Customer Reviews

Doc

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This 1971 re-telling of the Earp-Holliday relationship clearly paints the darkest picture of the Earp family yet on film, and even suggests that Wyatt may have homosexual interests in Doc Holliday. Whatever the nature of the relationship, Doc appears to want little more of it and feels trapped into his part in the famous shoot-out. At best the relationship serves the Earp family business interests with little or no reciprocal value for Holliday. Harris Yulin and Stacy Keach play Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, respectively and well - both men being actors of considerable ability. Faye Dunaway plays Doc's common-law "wife" (Big-Nose Kate) in more of a cameo than a fully developed part. Frank Perry directed the film as a darkly psychological study of the relationship between these two gunmen. The dark rust-red of the Arizona desert provides the dominant color for the film. Film grain and texture reflects the men and the times: rough, gritty, and dark. While certainly a well performed and directed film, this is a film for NEITHER the John Wayne-shoot'em-in-the-street-at-high-noon-and-never-lose-your-hat crowd NOR the Hugh O'Brian devotee. "Doc" will please only the fans of the off-centered, slightly twisted quasi-film noire crowd. Indeed, one could easily describe this as a film noire western. "Doc" takes the "darker" side of Earp a good deal farther than the Sturges 1967 film "The Hour of the Gun" with James Garner and Jason Robards as Earp and Holliday. In "Hour of the Gun" Sturges greatly humanizes Earp from the earlier "Mr. Pure-Goodguy" in his film "The Gunfight at OK Corral." Still, Perry's "DOC" goes far beyond "Hour of the Gun" in his depiction of Wyatt as a sociopath with a badge, a gun, and a grudge.

This film, probably the 1000th telling of the shoot out at the OK Corral, has a different perspective from most of the films I have seen on this subject, from 'My Darling Clementine' to 'Tombstone.' Doc Holliday, played by Stacy Keach, is ambivalent about his life and unhappy with the killings. Wyatt Earp on the other hand is a villainous politician whose only desire is to get political power and milk the town dry. Ike Clanton is seen more as a victim of the heartless Wyatt Earp. Faye Dunnaway does an excellent job playing Doc's temporary girl, Katie Elder.
Some of the scenes in the film are really striking, particularly the scenes of Doc and Katie struggling through the desert to get to Tombstone.
There are no heroes in this film and the violence is minimal. The entire shootout at the OK Corrall was over in a few seconds. There are also no happy endings here. Doc has a chance at redemption and throws it away to shoot 'The Kid' who reminds him too much of himself. Earp apparently wins the day by wiping out the Clanton gang and then making a political stump speech. This is probably one of the most cynical films I have ever seen. If you like old fashioned westerns, avoid this one. But this film speaks mountains as to our politics today.

Was the west really this gloomy? Probably. But do we wish to see it in a Western? "Doc," an interesting version of the famous Gunfight at the OK Corral, chooses to demystify the combatants with the exception of Doc Holliday (Stacy Keach) and Big Nose Kate (Faye Dunaway). It's a squalid land complete with dishonorable alley brawls and buzzing horse flies.

Director Frank Perry has several interesting films on his resume [The Swimmer (1968), Rancho Deluxe (1975)] and "Doc," a 1971 product of the anti-Vietnam War times, was his attempt to unmask the statuesque heroes churned out by the John Wayne factory [Chisum (1970), Big Jake (1971)]. It's a revisionist Western, though completely lacking in historical authenticity.

Harris Yulin, an excellent character actor who portrays the villain more often than not, is an unusual (though intentional) choice for Wyatt Earp. He mopes and broods while staring with unblinking eyes at Doc Holliday's body, Big Nose Kate, Ike Clanton, his horse - anything within his line of vision. Yulin's Earp is a bleak assassin on the verge of firing his gun at the drop of a spittoon. He hides behind his weapon and when forced to fight Clanton man-to-man with fists, is soundly pummeled. Holliday is the even-tempered partner walking the streets alone in dark suits. Everyone fears and respects Doc, a gunfighter with the proverbial heart of gold. He protects Earp, making sure he and his disinterested brothers stay out of trouble, going against the grain of general historical belief.

Keach, as usual, is excellent in the title role. This was an interesting performance during the peak of his career, and he portrays Doc as a tortured soul wishing to escape the life of a notorious gunfighter. His only happiness comes from his relationship with Kate, who he kidnaps from a life of prostitution. They buy a humble home and decide to forge a life of domesticity. The scenes are not particularly believable and Dunaway seems out of her element. For a film attempting to reveal the dark underbelly of the Western myth, casting the strikingly beautiful Dunaway seems peculiar at best. She chews the scenery in her typical style, answering the door whenever the unblinking Wyatt pays an awkward visit - "Where's Doc? I need him," a statement having more than one meaning.

