Hour of the Gun (1967) User Reviews (64)

"I'm gonna count one, two, three. You can draw on two - I'll wait to three."

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 7/10 · 6 July 2007]

For Sturges, the West was a man's world, and his cool, hard, detached style, emphasizing action, excitement and the rugged environment of the frontier, endorsed the point…

Sturges believed there were three essentials to every Western: 1. Isolation – a man standing alone with no hope of help from outside (e.g. Spencer Tracy's predicament in "Bad Day at Black Rock when the telegraph lines are cut). 2. A man, or group of men compulsively take law and justice, rightly or wrongly, into their own hands (e.g. "The Magnificent Seven"). 3. The issues are resolved by violence in the form of gunplay (e.g. "Gunfight at the OK Corral," "Hour of the Gun"). He followed this up by saying: 'A Western is a controlled, disciplined, formal kind of entertainment. There's good and bad; clearly defined issues; there's chase; there's a gunfight.'

"Hour of the Gun" covers the period just after the famous gun battle… The film is well done but there are some downfalls: It shows only one face of Wyatt— his "official" law abiding side, with no women in his life… And also no Johnny Ringo—the main bad guy and rival of Doc Holliday…

There are solid performances all around, beginning with James Garner who plays a hero with a badge, and is powerful in his intensity… Wyatt's vengeance for the murder of his brother show the primal potency of violence…

Robards plays John Holliday—an ordinary man dying of tuberculosis who becomes one of Wyatt's most loyal allies with an insatiable greed for drinking, gambling and fighting… Robards is quite good in his character, and does deliver a couple of colorful lines to Earp… The relationship and chemistry between the two men is unique… It's difficult to outline, but it's like these two were old souls who would go through hell with/for each other and never need to wonder or to argue it…

Ryan, as a Westerner, has played straight as well as crooked – his hunted killer in "The Naked Spur" and his ageing lawman (losing his vision at crucial moments) in "The Proud Ones" being equally memorable… In more recent roles he has been basically sympathetic – as the horse-handler in "The Professionals," as William Holden's weary, reluctant pursuer in "The Wild Bunch," as the pacifist sheriff in "Lawman" – the exception being "Hour of the Gun," in which once again he was the outlaw on the run, this time with a relentless Wyatt Earp in pursuit… Ryan has perhaps achieved more as an actor in other genres, but the Western would have been the poorer without him

If you are going to kill like me, you might as well drink like me.

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 1 August 2011]

Hour of the Gun is directed by John Sturges and adapted to screenplay by Edward Anhalt from Douglas D. Martin's novel Tombstone's Epitaph. It stars James Garner, Jason Robards and Robert Ryan. Music is by Jerry Goldsmith and cinematography is by Lucien Ballard. Story begins with the shootout at the O.K. Corral and tells of the aftermath involving the major players.

Although John Sturges' Gunfight at the O.K. Corall ten years previously proved to be popular, the director was never happy with the finished project, due in no small part to the fact that Hal B. Wallis controlled the script. Here Sturges takes control and crafts what in essence is a sequel to the 57 movie. Leaning more towards a character study with a dark edge, Hour of the Gun is refreshing in giving the Wyatt Earp/Doc Holliday characters a different story than the one we normally see on the screen; one that actually attempts historical accuracy where possible.

Viewing it now it's easy to see why the film was received coldly back on release. The Western movie was just about creaking along as a viable cinematic genre as it was, but with Sturges and Anhalt portraying one of America's folklore heroes in moral decline, it's unsurprising that it found itself out of sync with the times. However, time has been very kind to it, where over decades the re-evaluation of many a psychological Western has seen it viewed as one of the more bolder and cynical tinted oaters from the 60s.

With a fine script from Anhalt to work from, who also features as a player in the film as Holliday's whiskey smuggling carer, the cast work well. Ryan files in for villain duties as Ike Clanton and Garner as Earp and Robards as Holliday make for a suitably sombre pairing. There's also some quality in the support ranks where Albert Salmi, John Voight, Jorge Russeck and Karl Swenson leave good impressions. With Goldsmith tonally aware for the scoring and master photographer Ballard utilising the Panavision on offer for the Durango locations, it's an all round well put together production.

Some fat could have done with being trimmed off it to get it 10 minutes shorter; for the story starts to feel over long entering the last quarter. But Hour of the Gun is not only a better than your average 60s Western, it's also one of the better Wyatt Earp movies available to those interested in the subject. 7.5/10

Sturges gets it right the second time!

[simonsayz-1 · 8/10 · 16 July 2008]

This is the quasi-sequel to Sturges' "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" and it improves on that film in every way. The Panavision widescreen gives it a more epic scope than "O.K.", and in the ten years between the two films Sturges has also much improved his mise-en-scene. Whereas "O.K." was often unassuming at best and plain dull at worst in its framing (additionally hindered by some obvious studio shots presenting the outdoors), Sturges gets the most out of his shots here. The sequence in which Virgil Earp is gunned down in a dark street is one example. Thankfully enough the dreadful "singing cowboy" songs of "O.K." are nowhere to be heard, instead we have one of Jerry Goldsmith's best scores...and that says something. Acting is also a touch better than in the predecessor. While the Lancaster-Douglas team of "O.K." was indeed that - o.k. - it was bogged down by the repetitious dialogue they were given. Garner and Robards, both somewhat underestimated actors, give fine performances here. And while Robert Ryan as the villainous Ike Clanton is not given much to work with, he makes a reasonable impact as the scheming cattle baron and thief. Finally, and most importantly, the timing of the film is much better than "O.K." which was simply a chore to go through and a bore when one got there. "Hour of the Gun" alternates politics (both sides of the conflict getting the law on their sides, in itself a truthful and interesting account of law and order in the Wild West) and action scenes with Wyatt and comrades pursuing the attackers of his brothers. The depiction of Earp's vigilantism is relatively realistic though the claim of the film to "tell it as it happened" is of course somewhat over-exaggerated, especially concerning the fate of Ike Clanton.

