Customer Reviews

Hour of the Gun [VHS]

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4 star:		(14)
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2 star:		(2)
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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

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.

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).

I saw this movie when it was released back in 1967 and it has always stayed with me. Whenever TNT would show it on their 4pm western theatre I would catch it, too, having several VHS recordings of it. So when the DVD became available I had to have a copy. My wife and I watched it last evening, she for the first time, and it got a good thumbs up all 'round.

It is far from a perfect picture though, but it is probably the best single production on this subject we will ever get. While I have on DVD 'My Darling Clementine', 'Tombstone', and 'Gunfight At OK Corral' I believe this movie to be better than all of those. 'My Darling Clementine' is a great movie, with black & white adding to the dramatic effect, but it certainly is not anywhere historically correct; while 'Tombstone', a favorite of mine, is in certain scenes filled with too much non-historical baseless humor; and finally 'Gunfight At OK Corral', while excellent, is terribly marred at the end by its being historically incorrect. Johnny Ringo was not killed by Doc at OK Corral, he very well may have been later, but not at OK Corral.

One thing missing in the 'Hour of the Gun' is women; all the other movies of the Earp vs. Clanton/cowboy element involve women on both sides, yet women are totally excluded from 'Hour of the Gun'. To me again that points up the serious historical viewpoint of this movie. As another reviewer here correctly points out: though Wyatt did not shoot it out with Ike, Ike was killed a few years later while still stealing cattle. And Ike was never at the brain level of Old Man Clanton, and Ike was never in as much control of events as Robert Ryan portrays.

And Jason Robards is much too old as Doc, since Doc died at the early age of 36 or so. Also in 'The Hour of the Gun' John Ringo is neither mentioned nor does he make an appearance. A strange omission.

Too, the killing of Frank Stillwell in Tucson did not happen as shown here, for he was not killed by Wyatt's handgun, he was pretty much cut in two by shotgun blasts. As a journal entry of the time states "Frank Stilwell was shot all over, the worst shot-up man that I ever saw. He was found a few hundred yards from the hotel on the railroad tracks." (source: True West, May, 2005, page 61)

None of the above paragraphs are meant to detract from this movie, because as screen outings go, this is the best of the Earp movies. And I don't expect a better one during my lifetime.

If you study this episode of the 1880s Tombstone area, this movie helps bring to life what you have read. As far as we know this movie will pretty much substantiate John Sturges' opening claim, "this is the way it happened."

And if you would like a look at Wyatt teamed-up with Tom Mix, try watching the movie SUNSET starring James Garner as Wyatt and Bruce Willis as Tom Mix. This Blake Edwards movie is different but interesting.

I highly recommend HOUR OF THE GUN to one and all western fans.

I am happy to add my review to the others here....who , like me, prefer this to what the critics site as the superior "Gunfight at the OK Corral"...
This is a wonderful story...with much better shades of personality in Wyatt Earp by James Garner than the over the top performance by Burt Lancaster....the story is closer to reality and the film itself is shot beautifully by Lucien Ballard ( a truly great cinematographer). At the bargain price its being offered on DVD...if you are a western fan...YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED.

Hour of the Gun is easily my favorite take on the Wyatt Earp legend, with John Sturges making amends for the strangely rather unsatisfying Gunfight at the O.K. Corral with this dark, revisionist take of the aftermath that seeps with post-Kennedy cynicism. People aren't killed, they're assassinated by riflemen hiding in shadows, trials fail to see justice done, the good townspeople buy off bad guys and the motives for the Clanton-Earp feud are more political and economic than personal (Robert Ryan's Clanton is more of a calculating businessman trying to fend off encroaching Eastern conglomerates and willing to sacrifice his family to do it than the usual crooked pater familias). Throughout, James Garner's Wyatt Earp moves further away from the law as an increasingly cold-blooded desire for vengeance takes over from his principles while Jason Robards bitter Doc Holliday can do little but watch and stand dying by his side.

With a terrific script by Edward Anhalt (who gives himself good cameo as Doc's doc) there's a neat symmetry running through the film - Clanton slinks away from the O.K Corral before the lead starts flying only to find his gang deserting him the same way at the end - enhanced by Sturges' strong visual sense, with locations always sparsely populated or streets often completely empty to emphasise the narrow focus of the conflict. Sturges' usually effortless mastery of Scope frame seems a bit forced in a couple of set-ups where you can see him lining up his actors as if blocking them onstage, but you can forgive him when he throws in an opening sequence that Sam Peckinpah borrowed for The Wild Bunch - the unscripted moment Peckinpah referred to as `the Walk thing' when the Bunch go to their final fate (Peckinpah was a great admirer of Sturges, and as even used Hour's cinematographer Lucien Ballard on Bunch). Throw in a terrific score from Jerry Goldsmith just as he entered his prime, and it's a winner.

The 2.35:1 transfer is mostly good with a little occasional edge-enhancement. The only extra - unless you count fulscreen version of the film - is the trailer.

