Strong and Moving!

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

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.

No need to recap the plot. I don't know how historically accurate the movie is, nor do I care. As a Western, it's just okay. Trouble is that despite all the gundowns and rivalries, there's no real menace. Except for the opening showdown, the many shootings simply drop out of a box and blow away with about that much emotive effect. And that's despite one of the most powerfully sinister actors in Hollywood, the great Robert Ryan, who I'm sorry to say is largely wasted among a crowded cast. Then too, I'm inclined to think that Jim Garner is miscast. As a tongue-in-cheek actor, he's arguably the best ever to emerge from TV. But here he's supposed to be an intimidating presence, which he's not. Plus his abundant natural charm is traded in for that of a dour colorless gunslinger. But then Maverick's a hard act to follow.No doubt about it, the movie's best part is the Holliday-Earp relationship. Interestingly, it teeters at times, but underneath there's a wary mutual respect that forms the movie's core. But what's with the girls. There are none. Instead, it's a 100-minutes of ugly mustachioed guys. Boy, location must have been a lot of fun. Speaking of location, the desert landscape is about as forbidding as a walk across the moon. No wonder they named the town Tombstone.All in all, the movie's a minor disappointment given the talent involved. My guess is the production staff tried to cover too many bases and ended by cluttering up dramatic tension with historical details. Or put another way, good history doesn't always make better drama.

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.

.... "Hour of the Gun" is almost addictive. Garner is quite superb and Robards may have never been better, or at least is much better than he was in "Julius Caesar" when he was apparently drunk all the time. He makes a fine if over-age Doc Holliday in a different key from "Tombstone"'s Val Kilmer or "Wyatt Earp"'s Dennis Quaid. The irony of this movie is the portrayal of Ike Clanton as the powerful, self-contained "jefe" of the outlaws, a sort of cross between Old Man Clanton (a genuine leader) and Curly Bill or John Ringo. The strategic omission of Ike's begging scene in the gunfight only underlines the writer's intention of raising the status of Ike Clanton so that the climactic gunfight has more weight than would have been possible had Ike been more accurately written. It is satisfying to see Wyatt kill Ike; too bad it never happened. The usual errors in holsters and hats may be overlooked (although it makes one value "Tombstone" more) but the journey from recognizable historical references to a trip to Mexico undocumented by any historian with whom I am acquainted and the offer of "Chief Marshall of Arizona" to Wyatt Earp is ludicrous. However this is not a documentary; it is Sturges' second half of "Gunfight at the OK Corral" and as such it stands as a Western - how is that put now? - "inspired by real events". All the women are omitted, Doc is from Baltimore(?), Brocius is killed strangely compared to what really happened, names are oddly changed, new characters introduced for no apparent reason, etc. The acting is better than the script. It makes a better movie than the facts.