Gunfight at the O.K. Corral / Hour of the Gun

GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL, 1957, Paramount, 122 min. Dir. John Sturges. Kirk Douglas gives one of his most dynamite performances as the tragic, hot-tempered Doc Holliday, dying of tuberculosis and constantly at odds with his paramour Kate (Jo Van Fleet).

HOUR OF THE GUN, 1967, MGM Repertory, 100 min. Exactly 10 years after the O.K. CORRAL film, director John Sturges revisited his take on the Earp-Clanton feud with this excellent, much harder-edged western. Events related are much closer to what supposedly transpired, although the final showdown between Earp (James Garner) and Ike Clanton (Robert Ryan) is still somewhat of a stretch. Garner makes a great Earp, a man hardened by the world around him and his inability to protect his family from outlaws.