Rating: 
Summary: Burt and Kirk Take on the Clantons!
Review: 'Gunfight at O.K. Corral' is one of the many films that have told the tale of the famous showdown between the Earps and the Clantons, but what sets this version apart is the casting of Burt Lancaster as the straight-shooting Marshal Wyatt Earp, and Kirk Douglas as the sardonic, dying gambler, Doc Holliday. As in all their pairings, there is a chemistry between them that makes even mundane scripts seem magical!Lancaster, continuing his rule of alternating between heavy drama and action films, researched the historic Earp extensively, speaking to many who knew him, and his performance is restrained and assured. Douglas, on the other hand, fresh from playing Vincent Van Gogh in 'Lust for Life', knew he needed a splashy hit film, and played Doc Holliday as larger than life, swaggering, diseased, and charismatic. His portrayal is far closer in spirit to the interpretions of Holliday by Val Kilmer, in 'Tombstone', and Dennis Quaid, in 'Wyatt Earp', than Victor Mature, in John Ford's 'My Darling Clementine'. The film's climactic scene is fanciful, historically, but a terrific gunbattle! Other aspects of the film to enjoy...Dimitri Tiompkin's magnificent musical score, highlighted by Frankie Laine's unforgettable performance of the title tune, throughout the film...Excellent supporting players, including Jo Van Fleet as Holliday's mistress, John Ireland as Johnny Ringo, a young Dennis Hopper as Billy Clanton, and Rhonda Fleming as the gambler girlfriend of Wyatt (based on Earp's actual wife, Josie)...cameos by Kenneth Tobey as Bat Masterson, DeForest Kelley as Morgan Earp, Martin Milner as James Earp, and Frank Faylen as the corrupt sheriff. The director, John Sturges, revisited the Earp saga some years later in 'Hour of the Gun', with James Garner as Earp, and Jason Robards as Holliday, but while the later film may be more accurate, historically, 'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral' is a far more enjoyable film. I strongly recommend it to any western fan!
Rating: 
Summary: A showcase for Lancaster and Douglas
Review: Basically, a vehicle to showcase the talents of Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, but an appropriate one. Though there are many characters, this is hardly an ensemble cast, with Burt and Kirk prominent in virtually every foot of film. Rhonda Fleming provides a bit of window dressing in a wonderful but brief role as Wyatt's love interest. More of a classic western than "My Darling Clementine", an earlier movie about Wyatt and Doc at the OK Corral, but this version is more episodic in nature, though equally fictional. Don't look for nuance in the characters. The bad guys are bad, the good guys good but not flawless. Gunfights, gambling, galloping horses, bar room ladies... If you love westerns, you'll love this one.
Rating: 
Summary: OK movie
Review: Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas are reliable movie stars and do a good job of portraying Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, respectively, during the events that led up to one of the most famous encounters in American history. The grudging respect and friendship that grows between the two men is the most interesting part of this film, but this aspect is embedded in a screenplay that is equal parts soap opera and simplistic horse opera. This climactic shootout is well staged.
Rating:
Summary: Not History, but Fun worth the Watching !
Review: By now most every one knows the actual event took place in about a 90-sec. timespace - not the fictionalized 20 (?) mins, or so portrayed. Likewise, we know it wasn't at the corral at all but on the street near it at an alley way. And most are aware that Wyatt and his bros. were not quite the 'gentlemen knights of the fronteer' as more often portrayed. The virtue, indeed the sheer enjoyment of this movie may well rest in the chemistry between Burt Lancaster & Kirk Douglas ...the characters are just an excuse. This screenpaly is probably the quinticnetial pairing of these stars although they are well supported by some quality writing and deft direction. With a catchy score along with Tex Ritter - John's Dad, easy-on-the-ears vocalizing, it stands well the test of time. Given the age of the movie neither the sound track nor the staging, print color sturation, and other visuals are that splendid by themselves. But like Casablanca & Citizen Caine - both mono and B&W, the story line, dialogue, and interaction of cast is what makes it memorable; a candidate to be an "evergreen" even if of a second magnitude.