As far as westerns from the end of the golden age of that genre go, "Hour of the Gun" does not rank among the very best, but is a minor treasure nonetheless, a very worthwhile film that tells the events after the famous showdown at the O.K. Corral, and does a very good job of doing so.

Beyond The O.K. Corral Gunfight

[virek213 · 7/10 · 21 August 2005]

Although often criticized for its considerable historical inaccuracies, director John Sturges' 1957 film GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL has gone down in history as one of the western film genre's finest efforts. But stung by those criticisms, Sturges chose to revisit the story and go beyond the gunfight itself ten years later in 1967's HOUR OF THE GUN.

Whereas GUNFIGHT made the gunfight the climax of the film, and the later 1993 film TOBSTONE placed it in the center, HOUR OF THE GUN actually begins with Wyatt Earp (James Garner) and his brothers and the TB-ridden Doc Holliday (Jason Robards) confronting the Clantons and McLowerys at the corral. It also goes into the trial that got the Earps and Holliday off of murder charges. And it also goes into how the thirst for revenge that salivates in Ike Clanton (Robert Ryan) turned Garner's Wyatt Earp from a stoic lawman to almost a mirror image of Clanton, just with a badge. Robards' Holliday can't stand to see his friend disintegrate, but he doesn't want to leave his side, despite his penchant for booze which is exacerbating his tuberculosis.

As has often been pointed out in films based on historical events, including Wyatt Earp's Arizona period, HOUR OF THE GUN does not totally stick with the facts. Ike Clanton's role in the Cowboys gang has been embellished in this film (in truth, Ike wasn't all that swift upstairs); also, Wyatt and Doc didn't track Clanton down to Mexico and kill him (Ike would be killed in a robbery some years later, and not at Wyatt's hand). It must also be said, too, that, instead of having filmed HOUR in the same southern Arizona locations as GUNFIGHT, Sturges filmed it on locations in northern Mexico; and even the most discerning film-goer who has been to either place will spot the differences.

Still, despite these flaws, and the fact that Robards was already too old to be playing the 36 year-old Holliday, HOUR OF THE GUN is a fairly substantial western, more hard-edged and cynical than its illustrious predecessor. Garner, perhaps serving as the bridge between Burt Lancaster's portrayal in GUNFIGHT and Kurt Russell's in TOMBSTONE, is at his very best as the increasingly disillusioned Wyatt; and Robards does a good enough turn as the good Doctor. Ryan's portrayal of Ike Clanton is one of very low-key, business-like villainy, perfectly suited to this constantly underrated actor's talents. Jon Voight is also on hand in his debut film, portraying Curly Bill Brocious.

Helped out by Lucien Ballard's first-rate cinematography and a flavorful Jerry Goldsmith score, HOUR OF THE GUN is an underrated sagebrush saga that deserves to be seen, especially as it came in the years between the wide-eyed optimism of the John Ford films and the more cynical westerns that were to follow in the wake of Leone and Peckinpah.

interesting take on the infamous incident

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 14 January 2016]

It's Oct 26, 1881 Tombstone, Territory of Arizona. Wyatt Earp (James Garner)'s group fight Ike Clanton (Robert Ryan)'s group at the O.K. Corral. Ike survives and Wyatt is brought up on charges with the help of the corrupt local sheriff. Wyatt is cleared. His brother Virgil runs for sheriff and is severely injured in an ambush. His other brother Morgan is elected and promptly killed. He sends his family to California. He gets appointed as a new federal marshal for Arizona. With the help of friend Doc Holliday (Jason Robards) and his supporters, he takes on Clanton and his gang.

It's interesting to start the movie where most Tombstone movies end. Supposedly, this is based more on the real events. John Sturges directs this with his steady hands. Most of it rests on James Garner's solid performance. His character is restrained by the law and circumstances. He suppresses what must be overwhelming anger. I would prefer a bit more action to intensify the traditional western and more anger to show Wyatt's emotions. Nevertheless, it's compelling to see this part of the story done well.

The best telling of it's era, although inaccurate

[groovygavin2 · 7/10 · 3 May 2007]

Although inaccurate it far outweighs "Doc" made 4 years later. Garner does his best in portraying Earp as grim and unemotional, yet cool and unflinching. This was Earp's persona. Robards, although older than the real Holliday was at the time, also does well. I'm not so sure if the real Holliday was concerned with Earp losing his character. He was a loyal friend who was in it for a pound.

Robert Ryan is a superior actor, but Clanton wasn't a land baron. Clanton was a rustler/rancher, loud-mouth/coward that provoked the gunfight at the O.K.corral and lost the case for the prosecution by being a not-too-bright liar. I don't know if Ryan could be cast correctly to portray the real Ike Clanton.But he does well regardless. Earp also didn't really kill Ike.

