James Garner is Wyatt Earp! HOUR OF THE GUN! Interview with costar Monte Markham! A WORD ON WESTERNS

Following up his blockbuster western, "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (1957), with a continuation of the Wyatt Earp-Doc Holliday saga, Director John Sturges hoped to reunite stars Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas for the sequel. When they proved unavailable, he put together a cast that included one of his leads from "The Great Escape," James Garner, cast against type, as Wyatt. Sturges' new film, "Hour of the Gun" (1967), written by Edward Anhalt, featured Jason Robards as Doc, veteran Robert Ryan as Ike Clanton and a cast of solid actors including such future stars as Monte Markham, Frank Converse and Jon Voight. It was Markham's first film. Shot in Mexico by legendary cinematographer Lucian Ballard ("True Grit," "The Wild Bunch"), lifelong bonds of friendships were created during the shoot. Unlike most movies about the Earp/Clanton shootout, "Hour of the Gun" begins with the gun battle at the O.K. Corral and then follows Earp on his vendetta. Perhaps it wasn't what audiences expected when the saw the violent widescreen presentation of TV's Bret Maverick hunting down and killing, in cold blood, survivors of the historic gunfight. What did Monte Markham think of the experience? What did the public think of the repurposed Wyatt Earp? Find out in this entertaining interview with Monte, recorded July 16, 2019.
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