John Ford on Wyatt Earp

From the 1971 TV documentary, The American West of John Ford.
Henry Fonda asks John Ford about his relationship with the lawman Wyatt Earp and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

[@guileniam]

John Ford sitting next to Henry Fonda and James Stewart talking about the conversations he had with Wyatt Earp Just taking that in for a moment.

[@jonathanwilkinson1461]

Me too, profound stuff..

[@richardellis1141]

Just listen to James Stewart sticking his tongue up his own arse

[@DrHugoZQuackenbush]

I thought WOW what a tri fecta. Doesn't get any better than that.

[@warrendelay]

Yes, sitting there lying through his teeth about Wyatt Earp.

[@philiplewis7252]

Yes,me too!

[@davidmurphy8364]

My God, imagine talking to someone who had actually met Wyatt Earp

[@starbird1111]

I know. Total chills just thinkin about it.

[@joe_8699]

Like the video of the guy who as a child saw the Lincoln assassination

[@davidmurphy8364]

@@joe_8699 I've seen that! Absolutely incredible!

[@ImmaWright]

John Wayne was friends with Earp as well

[@jamesjackson4488]

@@ImmaWright ko

[@CMC050]

Wow this video is incredible. John Ford and Henry Fonda having a conversation about Wyatt Earp! Legendary.

[@juerv1]

Great to see the old room mates Henry Fonda and James Stewart together with legendary director John Ford. Their movies were masterpieces.

[@MidsierramusingBlogspot]

Ford was with Henry Fonda on his left and Jimmy Stewart on his right. Both these men were wonderful actors.

[@MrDubyadee1]

The most accurate and insightful thing I’ve seen attributed to Wyatt Earp is that in gunplay it’s less important to be fast and much more important to be accurate. In my military experience I’ve found that to be true.

[@kevinjamesparr552]

Served in British army given a knife but not a 45 colt in a holster . Which war had you in it. No time in battle for fancy gun play

[@a.leemorrisjr.9255]

Take your time, but be in a hurry. - Wyatt Earp. The truth be told, it wasn't always fastest man who won fight. Sometimes he'd rush his draw & miss.He was fast,but not straight enough they used to say.

[@alcd6333]

2 legendary actors interviewing a legendary director.

[@kneeknocker1967]

It's amazing to think I'm watching a man who talked to a wild west legend, In 2020 on my mobile... Interesting times to live in

[@babayaga1767]

" you gotta take your time in a hurry"- Wyatt earp

[@keithgreenan3177]

You take your time but you hurry up

[@joeybee1914]

This trio discussing Wyatt Earp has an almost mythical feeling to it.

[@dutchman7216]

I'd love to see you this entire interview.

[@ramik81]

Honestly, I'm trying to see if I come across a 20s reel interviewing Wyatt Earp if one exists. The man lived almost up until the 1930s. And he was a film consultant in the 20s about Westerns.

[@canuckprogressive.3435]

Recording sound on film was only invented in 1927.

[@ramik81]

@@canuckprogressive.3435 yes, they had to record them separately, but they did do it. I’ve come across a reel from 29 interviewing Civil War veterans

[@baranater1]

Wyatt Earp was an incredible man. I'd love to hear more interviews with people who new him. Please post more if its possible.

[@jimclark6256]

Earp was an incredible liar. Most of the things he took credit for was done by Virgil. Earp.

[@hangman1914]

Nope 👎, that’s mostly revisionist talking.

[@warrendelay]

@@jimclark6256 That's nonsense, Name an example. ( of him taking credit for something Virgil did) be careful,, I'm as close to a Wyatt Earp historian as there is. name an example.

[@tmcge3325]

@@jimclark6256 full of beans!

[@TheMeanGreenGoblin]

@@warrendelay killing Johnny Ringo for one. Not that Virgil did it either, but Wyatt was in a different state when he died. He most likely got drunk and shot himself. Yet at one point in his life Wyatt claimed to have killed him in a shootout. And the gunfight wasn't nearly as clear cut as the movies make it out to be. It's painted as a good vs evil story. That wasn't the case. For one the Earps were all pimps that ran brothels for a good part of their careers. Their wives were all ex prostitutes.