This movie does explore the vigilante ride of Wyatt and Doc after the wounding of Virgil and the killing of Morgan Earp. Pete Spence was never a sheriff, and Sherm McMasters was a cowboy that informed for Wyatt. The movie is a superior western and as close to accurate as Hollywood came until "Tombstone" and "Wyatt Earp".

The mood is somewhat interesting but it wasn't a moral struggle for Wyatt and Doc in real life. They were doing what they felt was right, vengeance. Earp thought in very black and white terms, killing his brothers killers was the right thing to do in his mind. It didn't matter if it was against the law he often swore to protect as a peace officer in those western boom towns. He was always upright and correct in his profession as a lawman, but in matters of family he was not on the job and no longer wearing a badge. his duty to law enforcement no longer applied.

Could have been much darker and better but was still a solid enough western

[bob the moo · 11 December 2005]

After the shoot out at the OK Corral, Ike Clanton brides officials to start legal proceedings against Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday for the murder of his brother. The judge weighs up the evidence and spots some contradictions in key parts of the prosecution case and thus acquits Earp and Holliday and rules the shoot out was part of them fulfilling their duties as lawmen. Unsatisfied with this ruling, Clanton gets a couple of his men to kill Wyatt's brothers setting the law man on a quest to bring Clanton in – but is he seeking justice or revenge? I had never heard of this film until recently but I decided to give it a try when I read it was a sequel to OK Corral. In essence it is a rather old-fashioned western but it has a nice mean air to it that I found complimented the material. The plot is simple though and it never gets to grips with the darker side of the legends of Wyatt and Doc; perhaps because it was Sturges that directed but I would lie to see the film as it would have been made when The Wild Bunch turned the western genre on its head. Because here the focus is the story where really it needed to be on Wyatt the man as he loses touch with the lawman and starts to resemble much more of a driven revenge figure. It is a shame that the film doesn't go deeper into this but as it is it is still an enjoyable western that does what it does well enough for genre fans.

The cast are good despite not having anyone carried over from the first film. Garner does make for a mean Wyatt and even if the material doesn't go deep, Garner's eyes show that he understands what he is doing. Robards is enjoyable as Holliday and has one of the film's best dialogue scenes when he confronts the man he once looked up to. Ryan isn't as key as I had hoped and the narrative keeps him to the side for the majority of the film. The support cast are mainly good enough for the genre but it is Garner and Robards who dominate the whole thing.

Overall this is a solid and enjoyable period western. The dark revenge and hatred within Wyatt is hinted at but it is only really Garner who seems to want to really bring it out of his character as the film only toys with it while staying in firmly old-fashioned territory. Could have been a lot more interesting then but still manages to be an enjoyable western for fans of the genre as it was before changing in the late sixties.

A Lesser-Known 'Earp' Movie

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 15 June 2006]

Here is yet another Wyatt Earp story. I wasn't aware of this version until early in the summer of 2005. I thought I had seen them all. Judging by the amount of reviews in here, I wasn't alone in not knowing about this film. I am glad I got it, but It was just okay; nothing special.

None of the three top characters: James Garner as Earp, Jason Robards as "Doc Holliday" or Robert Ryan as "Ike Clanton" can match up to their best of their counterparts in other Earp films.....but they were still pretty good and certainly three famous actors. The only one who might have been a little out of place was Robards, who played a little too subdued "Doc."

Still, the similarities are there in all the Earp movie versions including this one: the gunfight at the OK Corral, the courtroom trials, the train scene near the end, Holliday's illness, etc. One thing missing from this is any love interest, which actually was nice to have left out for once.

One of the best tellings of the Earp-Clanton feud

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 15 May 2005]

The story of the showdown between the brothers Earp and the Clanton gang is certainly as much a part of American mythology as the Puritans on the first Thanksgiving or Lincoln at Gettysburg. Hollywood certainly loves to tell the tale over and over again. In fact this is director John Sturges's second telling.

The Gunfight at the OK Corral done in 1956 by this director had as the climax the famous gunfight. Here in Hour of the Gun, Sturges starts his story with the gunfight and the results afterward.

Ike Clanton played by Robert Ryan in his usual grim fashion is not about to let Wyatt Earp triumph after killing some of his gang and his kin. He sets in motion a series of events that bring tragedy on the Earp family and a sinister turn in the character of Wyatt Earp.

The usual lackadaisical and quizzical James Garner is also pretty grim in this picture. He's throwing away the law he's sworn to uphold and the set of moral rules he lives by. And it's tearing away his character which is something Doc Holiday is deeply concerned with.

James Garner ranks right up there with all the fine actors like Henry Fonda, Burt Lancaster, Randolph Scott, Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell who have played Earp. James Garner never turned a bad performance in on the screen and he even got to play Wyatt Earp again in Sunset for Blake Edwards.

And Jason Robards, Jr. goes every step of the way with Garner as Doc Holiday. Holiday is the usual cynical alcoholic who's a jaded idealist and recognizes Earp as the real deal hero. His concern for Earp's character disintegration registers well in his performance.

Watch for a young Jon Voight, pre-Midnight Cowboy, as Curly Bill Brocius, a Clanton gang member.

This is a real western classic. And except for Hugh O'Brian's television series, the most accurate portrayal of the OK Corral events.

