The Weekend Western: The Gunfight at O.K. Corral
John Sturges classic take on the legendary shootout concentrates on the relationship between Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. The first half of the film sees them go from dislike to grudging respect and ultimately friendship. Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas excel during the quieter, character building scenes and you really get a sense of the bond developing between the straight-laced lawman and the flamboyant gambler.
In the second half it’s off to Tombstone and the feud between the Earp’s and the Clanton’s that comes to a head with the eponymous gunfight. Lancaster has less to do here, his love interest, Rhonda Fleming, left behind in Dodge City but Douglas, and his abusive relationship with Jo Van Fleet, is very much to the fore. Of all the films about Earp and Holliday this one seems the most centred on Doc and Douglas fills the part well, showing the characters self hatred in the scenes with Van Fleet and his admiration (almost idolisation) of Earp, the man he would have loved to have been. If there’s a fault with Douglas it’s simply that he looks to damn healthy to play the ailing gambler.
Lancaster is less showy as but no less effective. His Earp is a man of few words but he conveys the man’s inner turmoil at leaving Fleming behind without need of them. His only outward display of emotion is when his brother James is killed but even that is subdued and in keeping with the character.