[@TheAzmountaineer]

A lot less was known about what actually happened back then. Wyatt Earp was known to change his story frequently and the authors were pretty free with the 'facts', too. It wasn't until the last 50 years or so that people dug into the story in detail and started using eye witness testimony, court records, etc.; to ferret it out as much as possible. That said, IMHO, Ford no doubt didn't care about the facts much, if at all. And Tombstone is not only the best of the Wyatt Earp/OK Corral movies, it's one of the best westerns ever made.

[@kevinjamesparr552]

Yes agreed

[@mikenorton632]

Actually according to the coroner's inquest Kevin Cosners movie is more accurate. Trivia note: Wyatt Earp carried his pistol in his pocket, not in a holster. Tom McLoury was killed by a shotgun blast to his side while reaching over his saddle for his Winchester rifle by Doc Holiday. When McLaury reached over the saddle he had the horses rains still in hand so his horse kept turning keeping the gun out of reach. If he had gotten it the outcome of the gunfight could have been very different.

[@dukemiller7484]

Correct....even facts of current violence gets instantly warped ond branded..... instantly....to hell with WOKE..Wake up what's in need

[@ericparnell4628]

I still prefer john fords interpretation of tombstone the best ...accurate or not ..the movie my darling clementine is my favorite earp movie produced by John Ford..

[@paulgodbey304]

It is said that the movie Wyatt Earp which came out in 1994, the year after Tombstone, got the OK Corral gunfight a little more accurately than Tombstone.

[@mrbaseball]

As John Ford fan and an Angels baseball fan I got to respect him wearing an original LA Angels cap in this interview.

[@eliecanetti]

same here.

[@theartfuldodger935]

Ford was a hell of a director and Clementine is pure John Ford grit and beauty, but my God, the staging of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen on film. The Earps and Doc Holliday are walking up the main street to the fight. OK. They turn left at the sign to the O.K. Corral. OK. But they keep on walking down the alley! No! The gunfight occurred just inside the alley off the main street under the sign. So where are they going? All the way down the alley INTO the corral! A corral filled with horses! Where the Clantons are waiting for them. Words are exchanged and they all pull. And a gunfight erupts inside a corral filled with about 30 horses, the men using horses for cover. This is what John Ford claims Wyatt Earp told him verbatim as to how it all actually went down. But one thing the young John Ford didn't understand back in the 1920's, Wyatt Earp was a notorious prankster. He would make shit up just to jerk your chain. And how many times do you suppose some young kid has asked him to tell the story? And how tired was he of telling that story? Wyatt Earp's tall tale made it into a major Hollywood motion picture directed by the best. Amazing.

[@donlitos]

OK.

[@searchers]

Most people overlook the fact that Ford was never overly concerned with repeating facts in his movies, or accurately representing events. All of his movies revolved about telling things the way they should have been, not necessarily how they actually were. Ford knew what made a good movie, and it did not involve rigidly repeating "facts". It's like the difference listening to an ordinary person speaking (in a flat, monotone voice) and an actor speaking (dramatic cadences, emotional high and low points).

[@ldl9280]

Indeed. Western film makers (directors / producers / screenwriters) are the progeny of the Butlines (dime novel writers of the late 19th century). If reality got in the way of a good story deep-six reality. After all, the average viewer likely received their "knowledge" on the subject from the mythmaker. The viewers were more interested in the story as presented than history as it really was. Paraphrasing what someone quoted, modified with a parsed quote from The Godfather: leave the facts, bring the legend.

[@toygiants8748]

Story first. Facts second. Just look at The man who shot Liberty Valance.

[@leemoore9933]

It's Hollywood, Oliver Stone and JFK was a good example, facts don't usually make for a great movie.

