The Gunfighters

When there's blood on the sawdust in the Last Chance Saloon

A person's appreciation of The Gunfighters is directly proportional to your attitude going into it. If you expect a serious historical, you will be sadly mistaken. But if you are expecting a mild parody of the traditional Western, especially as seen in 60's television, it's an enjoyable story.

I'm of two minds on this one. On one hand, it was a well put together story, straight out of John Wayne movies or TV shows I heard my dad talking about. On the other hand, I'm a bit of a historical pedant and a historical story filled with as many inaccuracies as this one is always slightly off putting. I've not seen My Darling Clementine but I imagine this is closer to that.

The story is very lawmen vs. ranch. The Doctor arrives in Tombstone looking for a dentist and is taken care of by Doc Holliday. The Doctor is mistaken for Doc Holliday by the Clanton brothers who are searching for him since he killed their brother Reuben. Doc Holliday goes along but his girlfriend Kate manages to get the Doctor arrested by Wyatt Earp. The Clantons try to force the issue but one is arrested for attempting to hang Steven. The barman spills the beans to the Clantons as to Doc Holliday's identity after he kills a hired gun in the saloon. The Clantons fall in with Johnny Ringo who has arrived in town also looking for Doc Holliday. He takes Steven with him since Doc Holliday has fled with Dodo. The Clantons meanwhile break into the jail and free their arrested brother, killing Warren Earp in the process. Wyatt then sends a challenge to the Clantonss to meat him at the OK Corral at sunup. Johnny Ringo falls in with the Clantons and goes along. Doc Holliday arrives back in Tombstone with Dodo and agrees to go with the Earps. The Doctor and Steven ride to the Clantons to try and stop them but they are too late. Virgil and Wyatt Earp fight with Ike, Billy, and Phineas Clanton in the street. Johnny Ringo tries to sneak behind but Dodo interferes and Doc Holliday shoots him down. Holliday then joins the Earps and they gun down the Clantons. The next day the Doctor, Steven, and Dodo leave Tombstone.

If you can separate the story from the history, it's quite fun. It's a little slow in the middle as most Westerns are but the gunfight at the end makes up for it in spades. There is a lot of cracking and shooting and the bad guys get gunned down in the end. Exactly what young boys would have loved watching. The story is punctuated throughout by lines from a song called "The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon." It goes from entertaining, to annoying, and then back to catchy all in one watch. It helps that the tempo alters a bit as the mood of the story changes and Kate's voice is very pleasant as she sings the various lines.

But there is the history to consider as well. The marshal is Bat Masterson, except that Bat Masterson never set foot in Tombstone. He was marshal in Dodge City with Wyatt Earp but that was before Tombstone. Morgan Earp is mentioned but is missing from the story. Morgan was actually at the OK Corral with Virgil and Wyatt. Also, while Johnny Ringo was part of the Clanton gang, he was not in Tombstone at the time of the fight. Even the source of the fight is wrong. The Earps were all deputized and trying to serve a warrant when the fight broke out, not setting out for a private vendetta. The outcome of the fight was altered as well. Only Bill Clanton was actually killed of the Clantons. Two other associates of their's were killed and Ike Clanton actually ran away before the fight started.

Now, to be fair, it is very unlikely that anyone would have known this information unless they did some serious digging. It wasn't until the movies Tombstone and Wyatt Earp came out that there was even an attempt at portraying the OK Corral in a historical context. It was much more interesting to show the white hat Earps killing the black hat Clantons. To hold a British show to at standard that even American shows weren't hitting would be rather hypocritical.

Also, while we're on the subject of Americans as perceived by the British, one must give a large grain of salt to the actors for their attempts at American accents. I'm sure the British people laugh at Americans when we try to do their accents. And in truth, after about five minutes you barely notice it. So at least the actors were consistent in their portrayal.

Overall, I'd say the story is pretty good. There are other historicals I like better, but this one is enjoyable, especially when you keep it in context of the time it was made. I'm betting that if I showed this to my dad, he would be absolutely enthralled with it.

Overall personal score: 3.5 out of 5