Hour of the Gun (1967)

Director:

John Sturges

Writer:

Edward Anhalt (written by)

Release Date:

1968 (Austria)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

Wyatt Earp - hero with a badge or cold-blooded killer?

Plot:

Marshal Wyatt Earp kills a couple of men of the Clanton-gang in a fight. In revenge Clanton's thugs kill the marshal's brother. Thus, Wyatt Earp starts to chase the killers together with his friend Doc Holliday. |

Plot Keywords:

Gambling | Posse | Sanitorium | Revenge | Shotgun

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Aug. 8

6:15 PM

TCM

Cast

James Garner	...	Wyatt Earp (Tombstone city marshal / U.S. marshal)
Jason Robards	...	Doc Holliday
Robert Ryan	...	Ike Clanton
Albert Salmi	...	Octavius Roy (prosecuting attorney)
Charles Aidman	...	Horace Sullivan (defense attorney)
Steve Ihnat	...	Andy Warshaw (Clanton man)
Michael Tolan	...	Pete Spence (new Tombstone city marshal)
William Windom	...	Texas Jack Vermillion
Lonny Chapman	...	Turkey Creek Johnson
Larry Gates	...	John P. Clum
William Schallert	...	Judge Herman Spicer
Bill Fletcher	...	County Sheriff Jimmy Bryan
Karl Swenson	...	Dr. Charles Goodfellow
Austin Willis	...	Anson Safford
Monte Markham	...	Tucson Sheriff Sherman McMasters

Also Known As:

Fünf Geächteten, Die (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Aseiden hetki (Finland) [fi]
Hora de la pistola, La (Mexico) [es]
Hora de las pistolas, La (Spain) [es]
Ora delle pistole, L' (Italy) [it]
Ora tou pistoliou, I (Greece) [el]
Seksløberens time (Denmark) [da]
Sept secondes en enfer (France) [fr]
Sheriffen i Tombstone (Sweden) [sv]

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Netherlands:AL (DVD rating) | Norway:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Company:

Mirisch Corporation, The

Trivia:

Prior to production, United Artists had made it quite clear to director John Sturges that none of the primary roles were to be filled by the actors who played the same characters in Sturges' previous Wyatt Earp film, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957). Wanting to distinguish this film from the previous one, they demanded different actors be cast in the roles. However, Sturges believed that the roles of Virgil and Morgan Earp from the previous film were small enough that the same actors who played them could do it again without harming the film's uniqueness. The studio agreed and allowed Sturges to cast John Hudson (Virgil Earp) and DeForest Kelley (Morgan Earp). Unfortunately, Hudson had retired from acting in the early '60s and was unwilling to do the role. Kelley, on the other hand, was currently working on the TV series "Star Trek" (1966) and was unable to break away to play Morgan Earp. Thus, both Earp brothers were recast.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In fact, when ambushed, Virgil Earp was shot in his left elbow, but in the movie he has immobilized his right arm.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[The Earps and Doc Holliday approach the O.K. Corral]
Wyatt Earp (Tombstone city marshal: Ike Clanton, Andy Warshaw, Latigo, Curly Joe Brocious... Who's in the corral, Virg?
Marshal Virgil Earp: Billy Clanton and the McLowerys.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Star Trek: Spectre of the Gun (#3.6)" (1968)

I can't understand why this isn't more popular.

Sturges' sequel to Gunfight at the OK Coral is in some ways a better film with a less predictable (obviously) storyline transformed into a bitter tale of vengeance. James Garner isn't his usually laid back self as an increasingly disillusioned Wyatt Earp while Jason Robards catches the acting honours as a Jimmy Cricket-style Doc Holiday. Clever, moody, well made. (8/10)