[@speedystriper]

@@leemoore9933 Stone's film is mostly factual with some fictionalities mixed in to make for a good movie. Garrison was on the right track. It came out several years after the film was made that Clay Shaw was indeed a contract agent of the CIA with high level clearance to recruit others. It was called "QK Enchant" .

[@leemoore9933]

@@speedystriper Garrison was trying to get in the history books is all, He looked foolish in court the jury thought he was a grade A nut. I will, like you, believe what I think happened.

[@stevendee2831]

Wyatt did have a home in Sierra Madre, just north of Pasadena.

[@lg7577]

This was a 30 second fight per witnesses and court records. The Hollywood version was artistic license.

[@NothingMaster]

John Ford is/was as close to a Hollywood royalty as it gets.

[@haroldkreye8770]

He was just a man.

[@williammclaughlin811]

Fantastic liked what he said of how he met Wyatt Earp and spoke with him.

[@kathrynmolesa1641]

Documentary said that Doc pulled back the hammer of his shotgun. the Clantons heard the click and fired first.

[@lolawalsh9187]

John Ford, Henry Fonda....and talking about Wyatt Earl....while jimmy Stewart looks on. Pricelesd

[@johnarmstrong2679]

The OK gunfight did not occur in that location. The most factual representation is depicted in Kevin Costner's film Wyatt Earp. Lasted 30 secs only

[@catherineaiello7136]

Such a missed opportunity. WE should have at least made a cameo in any Western being made at the time. Also, he could sat down for interviews like these guys were doing.

[@dougcrum943]

Love this series about Wyatt Earp

[@mrjw6701]

He might have met Wyatt Earp and talked to him but the gunfight in my darling clementine was nothing like the real fight.

[@stephenannese8228]

Ford never lost his Northeast (Maine) accent,......love it....!!

[@ronniebishop2496]

This is the only way to interview Ford by someone he respected. Or he won't answer anything.

[@michaelphelan106]

Great video. I seem to remember reading that in his later life Bat Masterson became a sports writer for the LA Times.

[@junerobertson4389]

Wonderful interview.........

[@dannyfubar3099]

Its a shame that so many old directors felt that American Movie audience wouldn't notice or care how historical events were represented, so long as some bad guy was killed in the end. Ford knew the truth, and sure as shit should have put an ounce of effort into making an more historically accurate presentation. The real stories behind the old west were far more raw, and exciting than anything Hollywood has ever brought to the screen, with maybe only a handful of exceptions.

[@otisbdriftwood6520]

Danny Fubar why? we have such narrow views of what is ‘accurate’ and what that means. Why do you think people cared? They wanted to be entertained!

[@teller121]

The depiction in My Darling Clem was not even close to the actual shootout, nor close to what Stuart Lake had in his biography or what Earps told the Court in Tombstone in the hearings that followed the death of Clanton and McLaurys. Ford is bs-ing this. Also, I have never heard that Josie was a religious woman who made treks to Utah for religious meetings. Is he saying she was Mormon? We know she was Jewish by birth. Odd but interesting.

[@jamesaritchie1]

Josie did become a very religious woman not long after marrying Wyatt. This much is accurate. Everything Ford did in his movie went completely against what Wyatt Earp told him. Ford didn't care about accuracy, ever. His goal was to make the best movie he could make. He said he wasn't a historian, he was a movie maker, and he was right. Accurate or not, it was an extremely good movie.

[@kevinappleton5746]

The very drawing that John Ford describes very clearly shows that the shoot out depicted in my darling Clementine isn't even close to accurate.

[@MultiJoeyo]

the movie tombstone with kurt Russell is the most historically accurate movie of the shootout which lasted about 25 seconds , there are good documentaries on it

[@mrjw6701]

So is the movie Wyatt Earp.

[@kevinjamesparr552]

I agree but they left out that fact one man shot was unarmed

[@pranksterguy1]

@@mrjw6701 The movie Tombstone was great-the movie Wyatt Earp was greater!

