Product Details

• Actors: James Garner, Jason Robards, Robert Ryan, Albert Salmi, Charles Aidman
• Directors: John Sturges
• Writers: Edward Anhalt
• Producers: John Sturges
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302718961
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,812 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent 60's revisionist Earp Film, January 28, 2001

By 

Zuran "zuran" (england) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hour of the Gun [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Hour of the Gun is director John Sturges' own revisionist follow-on to his earlier Gunfight At the OK Corral made in 1957 with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. Whereas the older film was a traditional stereotypical western which ended with a long, heavily fictionalised re-creation of the famous gunfight this one starts with the gunfight and focuses on its aftermath. This time Sturges and his screenwriter have made a conscious effort for historical accuracy and the first hour or so of this film is probably about 80% true (Gunfight at the OK Corral was about 80% fiction right down to a climatic fight that included several people, particularly John Ireland's Johnny Ringo, who were never present). The film was also influenced by a book called The Earp Brothers of Tombstone by Frank Waters, which appeared in 1966 (one year previously) and was the first major work to try and debunk the Earp legend. More recent historians have discredited Waters for making his book as fictionised as Stuart Lake's Frontier Marshall the tome that set up the Wyatt Earp myth back in 1931. Hour of the Gun falls between the two camps - it depicts Earp as an embittered, vengeful man but also softens the extent of his revenge killings and creates a greater initial myth about the man's character in order to cut him down to size than he deserved at the time. For a Hollywood of its time the film is refreshing in its historical accuracy although it distorts the role of Ike Clanton (Robert Ryan) who is here the leader of the outlaws and creates an entirely fictional ending in which Earp and Doc Holliday track him down to a hideout in Mexico. The names of Clanton's henchmen whom Earp hunts down have also been altered and the character played by Steve Inhart who is killed by Earp in a scene taken from Stuart Lake's book was actually called Indian Charlie (but presumably Sturges didn't want to make Earp seem like a racist by shooting an Indian).

The film works very well as a cynical, disenhartened look at a mythical hero (the audience's viewpoint is that of Doc Holliday, played with world weary resignation by Jason Robards, who sees his idol disintergrate but can't bear to leave him). James Garner as Earp is suitably unsympathetic and far removed from his easy Rockford Files personna. There is an excellent score by Jerry Goldsmith and you should go out and buy the CD. Sturges makes splendid use of the widescreen ratio and this film should get a w/s DVD release as soon as possible. It's world shadows that of the Vietnam era when we learned that our heroes weren't what they seemed and what we were fighting for was not what it once was. An essential 60's western

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Happened After the OK Corral, January 28, 2002

By 

Edward Lee "Trekscribbler (NCC1205)" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hour of the Gun [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The HOUR OF THE GUN is a remarkable achievement for its time, following the exploits of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and company AFTER the gunfight at the OK Corral ... and it's fascinating.

Jason Robards plays a wonderfully subdued Doc Holliday, almost to the point of trying to remain Wyatt's moral voice.

In a surprising turn, James Garner turns in a dynamic performance as the stiff-laced Wyatt, who won't rest until justice for the death of his brother has been avenged.

This film serves as a companion piece to THE GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL (wildly inaccurate in most of its depictions), and it succeeds admirably in attempting to set the record straight.

But, there's still the Johnny Ringo bit ...

While a VHS purchase may work well for some Wyatt and Doc purists, I'm holding out for a DVD widescreen version, hopefully with some extras for those of us who believe good things come to those who wait.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When the Legend Becomes Fact, December 31, 2005

By 

Scott T. Rivers (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hour of the Gun (DVD)

There's no Hollywood romanticism in director John Sturges' hard-hitting account of the O.K. Corral aftermath. "Hour of the Gun" (1967) remains among the great unheralded Westerns, with superb performances by James Garner, Jason Robards and Robert Ryan. The role of Wyatt Earp is a perfect fit for Garner - it's too bad he didn't appear in more Westerns of this caliber. Far superior to Sturges' overrated "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (1957).