Our Film In May: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

First up, is a classic Western, using an actual, historic event to wrap its story around: Gunfight at the OK Corral. Starring Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday, it was filmed in 1957, a time when the TV western was dominating the growing medium.

The New York Times put it this way:

“The old gambling, boozing, boasting, shooting type of Western that more or less went out of style with the showing of such adult items as "The Gunfighter," "High Noon" and "Shane" is back in full cry… 

Students of American frontier history will know from the title that this film has to do with a famous gunfight that took place in Tombstone, Ariz., between a small posse headed by United States Marshall Wyatt Earp and five members of the lawless Clanton gang. And students of motion picture patterns will deduce from that knowledge that this film is mainly a build-up to that showdown, which comes in blazing fury at the end.

They will be right. Leon Uris, working from an article by George Scullin, has hacked out a screen play in which Wyatt Earp goes through a long lot of getting acquainted with the gambler-gunman Doc Holliday before he brings those two doughty heroes side-by-side and face-to-face with the Clantons at the O. K. Corral.

 All this, and how can you miss seeing Rhonda Fleming play a red-headed lady gambler?

All are welcome to attend, no registration is required. The film begins at 6:00 p.m. in Meeting Rm. B.

Questions? Contact Patricia Ruocco at: ruoccop@lislelibrary.org.