[@steveculbert4039]

I did close to a thousand hours of research for a book about Billy the Kid. I have a PhD in English and have worked as a scholar for many years. The TOMBSTONE movie is very accurate.

[@JamesSmith-gn9ou]

@@steveculbert4039 Wyatt Earp was a much more detailed and accurate movie that Tombstone, in regards to the historical event, as well as the life of Earp and his family in totality. Tombstone was typical Hollywood glitz. I guess the shootout at Harwood's lumber yard next to Fly's ( The OK corral was on the opposite side of the street ) was also accurate. Both films got that wrong. Ike Clanton never disarmed Behan and fired through the window at fly'. Docs three shot double barrel shotgun was accurate representation in Tombstone I guess. there are other inaccuracies in Tombstone. The score in Tombstone was magnificent. Both good films, but Wyatt Earp was probable the most accurate film of that event to date, besides a well produced documentary. One such documentary was produced in the 1970s and narrated by Loren Green. My Darling Clementine was entertaining, but one dimensional and inaccurate. You stated that invested many hours into research pertaining to a book on Billy. Was that ever published?

[@TheDoh60]

Historians said that the movies had exaggerated the gunfight and showed the wrong location.

[@kevinjamesparr552]

I old enough to know the old films in 50s black and white can honestly say that the only one who played Wyatt Earp really good was Kurt Russel and Sam Elliot to made Tombstone the best movie ever made on OK coral street gun fight look real. John Wayne was great but always he played John Wayne. Lee Marvin was the best actor then for me. Then withouta doubt Clint Eastwood ruled the western movie scene. Russel now and Sam Elliot are the best ever since Clint.

[@3wpa]

I agree with you Kevin, Kurt Russel played the best Wyatt Earp ever and Val Kilmer played the best Doc holiday ever and I thought his dying scene was the best scene of the movie. I'm 77 years old and I have seen every Wyatt Earp movie ever made and this one is the best.

[@sharellemazzone9839]

Agreed Kurt Russell the. Best Wyatt

[@M4BoarBiker]

Greeting from Wales, UK. For me too Val Kilmer was the best doc holiday.

[@robertayoder2063]

Kevin Costner done just is much still is

[@kevinjamesparr552]

@@robertayoder2063 Sorry not a fan

[@luckeyhal1]

Harry carey knew all those old gunfighters that were still alive back then

[@victorbrunswick]

His son, Harry Carey, Jr, had a small role in "Tombstone" as town Marshal Fred White, though the real Fred White was a young man in his 30s.

[@kevinjamesparr552]

None of them could be called a gentleman

[@scottmunson2917]

My two great loves: John Ford and the LA Angels.... in the same video! Oh, my! I've seen him wearing his Dodgers cap from time to time but I never knew he wore the Halo Scarlet and Blue too. How wonderful! Superficially yours, Just Another Fan of LA's "other" team

[@arnoldstollar5375]

I saw his yacht ‘ the Araner’ in Waikiki.,needing restoration. 1980. Henry Fonda interviewing.

[@stevenblack1903]

My ex girlfriend worked for a nursing home in the 80s. One of the only women she cared for was Wyatt's niece. My ex kinda laughed it off, but when she came in the next day, the old woman brought out all of her old pictures. My ex was blown away.

[@billharris1847]

Phenomenal Where is the rest of the interview

[@pepelemoko01]

Where is the full interview ?

[@odysseusrex5908]

Oh, wow! that's fascinating. I was going to ask where I could find the whole documentary, but then I did a search and, sure enough, there are several copies right here on KZbin. I love the 21st century.

[@inesmurciasola7579]

Me gustaría que lo pudieseis subtitular.

[@stephentaylor6204]

Sad that such a good film was made so inaccurately. The gunfight did not take place at all as Mr Ford portrayed it. He could not have gotten his information from Wyatt Earp, as he says. The reprints of the Tombstone Epitaph depict the gunfight with the trial testimony of the witnesses and participants.The Stuart Lake book is filled with inaccuracies too. The Buntline Special story being one of them. The Clanton 'gang' are shown with 1892 Winchester rifles in 1881 and James Earp is depicted as being killed in 1882. He actually died in 1926. Mr Ford's cast and use of yellow filters in scenic Moab and Monument Vally make for a striking black and white film, but it is pure fiction.

