Why so much hype?

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

This has turned out to be my longest review in the making, as I began watching "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" episode by episode once it began with the first story on the Encore Western Channel, estimating that to be back in June of 2016 or so. My viewing was made poignant around the third season I think, with Hugh O'Brian's passing on September 5th, 2016. Interestingly, if you catch a Western in which O'Brian appeared before this series began, it's often as a villain. Perhaps that's why, when you catch the traditional opening of each show, O'Brian is shown stepping out of the Marshal's office with that sly, 'cat that ate the canary' grin on his face, that seems to be saying, 'What am I doing here with a gig like this'? In alternate opening scenes in later seasons, O'Brian makes use of the same expression to varying degrees, so maybe it was just his way of being thankful for the role.Stories in the series seem to be loosely based on Wyatt Earp's career as a lawman and his affiliation with characters of the Old West like Doc Holliday, the Clanton Gang, and members of his own family, like brothers Virgil and Morgan Earp. Many of the stories in the series were inspired by the real life Wyatt Earp biographer Stuart Lake, whose reputation for accuracy is more likely to be described as fictional. In fact, Hugh O'Brian has a line in Episode #1.29 - 'The Pinkertons', which seems to address this when he says - "Most of that stuff's (referring to history) just written from hearsay by men that are too lazy to dig up the facts". I thought that was pretty interesting.Generally though, the series does an admirable job in tracing Wyatt Earp's career as a Deputy U.S. Marshal, with Season One following him from Ellsworth, Kansas, on to Wichita (5th episode), and then to Dodge City for the start of the Second Season. With O'Brian's matinée idol good looks and fine physique, it was only a matter of time before the show's producers would write him into a beefcake scene. That happened with Episode #2.39 - 'Wyatt's Love Affair'. Don't let the title of the story fool you though, O'Brian's shirt gets torn off during a fight scene against the foreman of a cattle outfit.With all these early TV Westerns, I'm always on the lookout for celebrity names that eventually went on to bigger and better things. There weren't a lot of big names to appear in this series, some of the familiar character actors of the era who appeared in the show included Bob Steele, Gordon Jones, Harry Lauter, Glenn Strange and Richard Devon. However a few noteworthy future stars who made it into the stories included Angie Dickinson, James Coburn and Louise Fletcher.One thing that happened regularly throughout the course of the series run was the use of the same actor for different roles in different seasons. An example would be Douglas Fowley and Myron Healey, both of whom portrayed Doc Holliday at different times. I particularly liked Fowley's version as an irascible gunman who continuously goaded Wyatt to be more forceful by killing more outlaws. Instead, Marshal Earp probably whacked as many bad guys over the head as Chuck Connors shot and killed in his own series, "The Rifleman".With two hundred and twenty seven episodes, it would be hard to pick a favorite, but one of the more memorable ones, even if entirely made up, was one that brought a host of legendary gunmen to Wyatt's aid in a gunfight. In Episode #2.72 - 'The Time For All Good Men', Wyatt is joined by gunmen Ben Thompson, Mannen Clements, John Wesley Hardin, and Clay Allison, along with Doc Holliday and Bat Masterson, against a gang of outlaws intent on killing Earp. Not much credibility to the story, but it was cool to have all those names in one place at one time.The final season of the show introduced the OK Corral in the first episode, and the stories built up to the famous showdown between the Earps and Doc Holliday against the Clantons and McLaurys on October 28th, 1881. The final four episodes take an interesting approach. Instead of portraying the Gunfight at the OK Corral entirely from start to finish, it's shown in a series of flashbacks based on Wyatt Earp's court testimony after the gunfight. What I found amazing was how accurately the event was portrayed from the standpoint of known, recorded history. The real deal lasted only about thirty seconds with around thirty shots fired between the two factions. Trying to keep track, I came up with counts of 35, 36 and 39 through various replays, so if you're of a mind to do so, you might give it a try yourself if the opportunity ever presents itself.

When this series was on it was my favorite show. Obviously, Hugh O'Brian starred in every episode. His name should be shown at the top of the cast list for the main series page as well as each episode page.Season 1, Episode 1: Mr. Earp Becomes a Marshal Original Air Date: 6 September 1955Season 1, Episode 2: Mr. Earp Meets a Lady Original Air Date: 13 September 1955Season 1, Episode 3: Bill Thompson Gives In Original Air Date: 20 September 1955Season 1, Episode 4: Marshal Earp Meets General Lee Original Air Date: 27 September 1955Season 1, Episode 5: Marshal Earp's Romance Original Air Date: 4 October 1955Season 1, Episode 6: The Man Who Lied Original Air Date: 11 October 1955Season 1, Episode 7: The Gambler Original Air Date: 18 October 1955Season 1, Episode 8: The Killer Original Air Date: 25 October 1955Season 1, Episode 9: John Wesley Hardin Original Air Date: 1 November 1955Season 1, Episode 10: The Bank Robbers Original Air Date: 8 November 1955

For my wife when she was a girl, Hugh O'Brien was Wyatt Earp. A cleaner better hero would be hard to find. When he finally killed someone, Wyatt was devastated and the star portrayed it beautifully. Oddly, there is some evidence this was historically accurate. No semi-professional gambling, no failed businesses, no "wives" and yet the staging of the famous Tombstone street fight was, garb apart, among the least inaccurate. Based on Stewart Lake's imaginative biography this series did for the 1950s what Lake's book did for the 1930s: cemented the Legend of Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp for as long as anyone remembers the Old West. Recently (2009) I watched the episodes contained in a boxed set of DVDs and was frankly astonished at Hugh O'Brien's portrayal of Wyatt Earp. There was an edge, a darkness to his Earp that I missed when I was young. O'Brien certainly captures the nobility that Lake's book placed to the fore but the actor also captured very subtly the coldness, the reserve, the calculating quality of the real Earp. I now, half a century after first watching "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp", have belatedly realized what a fine actor Hugh O'Brien was. Thank you, Mr O'Brien!

I was a big fan of this show back when it was popular; I thought Wyatt Earp was 'the thing'. There was always plenty of action from Wyatt and Doc, and when they weren't taking care of business, Shotgun Gibbs could be counted on for some good gunplay. Two of my favorite western actors were in this one which was another reason for my interest - Myron Healy and Morgan Woodward, 2 of tinseltown's primo bad guys [who did stoop to playing good guys every now and then]. To see these two actors now I must watch some old western that might pop up on tv from time to time. I'll wager the real Wyatt wasn't a handsome, flashy dresser like O'Brien: more like an unwashed thug. Ah, Hollywood.