The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
... View MoreAs somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.
... View MoreThe movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.
... View MoreI think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
... View MoreI just watched this on TCM free on-demand. The story starts with the famous Gun Fight at the OK corral as Wyatt Earp (James Garner), Doc Holliday (Jason Robards) and the other Earp brothers confront Ike Clanton's gang (Robert Ryan). The story is in some ways a sequel to John Sturges previous film 'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'(1957) with different actors. The plot here deals with the aftermath of the famous gun battle, the court trials, and the revenge killings that followed. I felt that Jason Robards' was the standout performance here by far. His fine depiction of hard drinking seriously ill Doc Holliday is both memorable and believable. One standout scene is after Doc has an argument with Wyatt Earp and gets punched for what he says, his reaction to that punch is one only a man of Mr. Robards' talents could express so well; he was hurt both physically and emotionally at the same time by the punch. The punch also revealed just how sick he was in spite of his hiding it. Mr. Robards is, in my opinion, one of the greatest screen actors and often underrated as such. James Garner was competent, yet only had to act like a tougher less good-natured version of his Bret Maverick TV persona, there really wasn't much range to his Wyatt Earp. Robert Ryan was also in the film, unfortunately he had very little screen time or decent scenes to show off his usually impressive talents; any decent actor could have played his role. Overall it was a good if formula western with no real surprises to brag about. The reason it's worth watching is for Jason Robards' stand out performance, some excellent dialog, and fine music by Jerry Goldsmith. At the end the TCM host said this was considered John Sturges finest western, I have to disagree, a few of his other works 'The Magnificent Seven' and 'Last Train From Gun Hill' were at least as good or better. Don't get me wrong, this is a good western, just nothing special or different like some of his others works were. I give this film a 6 out of 10 stars.
... View MoreReleased in 1967, "Hour of the Gun" is John Sturges' sequel to his 1957 film "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral." Although he used the same production team he had to use different actors due to the length of time between the movies. Unlike other films covering the Earp/Clanton conflict, "Hour" starts with the famous gunfight and details the aftermath, focusing on Wyatt's avenging the Clanton's cowardly attacks on Virgil and Morgan. "Hour" has so much going for it that I expected a better film. For one thing, how can you go wrong with James Garner as Wyatt? Unfortunately, his performance is decidedly one-note stoical, but it's not James' fault as he was just following the script (I suggest catching him in a Western from a year earlier, the excellent "Duel at Diablo"). The opening is great with the notable score by Jerry Goldsmith and the well-done gunfight at the OK Corral which, true to history, lasts only 30 seconds, unlike the elongated version of the previous film. But the story immediately bogs down with the complexities of the Earp/Clanton feud. As such, the rest of the film is essentially talk, talk, someone gets shot, talk, talk, someone gets shot, more talk, someone else gets shot, all combined with a lot of traveling across the Arizona countryside in one way or another (horse, train, carriage). I don't mind talk if it's interesting in one way or another, but this talk all centers around the complex conflict at hand.Jason Robards is quite good as Holliday, but he's too old for the part; in real life Holliday was 30 years-old at the time of the gunfight and died six years later. The Mexican locations are magnificent, but the story is rather convoluted and is only engaging if you're up on the two factions and the characters thereof. Another problem is that there are NO WOMEN, except for a brief flash of the Earp's wives. Nevertheless, "Hour of the Gun" is certainly worth catching if you're interested in the Tombstone story and favor the quality cast. Speaking of which, Garner is laconically stalwart while Robert Ryan almost steals the show as the main heavy, Ike Clanton. But the film bombed at the box office and understandably so since the previous film with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas was a long fading memory; people were naturally lost concerning the complicated Earp/Clanton conflict. So I suggest viewing "Gunfight at the OK Corral" or, better yet, "Tombstone" (1993) or "Wyatt Earp" (1994) before viewing this one. That's what I just did and it helped me savor this version more than on my previous viewing. On a side note, look closely and you'll spot Jon Voight as Curly Bill in one of his first feature films.The film runs 100 minutes.GRADE: B-
... View MoreThere must have been 20 actors or more playing Wyatt Earp. The first one I saw was Richard Dix "Tombstone, the town too tough to Die", then Randolph Scott Frontier Marshal, and many to follow. A lot of recent movies indicate that Virgil and Morgan were shot the same night, when actually Virgil was December 1881, and Morgan killed three months later in March. In this movie with James Garner, I noticed there was no mention of Sheriff Johnny Behan, a large character in the true story. Also Wyatt did not kill Ike Clanton and it showed at the end of the movie. From my info Ike was killed rustling cattle years later after Wyatt had left Tombstone for good. The character Doc and Wyatt were alway played by older men, actually Wyatt was 33 at the time and Doc was about 35. The best one was Bruce Boxleitner "I married Whatt Earp". Also there was no mention of any women, Mattie Earp, Josephine Marcus Earp, Allie Earp (Virgil's wife) or Big Nose Kate Elder. A lot was left out.
... View More.... "Hour of the Gun" is almost addictive. Garner is quite superb and Robards may have never been better, or at least is much better than he was in "Julius Caesar" when he was apparently drunk all the time. He makes a fine if over-age Doc Holliday in a different key from "Tombstone"'s Val Kilmer or "Wyatt Earp"'s Dennis Quaid. The irony of this movie is the portrayal of Ike Clanton as the powerful, self-contained "jefe" of the outlaws, a sort of cross between Old Man Clanton (a genuine leader) and Curly Bill or John Ringo. The strategic omission of Ike's begging scene in the gunfight only underlines the writer's intention of raising the status of Ike Clanton so that the climactic gunfight has more weight than would have been possible had Ike been more accurately written. It is satisfying to see Wyatt kill Ike; too bad it never happened. The usual errors in holsters and hats may be overlooked (although it makes one value "Tombstone" more) but the journey from recognizable historical references to a trip to Mexico undocumented by any historian with whom I am acquainted and the offer of "Chief Marshall of Arizona" to Wyatt Earp is ludicrous. However this is not a documentary; it is Sturges' second half of "Gunfight at the OK Corral" and as such it stands as a Western - how is that put now? - "inspired by real events". All the women are omitted, Doc is from Baltimore(?), Brocius is killed strangely compared to what really happened, names are oddly changed, new characters introduced for no apparent reason, etc. The acting is better than the script. It makes a better movie than the facts.
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