[@kevinjamesparr552]

John Wayne and Earp now how long did he talk with him? I dont he even said hello

[@jamescampione8531]

Earp was the most likeley bull shi er

[@macvena]

People are always carrying on about historical accuracy in Hollywood movies. You'll never get it. It's entertainment, not history. Back when Ford made films the studios had to produce at least one film per week to cover the costs of the sets, costumes, legions of extras on set. The idea was to tell a great, yet profitable story, not a doctoral thesis for academics, and posterity.

[@TowGunner]

Entertainment is one thing but to state Earp gave him (Ford) a detailed sketch describing the gunfight is an absolute fabrication. As you state, dramatics is more important than a thirty second gunfight.

[@anthonywilson7304]

I saw something about the fight at tombstone and it said that it was all over in 28 seconds. That seems a long time with fast bullets flying around.

[@guitaristdotcom]

Big surprise to suddenly see Jimmy Stewart there, radiating all that star power.

[@neilfeinberg7825]

In 1925 an 18-year old Marion Morrison was talking to the technical advisor on a movie set. That young man with his dog Duke would eventually become the screen icon John Wayne!

[@revdckmz]

The movie was very good. The real wyatt told ford the story, so he made some changes for a movie and made this masterpiece.

[@mikekemp9877]

no they remade frontier marshall with no help from earp.

[@darylhudson777]

There is a video here on KZbin of the old show The $64,000 Question. This particular show featured Virgil Earp being questioned about the old wild west for $32,000 which he answered them all correctly for the win. If you watch it notice his eyes. I believe he would have been 80 then in 1958 being born in 1878.

[@guitaristdotcom]

That was Wyatt's nephew, not his brother Virgil. Interesting man.

[@wesmcgee1648]

I sure would like to own that diagram .

[@duelinglectrics]

Imagine Wyatt handing you the sketch after he just explained to you how the O.K fight went down where’s that sketch now I wonder

[@davidalen9279]

Incredible...

[@dennis7511]

Nobody at the time thought to put Wyatt Earp in a movie and/or film interviews for history and posterity. Bat Masterson was alive until after 1930 or so. He did ringside broadcasting on boxing matches, the last one, I believe, was in Havana in 1929 though I stand to be corrected.

[@jeffsmith2022]

Wow, where is the rest?...

[@williammclaughlin811]

Amazing how Wyatt Earp done a sketch out of the fight on a peice of paper. And even said he wasnt a good shot.

[@kjemma]

Compared to who? But let us take his word as gold on that. It may explain why he shot almost all his victims from close range, careful to aim and making sure he had the odds in his favor regarding hitting his target. Which tells me he was a practical man, and acted rational whitin the confines and universe of a gunfight. Wether his actions and decisions were rational on a larger scale, is another fish to kill.

[@tuberx5121]

that piece of paper would be worth MILLIONS if it existed today

[@Brace67]

John Ford's movie "My Darling Clementine" was mostly fanciful Hollywood BS. The most accurate film version of Wyatt Earp and his brothers in Tombstone was the movie made with Kurt Russell called "Tombstone". I don't think the real Wyatt Earp would have recognized much about Mr. Ford's movie other that his own name.

[@dab0331]

"Wyatt Earp" was more realistic. Tombstone was entertaining but a caricature version of both characters

[@liquidcurse4190]

Your a fool for thinking that tombstone was anything more then that Hollywood bs you just mentioned other then the costumes and actual set

[@Michaelbos]

Brace67 , ford, a great director was known to spout bullshit and made up stories . Read Maureen O'Hara book ( tis me ) and read how this great director could lie and be very mean, even to friends.

