in Tombstone (2020)
Jezibell Anat as Margaret Whitfield, the lady journalist hired to investigate the shoot-out in Once Upon a Time in Tombstone (2020)
Directed by:
Christopher Forbes
Cast:
Paul Clayton … Wyatt Earp
Jerry Chesser … Ike Clanton
Jezibell Anat … Margaret Whitfield
Russell Dobson … Billy Claiborne
Brad Owens …. Johnny Ringo
Charles Gabel … Doc Holliday
Ronald Blanton … Morgan Earp
W. Clay Lee … Virgil Earp
Wade Fullmer … Sheriff Behan
Eddie Rodgers … Justice Wallance
Daniel Dobson … Tom McLaury
Lizzi Tompkins … Elaina
William Adams … Mason
Wendy Miklos … Clara
Jay Tompkins … Ben
Bobby Snider … Marshal Fred White
Terri Gibson … Teresa
Bob Young … John Plum
Joseph Zuchowski … Hills, the engineer
Joseph Cook … Joe, the miner
Thomas Carani … Williams
Wayne Blanton … Frank McLaury
Runtime: 82 min.
Brad Owens as Johnny Ringo in Once Upon a Time in Tombstone (2020)
Charles Gabel as Doc Holliday in Once Upon a Time in Tombstone (2020)
Memorable lines:
Marshal Fred White: “Y’all best check them guns in. You can pick ’em up on your way out of town.”
Ike Clanton: “But we like our guns, marshal.”
Marshal White: “Yeah, I know. You can give me the guns, or I’ll put you and the guns in jail.”
Clanton gang member: “What now? You ain’t serious.”
Marshal White: “I’m dead serious. You ain’t gonna like it.”
Ike Clanton: “I bet I know what you wouldn’t like.”
Marshal White: “What’s that?”
Ike Clanton: “I bet you wouldn’t like it if we just shot you to pieces right now.’
Johnny Ringo to one of his fellow cowboys: “I told you don’t call me sir. You can me sir again and I’ll kill you.”
Billy Claiborne: “He means it.”
Margaret Whitfield, investigating the shoot-out by interviewing the owner of the Tombstone Epitaph: “It’s quite a distinctive name for a newspaper, if maybe a little …”
Epitaph owner: “Morose? Many people feel that way. But you certainly don’t forget the name. After all, no tombstone is complete without its epitaph.”
Whitfield, clearly zeroing in on the truth behind the shootout: “May I quote you on that.”
Virgil Earp, to Mason, the half-breed Pinkerton detective investigating the shoot-out: “What do they hope to gain by working with you?”
Mason: “Well, some places, I can dig deeper than other folks.”
Wyatt Earp: “Okay, I don’t even know that that means.”
Judge Wallace: “Margaret Whitfield and Mason are doing an absolutely thorough job (of investigating the shoot-out). So thorough, in fact, it makes my head spin.”
Wade Fullmer as Sheriff Behan in Once Upon a Time in Tombstone (2020)
W. Clay Lee as Virgil Earp in Once Upon a Time in Tombstone (2020)
Russell Dobson as Billy Claiborne in Once Upon a Time in Tombstone (2020)
Ronald Blanton as Morgan Earp in Once Upon a Time in Tombstone (2020)
Lizzi Tompkins as Elaina, the waitress Billy Claiborne is sweet on in Once Upon a Time in Tombstone (2020)
Eddie Rogers as Justice Wallace, the man heading the investigation into the shoot-out in Once Upon a Time in Tombstone (2020)
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