The rest of the cast is unknown, owing much to the fact the movie was filmed in Spain. With the exception of Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West, I have never been a fan of European-filmed Westerns, lacking the appropriate topography and supporting color. One could argue this gives "Doc" a dream-like quality, a familiar drama playing on an alien landscape. Perry wants to sweep away the ghosts of Ford, Fonda, Sturges and Lancaster, and perhaps this is a film only Sam Peckinpah could love. But "Doc" lacks the intense detail and artistic vision of The Wild Bunch - The Original Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1969) and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1973), far superior Westerns in tone, idea and - let's face it - budget.

With inexplicable slowness, the movie stumbles towards the OK Corral battle. While the confrontation is no more realistic than in previous films, perhaps a drama attempting to cut to the bone should pay more attention to history. The Clantons outnumber the Earps more than 2-to-1, Earp and his men carry shotguns, one of the Earp brothers is killed and Doc even guns down a youthful Clanton with whom he forged a father/son relationship. None of this is true, though I like the idea that Doc's action, as he pauses briefly in thought before shooting the boy through the heart, is his way of delivering the coup de grace to his legacy. The old ways have come to an end, and now the Earps can take root.

Disillusioned, having lost Kate because of his opium addiction and dying of the now-famous coughing disease, Doc rides out of Tombstone alone. It's all very somber, played to the tune of mournful guitar. "Doc" would have been better served to have not been based on the legendary shootout, but then it would not have been bankrolled. How's that for existential dilemma?

This is a very interesting take on the Doc Holliday / Wyatt Earp / Big Nose Kate relationships. It is typically villified by reviewers. It is definitely down beat and rather coarse. It is not historically accurate, particurlarly in terms of the final shoot out at the OK Corral. However, it does hold your interest. Stacey Keach's and Faye Dunaway's acting is very good. It was filmed in the era of the revisionist westerns. If you are turned off by that, this will not appeal to you. Otherwise, I recommend Doc for casual viewing.

I looked forward to seeing this movie because I thought that Stacy Keach would make a great Doc Holliday because they were both born with a cleft palate and they do favor a bit. However,I was terribly disappointed watching this movie it was so factually inaccurate it was pathetic. They couldn't even get Doc's year of birth right. It was very obvious that the makers of this movie hated Doc and Wyatt Earp.

I wasn't impressed by this film. The first hour is slow....way to much dialogue and not enough action.... Come on!-- Let's see the O.K. Corral Shoot-out.....[And when it did come -- it was a disappointment.] The best part of the movie was Faye Dunaway's make-up
in the opening scene.......a dirty-face and hot-pink lipstick look - that would make any red-blooded Tombstone male sell his soul
for a chance at the ultimate thrill. When Doc says "I gotta wash this bitch" --- you know what he's talking about.

Do yourself a favor and forget for a moment that the film "Doc" is about real historical people - Doc Holiday and Wyatt Earp - and pretend that it's merely a western. If you're interested in the real people, there are several films available including "Wyatt Earp" (1994), "Tombstone" (1993), and "Hour of the Gun" (1967). Films such as "Gunfight at the OK Corral" (1957) and "My Darling Clementine" (1946) are as fictionalized as "Doc".

The film stars Stacy Keach (Doc) and Faye Dunaway (Big Nose Kate) with Harris Yulin as Wyatt

Stacy Keach has been providing good entertainment for more than 50 years. "Doc" was his 6th film and his first leading role. That led to a role opposite George C Scott in "The New Centurions" (1972) and he went on to do more than 50 films, including "The Long Riders" (1980) with his brother James. He's best known for his role in the TV series "Mike Hammer". Unfortunately he sleep walks through this film.

There is little to say about Faye Dunaway that isn't already known. She won the Oscar for "Network" (1977) and was nominated for "Chinatown" (1975) and "Bonnie and Clyde" (1968). She won an Emmy for a guest appearance on "Columbo" in 1994 and won Golden Globes for her work on "Gia" (1998), "Ellis Island" (1984), and "Network" (1976). On the other hand, she won 2 Razzies for bad performances ("Mommie Dearest" and "The Temp") and was nominated 6 more times. Her role in "Doc" falls more clearly on the Razzie side.

Harris Yulin is not a well known name. "Doc" was his second film. He moves between film and TV. He's probably best known for his performance as Quentin Travers, the head Watcher on the TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," but he's appeared in many big box office films such as "Training Day" (2001), "Rush Hour 2", "Murder at 1600" (1997), "Ghostbusters 2" (1989), etc. He usually plays a cop. Unfortunately he doesn't really pack the star power necessary to make Wyatt Earp an interesting character.