Rating:
Summary: A great Western
Review: Despite its title, this movie does not center around the gunfight at the OK corral. Instead, this is a sort of life of Wyatt Earp, and includes much information about his life in Dodge City as well as Tombstone. One of the most interesting aspects of the film is Earp's developing relationship with Doc Holladay, which is perhaps never treated so well as in this movie. Burt Lancaster, who plays Wyatt Earp, does an exceptional job. And Kirk Douglas, as always, is also very good. Still, I just can't picture these men well dressed, impeccably groomed, and always wearing light colors. I give this movie four stars for the simple reason that I can never think of Doc Holladay again without picturing Val Kilmer. For me at least, the definitive movie about Wyatt and Doc will continue to be the recently made "Tombstone." I enjoy this movie immensely, but it just doesn't have the raw power that the later film does.
Rating:
Summary: A great Western
Review: Despite its title, this movie does not center around the gunfight at the OK corral. Instead, this is a sort of life of Wyatt Earp, and includes much information about his life in Dodge City as well as Tombstone. One of the most interesting aspects of the film is Earp's developing relationship with Doc Holladay, which is perhaps never treated so well as in this movie. Burt Lancaster, who plays Wyatt Earp, does an exceptional job. And Kirk Douglas, as always, is also very good. Still, I just can't picture these men well dressed, impeccably groomed, and always wearing light colors. I give this movie four stars for the simple reason that I can never think of Doc Holladay again without picturing Val Kilmer. For me at least, the definitive movie about Wyatt and Doc will continue to be the recently made "Tombstone." I enjoy this movie immensely, but it just doesn't have the raw power that the later film does.
Rating:
Summary: adequate retelling of a much-told tale
Review: Good performances from Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, especially in the amiable bickering of their scenes together. Amusing early Dennis Hopper/DeForest Kelley sightings, but other than that not much interest from the supporting cast, especially the women. And the random singing of "The Ballad of Boot Hill" theme throughout the movie is in my opinion really, really annoying. Overall: better than "Wyatt Earp," not as good as "High Noon" or "Tombstone".
Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: I always loved the pairing of Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas because of their impeccable work together. While lacking in the grandeur of recent remakes of the tale, the movie certainly does ably tell the story leading up to the titled gunfight--as well as the friendship between Earp and Holliday. Unlike Tombstone, Wyatt's brothers have a relatively peripheral role in the movie. Note: Morgan Earp is played by DeForrest Kelley, who went on to play Dr. Leonard McCoy in TV's Star Trek. Lancaster is excellent in his portrayal of the straight-as-an-arrow Wyatt, and Douglass is his equal as the smug Doc Holliday. I love Douglas's line (when he volunteers to be Wyatt's deputy to track down some bank robbers): "Well, I am handy with a gun, but those best able to attest to my skill are no longer around to do so." The movie deserves a place in any western fan's DVD collection.
Rating:
Summary: Duty and Honour
Review: I didn't know much about the story this film is based on before I watched it, so two things stand out for me: the relationship between Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp, and the gunfight itself. Burt Lancaster and especially Kirk Douglas do an excellent job of portraying the low key relationship that gradually develops between the two men, unlikely allies that learn to trust each other. The famed gunfight itself is well staged and executed, with tension slowly built leading up to it, and with the explosiveness one would expect once it is underway. This film shows the fine line between lawlessness and control that existed in the Old West, as well as the code of honour that each man had. It's well done.
Rating:
Summary: A glossy and shiny western.
Review: I enjoyed this movie, but I have to say that the costumes overpower the story a bit and are unrealistically glossy and fancy, at least by the standards of how western movies are shot today by the likes of Clint Eastwood. Everybody in this film is dressed to the teeth in silks and satins with no dust anywhere to be seen. This gives the movie a very phoney feeling about it, even though it is a good (and familiar) story and the acting is very strong. I think the music and soundtrack are very dated and annoying, with some songs more or less narrating the action as it is occuring on the screen! It struck me as very intrusive.
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