HOUR OF THE GUN (1967) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: John Sturges
James Garner, Jason Robards, Robert Ryan,
Albert Salmi, Steve Ihnat, William Windom,
William Schallert, Michael Tolan, Frank Converse
Most movies about Wyatt Earp end with the gunfight at the OK Corral. This one starts there and proceeds to tell a somewhat fictionalized account of what happened to Wyatt, Doc Holliday and Ike Clanton after the gunfight was over. Wyatt's played by a no-nonsense James Garner. Doc's played by Jason Robards, and as usual, it's Doc who has the most fun and gets the best lines. Ike's played by Robert Ryan, at about the midpoint between his roles in "The Professionals" and "The Wild Bunch". Director John Sturges lets the story play out in its own time. (The opening gunfight lasts less than a minute, about what the actual gunfight did.) Coincidentally, Sturges also made "Gunfight At the OK Corral" in 1956, and Garner would play Wyatt Earp again in Blake Edwards' "Sunset" in 1988.