[@Mike-01234]

I grew up in the area of Tombstone, AZ 1970's the Kurt Russell movie was highly entertaining well made was far from historical fact. It really boosted tourism for the town before that people were living near poverty level there. The films depict Earp as a hero, or lawman he was more of a crooked lawman backed by a segment of the people against another segment of people who were cattle ranchers they had backing of Cochise County Sheriff he was also crooked. That is how it was in those days most people of power just did what they wanted the rest tried to get by and survive. The Bird Cage Theatre, and Boot hill grave yard are the only real historical sites rest of the town has burned down and rebuilt over the years.

[@Brace67]

liquid curse Hardly a fool and name calling when you can do it anonymously is hardly a sign of great intelligence.

[@BeadyCosine]

My great great grandfather almost met Wyatt Earp before he died somewhere in either 1928 or 1929 before my great grandfather was born or after. I dont remember what my grandmother told me

[@1bigreddog1]

Too bad he didn't do a film interview of Wyatt way back then!

[@David-ko8hu]

John Wayne met Wyatt Earp on set and modelled his cowboy persona on the way Wyatt walked, talked, etc. There is a segment on KZbin. Google the words john wayne met wyatt earp

[@bentnickel7487]

Wyatt Earp died in 1929, John Wayne was 22 y/o that year. On what "set" did Wayne meet Earp. Wayne did his first western in 1931 (The Range Feud). The movies before that had Wayne as "extras". I highly doubt Wayne EVER met Wyatt Earp, much less "patterned" his cowboy persona after him.

[@bentnickel7487]

The Big Trail was released in 1930 when John Wayne was 21 y/o, he was an extra in it, not a star.

[@victorbrunswick]

@@bentnickel7487 John Wayne lost his football scholarship at USC due to an injury and went to work in Hollywood originally as a propman.

[@TrumpDesantis-zm3kg]

@@bentnickel7487 wayne was a stagehand and extra back in the 20's

[@Mike-01234]

The actual written statements of Wyatt Earp, and others are on the internet interesting to read them.

[@lolawelch7235]

Would you post a link?

[@tmcge3325]

Incredible and we should not forget the great Harry Carey!

[@jimmiecox2496]

Many old videos on KZbin of people who were somehow connected to historic events. In an episode of "What's my line," was an elderly man who actually witnessed the Lincoln Assassination.

[@Resurgam1981]

Portland, Maine's famous son! Bull Feeney!

[@chrisfonden6431]

John Wayne got to know him as a teenager and got a lot of tips on how men carried themselves in the old west

[@Brace67]

Wyatt Earp’s wife after Mattie Earp was Josephine Marcus Earp. She came from a Jewish family and why she would travel to Utah for some religious meeting or gathering as described here by John Ford is puzzling since Utah is primarily a Mormon state.

[@purpleslog]

The shoot out in my Darling Clementine in no way, resembles the actual gunfight at the OK corral. Not one little bit.

[@1880TimeTraveler]

Obviously John Ford was not only a brilliant director but also a brilliant bull shitter, The shootout in "My darling Clementine" was the most inaccurate staging of the events ever filmed, as was the entire storyline. I have always found it ironic that the one film maker that actually met and visited with Wyatt Earp would care so little and fail so miserably in the portrayal of the events.

[@otisbdriftwood6520]

No doubt Wyatt Earp was capable of embellishing his story in the retelling too! And why not?

[@markunger1098]

Ford always said he respected history but did not consider himself married to it. I think that quote is elsewhere in this film. The full film is called The American West of John Ford and is presented by John Wayne with segments presented by Henry Fonda and James Stewart.