Good revenge western with magnificent duo protagonist : James Garner/Earp and Jason Robards/Holliday playing the famous gunfighters

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 20 June 2006]

The film takes place from October 26, 1881 to April 15, 1882 . Tombstone , Arizona , at the OK Corral , hoodlums from evil Ike Clanton (Robert Ryan , he was 57 at the time that the film was made , though his role Ike was only 34 years old) confront gunplay against Wyatt Earp (James Garner) , his brothers Virgil (Frank Converse played Earp's elder brother, in spite of the fact that he was ten years James Garner's junior) , Morgan (Melville) and joining forces with an ill-fated Doc Holliday (Jason Robards) . Members from Clanton gang result dead and as revenge Ike orders kill to Earp's brother . A furious Wyatt Earp swears vengeance and with help his friend Doc will do pay one for one the killers his brother.

This traditional western deals what happens later the gun-play at Tombstone . It's a sequel from superior version and more famous actors (Douglas and Lancaster) by the same director ¨Gunfight at the OK Corral¨(1957) . Prior to production , United Artists had made it quite clear to director John Sturges that none of the primary roles were to be filled by the actors who played the same characters in Sturges' previous Wyatt Earp film . Wanting to distinguish this film from the previous one , they demanded different actors be cast in the roles . The main character is a historical figure , in this case the sheriff Wyatt Earp who participated the most known duel occurred in the western town of Tombstone in 1881 that has been brought to the big screen many times as in the classic "My Darling Clementine" in 1946 directed by John Ford with Henry Fonda and Victor Mature , the famous "Gunfight at O.K. Corral" (1957) by specialist John Sturges who would resume the same story in this "The Hour of the Gun" (1967) ; the demystifying "Doc" (Frank Perry, 1971) with Harris Yulin and Stacy Keach or the more modern "Tombstone: The Legend of Wyatt Earp" (George P. Cosmatos, 1993) with Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer and ¨Wyatt Earp¨ (Lawrence Kasdan, 1994) with Kevin Costner and Dennis Quaid . ¨Hour of guns¨ packs an enjoyable and glimmer cinematography by Lucien Ballard . This thrilling film contains a spectacular and atmospheric musical score by the great Jerry Goldsmith . The motion picture was professionally directed by John Sturges.

The picture was based correctly on real events , thus : In 1879 Wyatt and his brothers and Doc Holliday arrived in Tombstone . Virgil became the town marshal . Trouble brewed up among the Earp gang and Clanton-McLaury faction which resulted the explosive showdown that lasted thirty seconds and Virgil and Morgan were badly wounded . Less than a year after the incident , Morgan was killed in an ambush . In response Wyatt and Holliday tracked down and shot the two man they considered to be Morgan's killers, and were forced to elude a pursuing posse in Colorado . Far from fitting the popular description of a stand-off among good guys and bad guys some historians consider the incident OK corral to be nothing but cold blooded murder of the Clanton and McLaurys some of whom were unarmed,by the Earps and Doc . The Earps always maintained the show down was fought in self-defense . Wyatt Earp lived on until 1929 but will always be remembered as the hero of OK Corral , however Doc , an alcoholic dentist turned gambler and gunman, will die soonest .

Most definitely NOT the way it happened.

[benbrae76 · 4/10 · 10 October 2017]

The producers of "Hour of the Gun" proudly portray after the credits that "THIS PICTURE IS BASED ON FACTS. THIS IS THE WAY IT HAPPENED." But it's very far from being how things happened.

Sheriff Johan Behan's name was changed to Jimmy Bryan for some reason unknown to me.

The dialogue in Wyatt's hearing (Judge Wells W. Spicer) was pure nonsense (I have the transcript of the Spicer hearing). There was no reference of the deal Wyatt Earp made to Ike Clanton to betray the Cowboys. The transcript is online for anyone to read.

The shootout wasn't at the OK Corral as shown, but in a side street on the other side of the block. (Doc Holliday was still in Freemont St.) The bodies in the coffin window were placed wrongly.

Doc Holliday played by a far too old Jason Robards (Doc was only 36 when he died) wasn't a killer either by reputation or profession as inferred, he was a dentist. The shootout wasn't even made famous until 1913.

Morgan Earp didn't die on a pool table, he hit the ground as soon as he was shot.

Pete Spence wasn't shot dead by Earp at a desert railroad stop, but died in 1914 and is buried in the Globe, Arizona cemetery, in an unmarked plot next to Phin Clanton. (In June 1883, Spence was working as a deputy sheriff in Georgetown, New Mexico, when he severely pistol-whipped Rodney O'Hara, killing him. He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to a 5-year term in the Yuma Arizona Territorial Penitentiary'. Less than 18 months later he was granted a full pardon by the territorial governor. He operated a goat ranch south of Globe, Arizona near the Galiuro Mountains with his old friend, Phin Clanton, and ran mule teams that were used to bring supplies into the Globe area. Phin Clanton died in 1906, and Spence married Phin's widow four years later on April 2, 1910, using his real name of Elliot Larkin Ferguson.)

Curly Bill Brocious was not shot outside a saloon but at a Cowboy encampment way out of town. The Earps were surprised when they came across it.

After the killing of Brocious, the "vendetta ride" was over, and Earp killed no more.

Billy Claiborne was killed in an argument by "Buckskin" Frank Leslie who was tending bar at the Oriental Saloon on November 14, 1882 when Claiborne, who was very drunk, began using insulting and abusive language. Claiborne left the bar. A short time later Leslie also left the saloon at which time Claiborne raised his rifle and fired, missing Leslie. Leslie returned fire and hit Claiborne in the chest.

Ike Clanton and his brother Phineas were charged with cattle-rustling and pursued by detective Jonas V. Brighton. On June 1, 1887, at Jim Wilson's Ranch on Eagle Creek, south of Springerville, Arizona, Phin Clanton surrendered, but Ike resisted and was shot dead. But certainly not by Wyatt Earp.

