Tombstone

If you remember a few years back I reviewed famous Westerns starring John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, I thought that I would review other famous Westerns for this month. Let’s start the month off with one of my favorite Westerns, “Tombstone,” released in 1993.

Stories of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral have been stories told on television and theaters since they were invented. Peter Canavese said in his review, “In keeping with the Old West from whence the stories came, Hollywood has always worked overtime stretching and kneading fresh mythologies using plenty of dough and grains of truth.” For those who may know, out of every Wyatt Earp movie, “Tombstone” is the one that has so many fans, with many Western history specialists declare that it comes the closest out of every adaptation.

Strangely enough, “Tombstone’s” closest rival for historical accuracy was “Wyatt Earp,” released only seven months after “Tombstone.” Canavese noted, “The two films constituted a classic case of the "race for the screen." Kevin Costner had been planning on starring as Earp in the film to be made from a screenplay by Kevin Jarre (Glory). When Costner clashed with Jarre, he cut the screenwriter loose and teamed with Lawrence Kasdan to develop Wyatt Earp. Meanwhile, Jarre's script found its way to Kurt Russell and Buena Vista, who eagerly determined to beat the Costner version into theaters.”

Adding to the Hollywood story around “Tombstone” is its strange directorial source. Kevin Jarre was to direct this, but the studio did not allow him because of the script fights and a lack of confidence. Canavese noted, “According to Russell, he secretly arranged for credited director George P. Cosmatos to "ghost direct" the film according to the star's express instructions (including a daily shot list). Russell has said that his one-time co-star Sylvester Stallone recommended Cosmatos, as he had allegedly "ghost directed" Rambo: First Blood Part II for the actually in-charge Stallone.”

Despite the film’s many troubles in pre-production and production, the end product holds up well. Obviously, there are many historical inaccuracies in the script, mainly in the fusion of time, but stepping back, “Tombstone” does a pretty good job of telling the time where the Earp brothers went to Tombstone, Arizona looking to succeed financially but ending up in trouble with so many criminals. Along with old friend Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), Wyatt (Kurt Russell), Virgil (Sam Elliott) and Morgan Earp (Bill Paxton) find themselves – apparently protecting Virgil’s newly made weapons ban – in a gunfight with a lot of guns at the O.K. Corral.

The movie doesn’t end there, but continues to showcase the end results of that day, and the eventual results of every character involved. Canavese said, “Tombstone benefited from the renewed interest in Westerns following the previous year's Oscar-winning Clint Eastwood picture Unforgiven, but in hindsight, it also seems like a precursor to HBO's Deadwood series in its ambition and sprawling cast of characters. Future Deadwood star Powers Boothe commands the screen as "Curly Bill" Brocius, portrayed as the lightning-rod leader of a de facto gang referred to as "The Cowboys."”

Among the villains are Michael Biehn (playing Johnny Ringo), Stephen Lang, Thomas Haden Church, and Billy Bob Thornton. Also casted are Charlton Heston, Jon Tenny, Jason Priestley, Terry O’Quinn, Billy Zane, Michael Rooker, and Harry Carey, Jr. (Robert Mitchum gives narration since he had drop out of filming). Even though Dana Wheeler-Nicholson and Joanna Pacula, the real love interest is Dana Delany as the married Earp’s only girlfriend Josephine Marchus. Canavese noted, “Though Delany is, as always, a likeable presence, she cuts an anachronistic figure here, her scenes with Wyatt being among the film's least convincing.”

In the end, “Tombstone” tells pretty much everything you want from a Western, and despite it’s not always highly clever, it is rarely anything less than everything. Canavese ended his review by saying, “The film's cult has largely sprung up around the depiction of Doc Holliday, which—though sentimentalized and painted in broad dramatic flourishes—gives Kilmer what's easily one of his juiciest screen roles. Kilmer's laconic take on the TB-ridden Holliday turned the non sequitur "I'm your huckleberry" into a strangely enduring catch phrase for the genre.”

You should not have been reading this review if you hadn’t seen “Tombstone.” If you love Westerns and want to see a good take on Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, see this one because it is a must. Check it out and have a great time watching because, I promise, even for people who aren’t fans of Westerns, they will love this movie. It just has to be seen to be believed because this is a real powerful movie and you will get into this from beginning to end. With all the gunfights, the look of the film, when the team works in line, everything.

Look out next week when I look at a film that is a television adaptation in “Western movie.”