Peter Hamill won an award for the film's script from the Western Writers of America. Hamill is an interesting character, best known for helping disarm Sirhan Sirhan after he shot Bobby Kennedy. He's a journalist and his works appear in The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, etc. Definitely a left of center personality, Hamill's orientation is clear in the film's off kilter portrayal of the Holiday/Earp relationship. But the attempt to portray deep psychological meaning falls flat. Instead the film is merely boring.

Frank Perry produced and directed. Perry was best known for his first effort, "David and Lisa" (1962), but he has several well known films to his credit, including "Diary of a Mad Housewife" (1970) and "Mommie Dearest" (1981) where he joined forces with Faye Dunaway again. Many of his films focus on dysfunctional families, and he brought that perspective to "Doc"

Jimmy Webb did the music. Webb is a terrific writer, responsible for "By the Time I get to Phoenix", "Up Up and Away", MacArthur Park", "Witchita Lineman", etc. "Doc" was his second film, and he would sporadically work on film scores including "Naked Ape" (1976), Voices" (1979), "The Last Unicorn" (1982), and "The Santa Clause" (1994).

"Doc" needs to be viewed through the eyes of the early 70s. Nixon was the President, the Vietnam war was still raging, "Woodstock Nation" was making the transition to disco, and the major films of the times were "Five Easy Pieces"," MASH", "Zabriske Point", "A Clockwork Orange", "Dirty Harry", "The Hospital", "The Candidate", "Deliverance", "The Ruling Class", etc. All these films sought to re-envision their traditional genres and the back stories.

"Doc" belongs to the revisionist westerns of the period, such as "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968), "The Wild Bunch" (1969), "Tell Them Willie Boy is Here" (1969), "Little Big Man" (1970), "Soldier Blue" (1970), "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" (1971), and the ultimate revisionist western - "Dirty Little Billy" (1972).

But regardless of whether you avoid this film because of its historical inaccuracies or just because it is downright boring, you can do something better with 90 minutes of your life.

A very atmospheric film with a fine cast, good dialog, and realistic settings. One of the best films about Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. The 1.85:1 widescreen DVD is slightly above average as far as the picture quality is concerned.

I love Stacy Keach especially when he appeared in the Mike Hammer series on TV. I thought that this could have similar banter with big nose Kate Elder similarly to his sidekick Velda from the TV series. It seems to be that there is a conflict in the story that shows that Wyatt Erp was in fact a crooked, low life, scoundrel that lied, cheated and bought his way to fame rather than being the tough hard nosed lawman portrayed in other stories. This movie doesn't even document the shootout at the OK coral as other stories do involving ERP, Holiday, the Clanton's McClowery's and other riff raff that was out to get the Erps in Tombstone. What is more puzzling about this version of the story is that Doc Holliday's relationship with Wyatt Erp was more akin that of Erp just hanging around Holiday like a fifth wheel rather than it being a true friendship. As westerns go this one doesn't' really have enough shootouts and fights in it to consider it a classic. The star power of Keach and Dunaway seems like it would have the potential for interesting banter. However, I don't believe that they delivered anything that would be considered a lasting impression. After seeing the version with Kevin Costner in it several times, I was hoping to see something of similar quality from a different point of view. However, this was not the case. I just can't believe that they omitted the shootout at the OK corral and the events that followed. That gunfight became the standard by which all other westerns are judged. I'm surprised that Rich Little didn't have to intervene by doing voice overs in this picture like he did for the Hammer series, that's the only other occasion when I can think of Keach faltering at attempting to portray a character completely as he did with this movie. Even if this movie were on Encore or some other premium movie channel, I would not recommend wasting your time watching it.
RJL

For the talent involved I gave it two stars but if it were not for that I wouldn't have given any. I saw this movie when it first came out and thought it was pretty bad then: as history and as a movie. I watched it again recently to give it a 2nd chance. So much the worse for me. It was popular in the late 60's and early 70's to make revisionist style Westerns to show that "them thar days weren't as good as you thought" and adding a sort of artsy-fartsy flair It might have worked here except for the material. Almost the whole damn movie is a lie. It's true that the preceeding earp fair (THE GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL, MY DARLING CLEMENTINE,ETC.) were sadly lacking in the history department but this movie was so "rivisionist" that anything even remotly positive even if it was true was either left out or flatly denied. There was a long review in a magazine that I read shortly after the movie was released called "THE DEBUNKING OF A DEBUNKING" who's title I thought said it best.(I wish I could remember the magazine) Needless to say they felt much the same that I do. Even though the previous movies showed Earp and Holliday to be far better people than they were, some one went to a great deal of time and expense to show that they were far, far worse than they really were and then they wrapped the story in a pretty awful movie. If your interested in the subject matter then do your best to borrow a copy of this movie because I can be pretty sure that you'll only watch it once and then only if you can stop laughing long enough to hear it.