There are many other errors in the movie, but the above should be enough to suggest that this movie was most definitely NOT the way it happened.

But then by using the magic words "based on", the movie-makers can get away with anything.

Great Western...... Underrated.

[mike-1730 · 10/10 · 27 February 2005]

I am surprised that there are so few comments posted on this gem of a western. The movie has a slightly documentary style and some reviewers have accused it of having cold and unsympathetic characterisation. I think that the Wild Bunch apart, this is the finest western of the sixties. Garner, acting against type, is a superb Wyatt Earp. Jason Robards depiction of the doomed consumptive dentist Doc Holliday, loyal, witty, infinitely deadly, is a triumph. This movie is purely about revenge, one man's determination to kill his brothers assassins. No frills, no boring love interest, just an intense pursuit until the final brilliantly executed showdown in Mexico. The score is superb, the cinematography to die for. Sturges finest movie. Not available on Video or DVD in England, which is a scandal.

Good western avoids a lot of the western clichés...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 15 May 2008]

There are no dance hall girls, barroom brawls, supporting characters supplying comic relief and no starry-eyed heroine for the hero in HOUR OF THE GUN, a good, solid western that maintains interest throughout its running time while avoiding all the usual western clichés.

But since it's a tale of vendetta, there are plenty of shootouts with bad guys and JAMES GARNER has a fine time disposing of a batch of ornery guys, killers and robbers who deserve to bite the dust. He's fine as Wyatt Earp, playing the role with a serious demeanor, never once cracking a smile, as he and his sidekick, Doc Holliday (JASON ROBARDS, JR.) decide to take matters into their own hands when it comes to exacting justice for the death of his younger brothers.

Filmed in color, the scenery is beautifully photographed and there's an interesting Jerry Goldsmith score that accompanies all of the action and suspense without being too obtrusive. JON VOIGT makes his film debut as a member of the Clanton gang and ROBERT RYAN is the leader of that gang responsible for most of the killings.

John Sturges directed from a concise script by Edward Anhalt and he makes the most of the Mexican locations.

Summing up: Sturdy western is enjoyable and deserves appreciation by a wider audience.

So many stories of the Earps...all are different.

[milwhitt702 · 2/10 · 11 September 2011]

There must have been 20 actors or more playing Wyatt Earp. The first one I saw was Richard Dix "Tombstone, the town too tough to Die", then Randolph Scott Frontier Marshal, and many to follow. A lot of recent movies indicate that Virgil and Morgan were shot the same night, when actually Virgil was December 1881, and Morgan killed three months later in March. In this movie with James Garner, I noticed there was no mention of Sheriff Johnny Behan, a large character in the true story. Also Wyatt did not kill Ike Clanton and it showed at the end of the movie. From my info Ike was killed rustling cattle years later after Wyatt had left Tombstone for good. The character Doc and Wyatt were alway played by older men, actually Wyatt was 33 at the time and Doc was about 35. The best one was Bruce Boxleitner "I married Whatt Earp". Also there was no mention of any women, Mattie Earp, Josephine Marcus Earp, Allie Earp (Virgil's wife) or Big Nose Kate Elder. A lot was left out.

Garner doesn't smile in this one.

[Poseidon-3 · 15 June 2006]

Director Sturges, having filmed the highly popular "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral", but also having been chided for it's historical inaccuracy, followed it up about a decade later with this sequel. Here, the tone is different (along with all the cast) and it purports, in a title card during the credits, to portray all the facts as they happened. Though he did strive for a more realistic tone and stuck closer to the truth this time, the film (like virtually all films!) is still not completely accurate. Garner plays Wyatt Earp, Marshall of Tombstone, Arizona, who is enmeshed in the legendary gunfight (recreated here) and then forced to stand trial for inappropriately killing the men involved. When his is proved innocent, Ike Clanton (Ryan) vows revenge and starts trying to pick off Garner and his two brothers. Garner then, along with old pal Doc Holiday (Robards), begins tracking down and exterminating Ryan's gang, desperately trying to settle the score, even at the expense of his own peace of mind, as Robards concurrently dwindles from consumption. This is a deliberately paced movie and a rather bleak one. There is no room for much humor of any sort (though there are a couple of colorfully named characters such as Texas Jack and Turkey Creek) and there are no significant women in the film at all. Garner gives a solid performance as the rather oppressed lawman, torn between justice and procedure. A lot of his fans may have been disappointed in seeing him so dour and without showing his greatest attribute which is sarcastic vulnerability blended with easygoing charm, but it's likely that he welcomed the opportunity to stretch and play a more serious role. Robards is fine as well, establishing a nice chemistry with Garner and getting the chance to engage in some meaty dialogue. Ryan doesn't appear on screen as much as one would like, but his presence adds gravity to his role and he's always worth watching. A large number of established and up-and-coming actors appear in supporting roles. Windom gives a colorful performance in a brief role and it's fun to see Voight near the start of his career. Bull and Swenson would later co-star on the long-running series "Little House on the Prairie". Nice scenery and good music add to the film, though it can be a bit tiresome in spots. Sometimes it feels as if it's just a series of drab scenes interrupted by bursts of violence every so often. The script occasionally seems under-baked also. One sequence involves Robards and Garner recruiting several guns to aid them in their mission (ala "The Magnificent Seven") but this leads nowhere in the end. The large cast tends to be either underutilized or killed off with haste. Western fans will likely have a higher tolerance for the film than others. Garner's fans will either embrace the change of pace or be disappointed by it.

