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.

I get the biggest kick out of the brief summary of this movie on it's IMDb title page - 'Marshal Wyatt Earp kills a couple of men of the Clanton-gang in a fight'. Really - a fight? Come on - it was the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral!!! Let's give it a little more credit.

Well director John Sturges picked up somewhat where he left off with 1957's "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral". That picture did a pretty good job of defining the relationship between Wyatt Earp and his friend Doc Holliday, a case of a square deal as defined by the lawman. That relationship continues here though not without it's abrasive moments. I liked the idea of Jason Robards portraying Holliday even though he was almost a decade older than his real life counterpart at the time. He seemed to have the right amount of ego and attitude to mirror Holliday's temperament.

The problem I get into with these films is that I tend to focus in on the historical inaccuracies and this one seemed to have it's fair share. Perhaps the biggest one that could have been easily rectified by simply checking was in the spelling of the name 'McLaury'. When the dead men from the Gunfight are put on display, the names of Frank and Tom are spelled 'McLowery'. Virtually any reference source one could look up uses the 'McLaury' spelling.

There are others of course. Students of the Old West will know that Wyatt Earp didn't shoot Ike Clanton in a final showdown; he was killed resisting arrest for cattle rustling some six years following the infamous gunfight. As far as the historical Ike Clanton goes, I don't think you'd have ever caught him wearing a business suit. As a leader of the cowboy faction in the vicinity of Tombstone and along the border to Mexico, Clanton plied his trade of cattle rustling as a rough and tumble outlaw instead of a well spoken citizen.

The main idea the story got right, and one that most film treatments never go into, is that the Earp dominance of Tombstone ended following the events of the O.K. Corral. Wyatt stood trial for murder and was exonerated, while brother Virgil was wounded a couple months later, followed by Morgan's murder in March of 1882. Thus came to be what historians call the 'Earp Vendetta Ride', a term curiously not referred to in the story.

In general though, this movie is a pretty good Western and James Garner does an admirable job as Wyatt Earp, a characterization that's a lot more grim than that of Bret Maverick. I also refer the reader to one of Jon Voight's early screen appearances as Clanton associate Curly Bill Brocius, particularly to an opening scene when he's shown leaning against the wall of the train station. From a different angle it almost looks like the pose he used for the theatrical poster for "Midnight Cowboy".

Although inaccurate it far outweighs "Doc" made 4 years later. Garner does his best in portraying Earp as grim and unemotional, yet cool and unflinching. This was Earp's persona. Robards, although older than the real Holliday was at the time, also does well. I'm not so sure if the real Holliday was concerned with Earp losing his character. He was a loyal friend who was in it for a pound.

Robert Ryan is a superior actor, but Clanton wasn't a land baron. Clanton was a rustler/rancher, loud-mouth/coward that provoked the gunfight at the O.K.corral and lost the case for the prosecution by being a not-too-bright liar. I don't know if Ryan could be cast correctly to portray the real Ike Clanton.But he does well regardless. Earp also didn't really kill Ike.

This movie does explore the vigilante ride of Wyatt and Doc after the wounding of Virgil and the killing of Morgan Earp. Pete Spence was never a sheriff, and Sherm McMasters was a cowboy that informed for Wyatt. The movie is a superior western and as close to accurate as Hollywood came until "Tombstone" and "Wyatt Earp".

The mood is somewhat interesting but it wasn't a moral struggle for Wyatt and Doc in real life. They were doing what they felt was right, vengeance. Earp thought in very black and white terms, killing his brothers killers was the right thing to do in his mind. It didn't matter if it was against the law he often swore to protect as a peace officer in those western boom towns. He was always upright and correct in his profession as a lawman, but in matters of family he was not on the job and no longer wearing a badge. his duty to law enforcement no longer applied.