This movie is mostly notable as the only Western that Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas starred in together. It doesn't disappoint, as both Hollywood icons turn in fine performances. Douglas has a much juicier role as Doc Holiday, while Lancaster plays the strong and silent Wyatt Earp. I really liked this movie. I gave it six stars in my IMDb ranking. It scored 14 points in my ranking system, which is pretty high for a "town" Western.
Here are some positive things that stood out to me:
- Both Lancaster and Douglas had a tendency to overact when playing extroverted characters ("The Rainmaker", "The Indian Fighter"). Playing a consumptive, Douglas was forced to tone his character down. The stolid Earp played to Lancaster's strength. He's usually at his best when quiet and subdued (one exception being his fantastic Joe Erin in "Vera Cruz").
- Jo Van Fleet did a nice job as Kate the Whore. What better way to establish Holiday's character than to have his girlfriend pull a knife on him in the opening scene? You know you're a low life when......
- There's not much in this movie that's spectacular. Sturges just does all the small things right and they add up to an enjoyable experience. The soundtrack's great, Rhonda Fleming is gorgeous, there are no plot holes, he regularly gets the movie out of town into some nice landscapes, he casts a great henchman in John Ireland, there's plenty of humorous interplay between Doc and Earp, there's an very well staged shootout at the end.
I've read some criticisms of this movie. I can understand most of them, but don't think any are that big a deal:
- Probably the best criticism is that the wardrobes and sets are antiseptic. Everything looks beautiful...and that's the problem. There's not a dirt smudge, sweat stain or wrinkled shirt in the whole movie. But if you're going to dismiss a Western on this issue, you might as well throw out the whole pre-Leone lot. You just have to accept the fact the people in these primitive, ramshackle towns had access to excellent dry cleaning and hair dressing facilities.
- It could have been shorter. They probably spend too much time developing the characters pre-Tombstone. Rhonda Fleming may have the archetypal Western gratuitous female role, but that never seems to bother me when the female looks as good as Fleming.
- Some people seem to get wound up about historical accuracy. We see this a lot with Billy the Kid and Jesse James movies as well. Please. Get a life. Go make a documentary. Just stop whining.
- I would like to have seen a stronger Ike Clanton. Sturges ceded the heavy role to Ireland as Johnny Ringo. Although Ireland is solid, there was room for another villain.
It's always fun to compare the three major O.K. Corrall movies, "My Darling Clementine", "Gunfight at the O.K. Corrall" and "Tombstone" (I'll leave out Costner's "Earp", which I haven't seen in a while).
My favorite argument is about which movie has the best Doc Holiday, since he's by far the most interesting character. I think Victor Mature, Kirk Douglas and Val Kilmer are all excellent. As they should, all three actors steal their respective movies. Douglas and Kilmer bring more wit and humor to the role. Sturges doesn't do as good a job developing Holiday's background as a Southern aristocrat.
Overall, though, my favorite performance is by Victor Mature. I thought it worked better that he was more of a menace than a wit. He communicated more pathos to me. The scene where he finishes Hamlet's soliloquy for the drunken thespian is one of the most moving I've seen in a Western.
Also, Mature is the the only Holiday who doesn't survive the climactic gunfight. Didn't they all three participate because they didn't want to die in bed coughing their lungs up? What's the point of Douglas and Kilmer surviving? The Holiday attempt to commit suicide by gunfight is fully credible, unlike some other characters I can think of, like "The Wild Bunch" foursome, or Richard Boone and Claude Akins in "The Tall T" and "Comanche Station".
Finally, although none of these three dentists ever pulls a tooth, Mature does perform surgery. He's the only one that earns the title of "Doctor".