Delivers the goods for Western fans.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 25 September 2016]

Instead of telling the familiar Wyatt Earp - Doc Holliday story as it leads up to the shootout at the OK Corral, this film actually *begins* with the shootout and shows us all that came after (it purports to be based on fact). Earp (James Garner) and Doc (Jason Robards) are targeted by ruthless businessman Ike Clanton (Robert Ryan) and his minions. Earp, similarly, is motivated to strike back at Clanton and company when they target his brothers Morgan and Virgil.

Once again, director John Sturges ("Bad Day at Black Rock", "The Magnificent Seven") is right at home in this genre, but the script by Edward Anhalt isn't terribly inspired. Ultimately, this plays like a pretty standard revenge saga, but it's helped by efficient filmmaking and a typically nice Jerry Goldsmith music score. There are certainly good moments throughout, especially in scenes with Garner and Robards, who are believable as friends, loyal to each other through thick and thin. Especially potent is when Doc has figured out Earps' agenda. Earp claims that the mission to go after Clantons' men is all mandated by the law, but Doc can see otherwise.

The cast is stocked with highly recognizable faces (Albert Salmi, Charles Aidman, William Schallert, William Windom, Lonny Chapman, etc.), including a future star in the form of Jon Voight (cast as Curly Bill Brocius), who was two years away from "Midnight Cowboy" at this time. Garner and especially Robards are wonderful, although you won't ever see Garners' Earp show a lot of emotion. Ryan is excellent as always in one of his trademark villain roles. But it's the moving relationship between Earp and Doc that is the heart of the film.

Not a great, or especially memorable experience, but it does entertain in solid enough fashion.

Seven out of 10.

Beyond The Corral

[FightingWesterner · 7/10 · 20 May 2014]

Starting with the gunfight at the OK corral, this traces Wyatt Earp's life from the resulting trial, the maiming and murder of his brothers, the reprisal killings and the final showdown with Ike Clanton.

Being that this is a pseudo-sequel to director John Sturges' own Gunfight At The OK Corral, this has the feeling of being dropped into the middle of a four-hour mini-series, jettisoning all the get-to-know- you stuff and romantic subplots of all the other Wyatt Earp movies and instead focusing on fast-moving action and tough dialog.

James Garner and Jason Robards step into the well-worn worn shoes of Earp and Doc Holliday, with Robard's performance easily upstaging that of Garner. Robert Ryan is okay and John Voight makes his almost debut, beating his long delayed first feature by a whisker!

Though not one of the all-time best, it's exciting and highly watchable. I have to say though, my favorite Wyatt Earp movie is still the one starring Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy.

A Kind of Sequel

[JamesHitchcock · 6/10 · 25 June 2016]

"Hour of the Gun" is one of two films John Sturges made about the notorious Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, the first being "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" itself from ten years earlier. It is sometimes seen as a kind of sequel to the earlier film, but does not star any of the same actors. Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday were played by Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas in the earlier film and here by James Garner and Jason Robards. Also, there is no direct continuity between the two films. "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" had incorrectly shown Ike Clanton as dying in the Gunfight; here he is correctly shown as surviving it by running away. (Clanton himself claimed to have been unarmed at the time, a claim which has been disputed).

"Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" the Gunfight comes as the final climax of the film; here it is the opening event, with the main part of the film detailing the subsequent feud between Earp, his brothers, Holliday and his other supporters and the Clanton gang. Sturges wanted the film to be more historically accurate than previous cinematic accounts of this subject, including his own previous effort and the notoriously inaccurate "My Darling Clementine". The Gunfight, therefore, is shown as a brief affair, lasting less than a minute with only three men (Billy Clanton and the two McLaurie brothers) killed. Earlier versions had made the shootout last for several minutes with a significantly higher death toll.

After the Gunfight, Ike Clanton swears vengeance for the deaths of his friends and brother, possibly motivated by guilt at his own failure to protect them. He has the Earps and Holliday charged with murder, but they are acquitted by the court. He and his gang then ambush first Virgil Earp, seriously injuring him, and then Morgan, killing him. Now it is Wyatt Earp's turn to seek revenge for the death of a brother. He forms a posse to hunt down and kill the surviving members of the Clanton Gang in what has become known as the Earp Vendetta Ride. In the film's one major historical inaccuracy their last victim is Ike himself. (In reality Ike Clanton was killed by another lawman, Jonas Brighton, who had no connection to the Earps).

I was not particularly impressed by Garner as Earp, who seemed to find it difficult to step into the shoes of Lancaster and Henry Fonda who had played the role in "My Darling Clementine". Modern audiences might also find him wanting when compared to Kevin Costner in "Wyatt Earp" from the nineties. I found that Garner was rather too taciturn and unemotional and that he did not really convey in any depth the psychological development which Earp undergoes during the film, from an upright, by- the-book lawman in the early scenes to the later man obsessed with revenge and quite prepared to go outside the law to avenge his dead brother. Robards was not too bad as Holliday if one can overlook the fact that he was too old for the role. (Robards was 45 at the time the film was made; Holliday was only 30 at the time of the Gunfight, and died at 36). Robert Ryan was quite good as Ike, crediting him with a certain intelligence and making him more than a mere thug (which is how he is sometimes portrayed).