John Sturges, who memorably filmed Gunfight at The OK Corral with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, returned to the subject by depicting the afternath of the famous shootout in Hour of The Gun. This time, James Garner takes over from Lancaster playing Wyatt Earp, while Jason Robards replaces Douglas as Doc Holliday.

Hour of The Gun follows as both of Earp's brother are ambushed after the OK Corral, and shows how a seemingly law-abiding, upright law official can be twisted into a vengeful killing machine. This theme was touched on in the first film, but takes center stage in this film. Robards watches as a man who he admires and respect for his convictions throws them all away to settle a blood feud. Garner's and Robards's performance are outstanding, with first-rate support by Robert Ryan as Ike Clanton, Steve Ihnat as Lattigo, one of the Clanton gang, and a young unknown Jon Voight as Curly Bill Brocious.

Contrary to a caption at the beginning of the film, Hour of The Gun is not a completely accurate retelling of the Earp/Holliday/Clanton saga, but it makes for one heck of a Western.

I don't know the real history of the gunfight at the OK Corral. I saw the recent movie TOMBSTONE with Kurt Russel and Val Kilmer and found it thoroughly enjoyable but I never considered it to be "historical". It was just hysterical.

HOUR OF THE GUN is another, older version of the story. It too is excellent and more believable as a historical drama but I have no conception that it is historical other than the recognition that Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and Ike Clanton were real people; Tombstone, Arizona, Colorado, Mexico and the OK Corral are real places; and a gunfight really did take place at the corral. That doesn't matter to me because this too is a fine film and thoroughly entertaining. It has none of the comic element that TOMBSTONE had but it is a high quality western drama.

This story begins at the famous gunfight and then continues on to examine what happened afterward as Earp and Holliday track down the Clanton gang. James Garner plays the famous marshal and does so without the humor he often brings to the screen. He portrays a relatively silent and brooding figure but he does so well. Jason Robards plays Doc Holliday. His characterization is not as memorable for its outrageousness as Val Kilmer's but it is still well done and the loyalty to a friend comes through strong.

This is a western of a style seldom seen anymore. It is a gem.

Many films have been made about legendary lawman Wyatt Earp, many of them focusing on his time in Tombstone, Arizona, and the infamous gunfight at that town's O.K. Corral between him, his brothers, and Doc Holliday on one side and the Clanton and McLowery clans on the other. In fact, despite plenty of historical inaccuracies, director John Sturges came up with one of the best-known films of that incident, 1957's GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL. Ten years later, in 1967, he showed us the aftermath of that gunfight in HOUR OF THE GUN.

Whereas the gunfight was the climax of GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL, and was placed in the middle later in 1993's TOMBSTONE, HOUR OF THE GUN begins with the gunfight itself, and then goes into the various legal entanglements that followed, as well as the revenge that Wyatt (James Garner) seeks against Ike Clanton (Robert Ryan) and his hired help. Jason Robards, though he was already too old to accurately do the role, does a good turn as Doc Holliday, who becomes Wyatt's moral conscience when it appears that Wyatt has become a vengeance seeker and stopped being a lawman.

As has been pointed out by other reviewers here, HOUR OF THE GUN still doesn't quite stick to all the facts of the gunfight (for one thing, in reality the Cochise County sheriff's name was Behan, not Bryan, as mentioned in the film) or what happened to Ike Clanton (he wasn't killed in Mexico, nor at Wyatt's hand, but in an attempted robbery a few years after the O.K Corral incident). To add to all that, whereas GUNFIGHT was filmed in Arizona, where the events depicted took place, HOUR OF THE GUN was filmed entirely in Mexico; and even a cursory glance by a viewer can tell it's Mexico, and not the real Arizona.

Still, as advertised, Garner and Robards deliver extremely effective performances, and Robards does deliver some sardonic one-liners courtesy of screenwriter Edward Anhalt. Although Ike Clanton's role is enlarged in this film beyond accuracy, the benefit is a solid performance of that role by Ryan, whose low-key villainy is matchless. Jon Voight also appears here (in his first major film) as Curly Bill Brocius. The flavorful score by Jerry Goldsmith, emphasizing minor keys and some Mexican rhythms, enhances the stature of this rather underrated western. It makes a perfect companion piece to other Wyatt Earp films in spite of its historical fudgings, and with this great acting on hand it is well worth viewing.

I really liked this account of the Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday stories. This is the best out of all the Wyatt Earp movies then Tombstone on my list. James Garner is a legendary actor and it was really good seeing him play a semi-bad character in my opinion, but you can make your own opinion as to whether he's a bad man or is his actions justified. Garner played Wyatt Earp again in the movie Sunset with Bruce Willis. Jason Robards was also very good in his role of Doc Holiday. The musical score by Jerry Goldsmith is great. We also see a young Jon Voight in one of his first roles. The movie does have some errors though. Wyatt and Doc were about the same age at this time and in the movie Doc seems a lot older than Wyatt. Also, Wyatt Earp did not kill Ike Calnton. But, overall this is a very good movie directed by John Sturges. I highly recommend it for people who enjoy westerns and those who are interested in Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday.