Hollywood made a bunch of bad historical films about the old west which just goes to prove that the public seemed to want to see this ridiculously romanticized version of cowboys and frontier justice. In particular, the studios made a ton of films about Jesse James and other bigger than life characters and villains from the west and almost none of these films were in any way accurate. The biggest problem is that the films took very minor characters and events and made them seem much more important than they really were. And, to spice things up, they used a lot of license with facts to make the films interesting. For example, Billy the Kid and Calamity Jane, to be quite blunt, were exceptionally ugly people--nothing like the pretty folks who portrayed then in films. But, ugly folks don't sell tickets--nor would a typical gunfight from this era--most of which involved one idiot shooting another in the back--not the heroic 'shootout in the town square' usually portrayed!
Here in "Frontier Marshall", the film is about Wyatt Earp and the OK Corral--probably THE most bastardized event on the frontier--and an event that was portrayed at least 173418 times in movies! There are the famous versions like "My Darling Clementine" and "Gunfight at the OK Corral" and lesser-known ones like "Frontier Marshall"--and quite a few in between. While my 173418 is a total exaggeration, IMDb lists at least 50 times he was portrayed--about 49 times too many if you ask me. If you care, "Frontier Marshall" was apparently the first to portray him--so it can be blamed for this proliferation!! And to think...all this for a shootout that only lasted about 30 seconds (seriously)! And, the truth be told, Earp and Doc Holliday was NOT seen as heroes at that time but as villains. Although the jury acquitted them, the judge commented that Earp used poor judgment and excessive force during the altercation in which two of the three killed by him and his deputies were unarmed!!! Now THAT'S the sort of film I want to see!
In this film, Earp is played by handsome Randolph Scott and Holliday (billed as 'Halliday' in this movie) is played by equally handsome Cesar Romero. As for Scott, he seemed to play Randolph Scott (which he was very adept at doing)--not Earp. In the film, Holliday is at least playing a doctor--a surgeon (he was actually a dentist but they needed him to be a surgeon in order to save the cute kid!) and drank because of a woman he lost (he actually most likely drank to cope with the symptoms of tuberculosis). But no matter--despite being about 80% wrong, the characters are quite entertaining and I am pretty sure the real life Earp AND Holliday would have loved this sort of heroic characterization.
The film is competently made but occasionally a bit heavy-handed such as poor little Pablo being shot...and then saved by the Doc as well as the lady on main street shooting it out! Yep, you didn't know that the famed gunfight involved a gun-slinging woman--at least in this film. And, Holliday dies in the fight--at least in this film. And, there really is not gunfight at any corral in this movie either! If you can completely ignore the fact that it's all poo, it's watchable and not much more. The bad and anticlimactic ending sure didn't help with either.
Here in "Frontier Marshall", the film is about Wyatt Earp and the OK Corral--probably THE most bastardized event on the frontier--and an event that was portrayed at least 173418 times in movies! There are the famous versions like "My Darling Clementine" and "Gunfight at the OK Corral" and lesser-known ones like "Frontier Marshall"--and quite a few in between. While my 173418 is a total exaggeration, IMDb lists at least 50 times he was portrayed--about 49 times too many if you ask me. If you care, "Frontier Marshall" was apparently the first to portray him--so it can be blamed for this proliferation!! And to think...all this for a shootout that only lasted about 30 seconds (seriously)! And, the truth be told, Earp and Doc Holliday was NOT seen as heroes at that time but as villains. Although the jury acquitted them, the judge commented that Earp used poor judgment and excessive force during the altercation in which two of the three killed by him and his deputies were unarmed!!! Now THAT'S the sort of film I want to see!
In this film, Earp is played by handsome Randolph Scott and Holliday (billed as 'Halliday' in this movie) is played by equally handsome Cesar Romero. As for Scott, he seemed to play Randolph Scott (which he was very adept at doing)--not Earp. In the film, Holliday is at least playing a doctor--a surgeon (he was actually a dentist but they needed him to be a surgeon in order to save the cute kid!) and drank because of a woman he lost (he actually most likely drank to cope with the symptoms of tuberculosis). But no matter--despite being about 80% wrong, the characters are quite entertaining and I am pretty sure the real life Earp AND Holliday would have loved this sort of heroic characterization.
The film is competently made but occasionally a bit heavy-handed such as poor little Pablo being shot...and then saved by the Doc as well as the lady on main street shooting it out! Yep, you didn't know that the famed gunfight involved a gun-slinging woman--at least in this film. And, Holliday dies in the fight--at least in this film. And, there really is not gunfight at any corral in this movie either! If you can completely ignore the fact that it's all poo, it's watchable and not much more. The bad and anticlimactic ending sure didn't help with either.