As a revenge Western, "Hour of the Gun" is a relatively good one, with some decent action sequences, but compared to the earlier "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" or the later "Wyatt Earp" it lacks the monumentality and the sense of the epic which I find appropriate to a story which is, after all, one of the great legends of the American West. 6/10

Good but not great.

[gkhege · 7/10 · 20 December 2018]

Many years ago I was an elected Sheriff and was invited out to Tombstone. My wife and young son came along. Being a movie buff since childhood, I was excited about seeing the actual town and most importantly, the OK Corral. After the long hot drive to Tombstone, I could only imagine what it must have been like to ride a horse there. I would never go back. I was surprised to see how small the actual corral is and to find out the gunfight never took place there. This movie has some great actors and I have watched it over twenty-five times. It never gets any better or worse.

"I know you. You can't live like me," says Doc Holliday to Wyatt Earp. Wyatt Earp shows that he can

[Terrell-4 · 8/10 · 16 December 2008]

The gunfight at the O.K. Corral is just over. Bodies lie in the dust. Now the killing really begins. Please note that elements of the plot are discussed, but first, a civics lesson. Ike Clanton (Robert Ryan) is determined to buy or shoot his way into power in Arizona. The territory sooner or later will be a state. Clanton knows all those "Easterners" are moving in with their own ideas of law, order and who should be in control. Standing in his way is Wyatt Earp (James Garner). Earp is a no-nonsense lawman who'll take down anyone who breaks the law. He's fast enough with a gun and ready enough to use it that he keeps getting in Clanton's way. If that doesn't frustrate Clanton enough, Earp has his two brothers to back him up, along with his good friend, Doc Holliday (Jason Robards). Clanton makes his play to eliminate the Earps with the shootout at the corral. By now the movie is only ten minutes over. The gunfight itself takes 30 seconds, just as it did in real life.

Hour of the Gun tells us what happened next. Clanton brings charges of murder against Earp and Holliday. They are narrowly acquitted. Clanton follows up with back shootings of Earp's brothers, leaving Virgil crippled and Morgan dead. Earp is not going to back down and now the grudge is personal. Holliday will stick with Earp. Clanton is going to use the law as well as his gang to run Earp out of the Territory or see him dead. Earp is going to legally go after the men he suspects attacked his brothers. Legally, he has warrants for their arrest. Legally, Doc Holliday points out to Earp, "Those aren't warrants you have there...those are hunting licenses." That's exactly how Earp sees things. There may be a legal posse set up by Clanton to run down Earp, but Earp is on a hunt of his own, aided by Holliday and a small group of "deputies."

Hour of the Gun is just as linear as that. It's also one of the grimmest and best directed Westerns most people have never seen. Too bad, because James Garner may have given the best performances of his career. He plays a man of deadly commitment to the law, and doesn't hesitate to use the law to justify his own brand of capital punishment before trial. Robards almost seems to recognize the weight of the role and what Garner is doing with it. There's no competition from Robards, just masterly support. As far as Robert Ryan goes, we don't see much of him, but when he's on he gives a lot of authority to Ike Clanton. Ryan provides the believable ruthlessness that leads to what turns out to be Earp's Vendetta Ride, the hunting down and killing of those who attacked his brothers.

Yet toward the end of the movie when Earp is determined to bring retribution directly to Clanton one way or another, Hour of the Gun slips down a notch on the old gun belt. Earp has given up any pretense of enforcing the law. With Clanton in Mexico, Earp is just going to kill him. It depends on Doc Holliday, of all people, to provide a bit of law-abiding morality. "The whole thing's hypocrisy," Doc tells Earp. "The rules they tack on say unless you're wearing that badge or a soldier's uniform, you can't kill. But they're the only rules there are. They're more important to you than you think. Play it that way, Wyatt, or you'll destroy yourself. I know you. You can't live like me." Wyatt Earp shows that he can.

This is a good movie that just happens to be a western. John Sturges directed it ten years after he turned out the Lancaster/Douglas big hit, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. As a lean, mean piece of movie making, Hour of the Gun puts the earlier film in the shade. Even so, Hour of the Gun was a flop. It is unrelentingly grim. There is no romance and almost no females, just lots of tension, a number of quick gunfights, several great line deliveries from Robards and Garner's performance. I think it's a better movie.

A highly regarded Western, John Sturges revisits Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957)

[jacobs-greenwood · 6/10 · 20 December 2016]

Producer-director John Sturges decided to revisit his much better directed Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) ten years later with a different cast of characters playing the historical figures - Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the Clantons et al. Whereas the famous shootout has been told and retold countless times throughout cinema's history, writer Edward Anhalt picks up the story where the others have left off to relate what happened between Earp (James Garner), Holliday (Jason Robards), and (specifically) Ike Clanton (Robert Ryan) after the dust had settled in Tombstone, Arizona. Ironically, Sturges had shown a fictional six minute long version of the gun battle in his original telling; he directs a more accurate 30 second version of it in this one, whose opening credits claim "this is how it really happened".

