Another photo gallery — this time, a handful of production photos from John Sturges’ Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (1957).
I’ve noticed something odd about this film. When you think about it, it’s easy to find fault with it. It’s too long. There’s a lot of talk. Lancaster’s part seems underdeveloped. It’s got some great character actors in it, but they have very little to do. And on and on.
But when you’re watching it, it’s terrific.
Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster chat near the corral set at Old Tucson.
This time, they make the scene at Boot Hill.
I love the way Frankie Laine pops up throughout the picture with stuff like —
“Boot Hill, Boot Hill
So cold, so still
There they lay side by side
The killers that died
In the gunfight at O.K. Corral”
Kirk screws around in a (obviously not a prop) wheelbarrow.
John Sturges directs Douglas, Lancaster and DeForest Kelley in the actual gunfight sequence.
And while we’re on the subject, where’s the Blu-ray of this (and Last Train From Gun Hill)?
Cool pix.
I agree with your comments about the weaknesses in the movie (and that they don’t matter when you are watching it). That would make an interesting list: “Movies that can be picked apart, but I don’t care, I think they’re great”
One reason is plays as terrific when you watch despite the obvious faults you mention is also alluded to above–the recurring Frankie Laine ballad. It’s just wonderful–really keeps one wanting to watch. The Technicolor VistaVision cinematography (Charles Lang) doesn’t hurt it either. Perhaps the least of John Sturges’ 50s Westerns yet still as irresistable to go back to as the others.
Frankie Laine was plainly the go to guy for those title songs for 50 Westerns. How can one not love his singing of the MAN WITHOUT A STAR song? And as for 3:10 TO YUMA, well, that for me is one of the most beautiful of all title songs for Western), and not only is Laine at his most soulful and virile, but the music for it by George Duning is beautifully incorporated into his score throughout. And one more thing, in all these movies, Frankie is back to sing the film out for the fadeout.
terrific shots
Love that picture of Kirk in the wheelbarrow.
Many thanks for these. I know it has many faults, but it is my favorite Earp/Holliday picture, bar none. That may be because Holliday is the most interesting character in the movie, but Earp is strong enough not to sink into invisibility (as he so often does). And I find its episodic nature particularly good for watching in snippets — whenever I want to look at something for just a few minutes, I pop in Gunfight.
And I think Lancaster and Douglas were never better paired than they were here….
The friendship as it develops between the 2 men is fascinating in the film. In life, I think they were more similar in many ways than Hollywood painted them.