Hour of the Gun

Hour of the Gun picks up more or less where director John Sturges’ earlier film, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral leaves off, but it’s not really a sequel, per-se.

Following the shootout at the O.K. Corral, Doc Holliday, played by Jason Robards, watches revenge consume his friend Wyatt Earp, played by James Garner, as he pursues Ike Clanton, played by Robert Ryan.

Whereas Sturges’ earlier film was highly fictionalized and whitewashed, Hour of the Gun is decidedly less glamorous, foreshadowing the anti-hero that would embody the Western genre in years to come.

In this aspect, Hour of the Gun is fascinating to watch, as the film morphs from traditional Hollywood western to something much darker and bleaker. The only problem is that the experiment only half-works.

The opening shootout and courtroom sequences are fantastic. Sturges is on top of his game and Garner radiates charisma. He and Robards are larger than life characters. As the story goes on, however, both Garner and Holliday become more and more human, with Garner being weakened by his thirst for revenge, and Holliday by the illness ravaging his body.

By the time the film reaches its decidedly anti-climactic finale, you’re long ready for the story to be over. It’s a film told in reverse, the deconstruction of a legend, the humanization of a myth. Unfortunately, screenwriter Edward Anhalt falters at the end, making it too Hollywood to resonate, yet not realistic enough to hit home.

Taken together, Hour of the Gun and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral represent a good, but flawed telling of the Earp legend. Both have since been surpassed by Tombstone.