After the gunfight, city marshal come U.S. marshal Earp and gambler Holliday are accused of being cold blooded killers by Ike Clanton, who'd lost his son Billy in the exchange, and his paid for county sheriff Jimmy Bryan (Bill Fletcher). But Judge Spicer (William Schallert) finds them not guilty. However, the personal feud continues as Earp's lawmen brothers - Morgan and Virgil - are gunned down one by one by Clanton's hired hands (including Jon Voight in only his second film and an uncredited Ben Johnson) while the new city marshal (Michael Tolan) watches from the shadows. Assisted by Holliday, who's gotten remarkably healthier since suffering a near collapse from his fight with tuberculosis in Sturges's earlier film, and the Tucson Sheriff (Monte Markham) among others, Earp pursues each of the perpetrators under federal orders to bring them in for prosecution. But of course, circumstances prevent this so that each of the accused can be eliminated by various means which are more dramatically pleasing to the director and Western movie audiences. But it's not over yet! Finally, evidence of Holliday's condition is revealed and Earp still has to track down Ike in Mexico; whether historically accurate or not, I think both of these story lines could have been cut or better incorporated in the final release. Also absent in this Sturges film is any reference to the stigma attached to Earp for his association with his gambling gunfighter friend Holliday.

Solid Western with James Garner and Jason Robarbs, but I expected better

[Wuchakk · 5/10 · 15 December 2014]

Released in 1967, "Hour of the Gun" is John Sturges' sequel to his 1957 film "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral." Although he used the same production team he had to use different actors due to the length of time between the movies. Unlike other films covering the Earp/Clanton conflict, "Hour" starts with the famous gunfight and details the aftermath, focusing on Wyatt's avenging the Clanton's cowardly attacks on Virgil and Morgan.

"Hour" has so much going for it that I expected a better film. For one thing, how can you go wrong with James Garner as Wyatt? Unfortunately, his performance is decidedly one-note stoical, but it's not James' fault as he was just following the script (I suggest catching him in a Western from a year earlier, the excellent "Duel at Diablo"). The opening is great with the notable score by Jerry Goldsmith and the well-done gunfight at the OK Corral which, true to history, lasts only 30 seconds, unlike the elongated version of the previous film. But the story immediately bogs down with the complexities of the Earp/Clanton feud. As such, the rest of the film is essentially talk, talk, someone gets shot, talk, talk, someone gets shot, more talk, someone else gets shot, all combined with a lot of traveling across the Arizona countryside in one way or another (horse, train, carriage). I don't mind talk if it's interesting in one way or another, but this talk all centers around the complex conflict at hand.

Jason Robards is quite good as Holliday, but he's too old for the part; in real life Holliday was 30 years-old at the time of the gunfight and died six years later. The Mexican locations are magnificent, but the story is rather convoluted and is only engaging if you're up on the two factions and the characters thereof. Another problem is that there are NO WOMEN, except for a brief flash of the Earp's wives. Nevertheless, "Hour of the Gun" is certainly worth catching if you're interested in the Tombstone story and favor the quality cast. Speaking of which, Garner is laconically stalwart while Robert Ryan almost steals the show as the main heavy, Ike Clanton. But the film bombed at the box office and understandably so since the previous film with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas was a long fading memory; people were naturally lost concerning the complicated Earp/Clanton conflict. So I suggest viewing "Gunfight at the OK Corral" or, better yet, "Tombstone" (1993) or "Wyatt Earp" (1994) before viewing this one. That's what I just did and it helped me savor this version more than on my previous viewing.

On a side note, look closely and you'll spot Jon Voight as Curly Bill in one of his first feature films.

The film runs 100 minutes.

GRADE: B-

"OK" thereafter and for some the "hereafter".

[herlenwein · 10/10 · 27 February 2004]

10 years after "Gunfight at the OK Corral" John Sturges decided to direct this sequel. He did not lost his touch. If anyone was capable of teaching an actor how to draw and shoot a gun and capture that precision on screen it was Sturges. He knew how to dress them too. It may not have been realistic but it worked. James Garner is good as Earp. Stoic but not unfeeling. Good casting with Jason Robards as Doc Holliday. Even better that he was not scripted to cough himself to death in every scene. Whatever happened to "big nose" Kate? In fact, what happened to the women? Not one cast or credited. Robert Ryan plays Ike Clanton as a greedy land baron trying not to have modern times catch up to him. He dies well. With good photography and music I can strongly recommend this film especially if you want a different perspective of Earp and the times.

Story after gun fight at the OK corral.

[tcwaterford · 7/10 · 11 April 2022]

I have lost count of how many times, I have seen this movie.

It's James Garner (later of Rockford files fame) in the lead role playing Wyatt Erp out to avenge the murder of his Brothers.

In the movie Wyatt is accompanied by his great friend Doc Holiday, who is played by Jason Robards.

I won't spoil this old movie for others who.may never have seen it, except to say Garner is a wonderful Wyatt Erp and equally Robards is excellent in the part of Doc Holiday.

To conclude, though it was made in 1967 - 68, even today, 55 years later, it's still a good movie and very much worth seeing.

Good for a visit, but not for a revisit

[trudylyn · 4/10 · 2 September 2005]

Jason Robards and James Garner do their best with a script that rarely lets them into character. The sets are often left over from other familiar movies. The costumes are like samples from a cowboy re-enactor's catalog. The weapons are generic. The story is just boring enough to be believable. The soundtrack has it's odd and even interesting moments, but nothing to hum on your way to the fridge. Regardless of it's usefulness or otherwise in 1967 (nice tanker cars, by the way, John), this movie serves best as an antidote to all the Hallmark card hagiographies of Senor Earp. Also interesting in the light of it supposedly being a sequel is the fact that Garner went on two decades later to play Earp again, in "Sunset" with Bruce Willis. I just wish all the Earp and O.K. Corral fetishists didn't have such a fascination with mustaches. After awhile, it starts to look like a Jerry Collona convention.