Someone is going to have to explain to mean why this film is rated so highly, not just here but elsewhere. I just don't get it. I'm a fan of Henry Fonda, I love earlier black and white films, I've enjoyed some of John Ford's movies, and the Western genre is one of my favorites. But this is nothing more to me than a historically inaccurate and tedious soap opera.
Historical inaccuracies abound for the sake of that melodramatic brand of Hollywood script which is what truly dates movies like this one (as opposed to timeless classics such as, say, "The Third Man"). When the movie begins with the murder of James Earp (who actually died in 1926!) and introduces silly, fictional, female characters like "Chihuahua" and "Clementine Carter," who chew up large chunks of screen time with ridiculous dialog, you know you're going to get the worst that that dated Hollywood treatment can offer.
It doesn't help that the Earps, who never raised cattle, are seen driving a herd. Worse, they are suppose to be doing so in Arizona, yet looming strangely in the background is one of the most easily recognizable of U.S. geographical landmarks, Devil's Tower in Wyoming!
The historical inaccuracies are so outrageous, I found myself laughing at several points during the story that were intended to be moments of high drama. That includes the shooting of Virgil Earp - who actually died from pneumonia over twenty years later - by "Old Man" Clanton, who actually died BEFORE the time period depicted in this film! It also includes the death of Doc Holliday at the OK Corral - which also never happened of course - but given the wooden acting of the miscast Victor Mature, any inaccuracy that had his character prematurely exiting the story can be easily forgiven.
Harder to forgive is the fact that the real history of the Earps is far more interesting than this pap, and especially given the fact that director Ford was supposed to have extensively interviewed the real Wyatt Earp years earlier. Truthfully, what is factually accurate in this film is a much shorter list than the reverse...or, if I may borrow and edit a line from "Shattered Glass": there does appear to be a state in the union named "Arizona."
Summing up, to say this is overrated is an UNDERstatement.
P.S. I've always hated that "Darling Clementine" song.
P.P.S. Henry Fonda should receive a special posthumous Oscar for "Worst Cowboy Hat in the Entire History of Western Film."
Historical inaccuracies abound for the sake of that melodramatic brand of Hollywood script which is what truly dates movies like this one (as opposed to timeless classics such as, say, "The Third Man"). When the movie begins with the murder of James Earp (who actually died in 1926!) and introduces silly, fictional, female characters like "Chihuahua" and "Clementine Carter," who chew up large chunks of screen time with ridiculous dialog, you know you're going to get the worst that that dated Hollywood treatment can offer.
It doesn't help that the Earps, who never raised cattle, are seen driving a herd. Worse, they are suppose to be doing so in Arizona, yet looming strangely in the background is one of the most easily recognizable of U.S. geographical landmarks, Devil's Tower in Wyoming!
The historical inaccuracies are so outrageous, I found myself laughing at several points during the story that were intended to be moments of high drama. That includes the shooting of Virgil Earp - who actually died from pneumonia over twenty years later - by "Old Man" Clanton, who actually died BEFORE the time period depicted in this film! It also includes the death of Doc Holliday at the OK Corral - which also never happened of course - but given the wooden acting of the miscast Victor Mature, any inaccuracy that had his character prematurely exiting the story can be easily forgiven.
Harder to forgive is the fact that the real history of the Earps is far more interesting than this pap, and especially given the fact that director Ford was supposed to have extensively interviewed the real Wyatt Earp years earlier. Truthfully, what is factually accurate in this film is a much shorter list than the reverse...or, if I may borrow and edit a line from "Shattered Glass": there does appear to be a state in the union named "Arizona."
Summing up, to say this is overrated is an UNDERstatement.
P.S. I've always hated that "Darling Clementine" song.
P.P.S. Henry Fonda should receive a special posthumous Oscar for "Worst Cowboy Hat in the Entire History of Western Film."