[@kevinappleton5746]

Just to settle this nonsense. John Ford mentions a drawing that Wyatt Earp made and you can go online and see that drawing and it absolutely has nothing whatsoever to do with the shoot out in my darling Clementine. As a matter of fact that little drawing of Wyatts got something like a quarter of a million dollars when it was auctioned off a few years ago and very clearly shows just how small the OK corral was and how close the shooters were to each other. Nothing remotely like the shootout in John Fords film. If you want to see an accurate film watch the hour of the gun with James Garner Who used Wyatts own auto biography to base that film on. And while we're on the subject, look at the totally inaccurate portrayal of doc holiday in my darling Clementine. Not that Victor matures' performance was bad but the relationship depicted was nothing like the actual friendship that doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp shared. And yes, tombstone is pretty close to accurate as well

[@duffysullivan2794]

John Ford was a Hollywood movie director. An artist who is focused on making great movies that are well received, entertaining, awe-inspiring. Work that show off his abilities and talent among his peers and critics. I really do not think Ford gave much weight to the minutiae of historical accuracy. He has a vision in his mind for everything about the scenes, interactions and a presentation he is determined to deliver. John Ford is not going to let something as trifling as historical accuracy compromise any of that. You want to talk history? Fine, Ford will play along, even has some juicy stories to contribute. But it is not anything that he will allow to conflict with his purpose as an artist and movie director. That is just the way I see all this 😊

[@rchrdjms62]

I agree with Victor. The scene in My Darling Clementine seems to have no resemblance at all to historical facts. Most of tombstone is it appeared at the time of the events in still there. The OK corral, or near the OK Corral, the area around it looks nothing like the movie. The event had nothing to do with sneaking up on people out in the open like in the movie(filmed in Monument Valley). So what John Ford said makes me doubt anything he might have said about Wyatt Earp.

[@mircoromei5472]

What a cinema man

[@samkohen4589]

Wyatt Earps wife, Josephine was Jewish, so what was John Ford referring to

[@BobJones-in7dt]

Awesome Angels ball cap⚾️

[@JanOlafRisnes]

Wyatt, Doc, Billy. Nr uno

[@maraflore]

3 film legends yahooooo

[@MA_808]

Kids should be shown this rather than the things they are show now in the schools.

[@AladdinSaneNYC]

Will anyone have anything to say concerning the Kevin Costner version of Wyatt Earp and that movie's OK Corral scenes? I've not seen the entire Costner version, but bits and pieces of what I have seen of that film seem much better than Tombstone with Kurt Russell. Hugh O'Brian's Ok Corral scenes in the WE tv series were based on what witnesses said they saw that day and the writers went with newspaper reports of what exactly happened on that eventful day in the old west. Who can say what really occurred then with so many versions of what truly went down.

[@shooterqqqq]

One thing the Cosner movie did get right is the location of the Earp faction where they were on the boardwalk. The studio was in a separate building in the back. The original two story building burned down after the fight as most of the town. One thing the Russell movie does not get right is the lot was about eighteen feet wide. Nine people and two horses and that's why it spilled into the street. Only Wyatt and Billy were left at the corners of those two buildings. The rest were in the street. My information is comparing multiple court testimonies.

[@jamespoule8813]

IMHO, Costner's 'Wyatt Earp' was far the superior film to 'Tomestone'.

[@pranksterguy1]

Both versions were good. Kevin Costners Wyatt Earp was better!

[@TheAzmountaineer]

@@pranksterguy1 Costner's film was probably more accurate, but Tombstone was by far the more enjoyable movie. Val Kilmer alone makes it worth watching again and again.

[@fideauone3416]

The TV series Wyatt Earp starring Hugh O'Brian did an episode or two on the OK gunfight. They took Wyatt Earp's own description of events as he recorded and testified to in the court case, and tried to replicate it exactly. It may be the most accurate depiction attempted.

[@shooterqqqq]

@Thomas Headley Multiple eyewitnesses in court. The most accurate witness to the gunfight near the ok corral was a layoff railroad engineer. He was on the second floor of Fly's boarding house where the fight actually took place.

[@victorkong82]

John Ford bragging about how he met Wyatt Earp and Earp telling him accurate accounts of the gunfight meanwhile My Darling Clementine is the most historically inaccurate version of that story.

[@maraflore]

oh you were there as a witness? hahahahaha

[@victorkong82]

@@maraflore Yeah I knew him.

[@robperrins3945]

He said Earp told Harry Carey what happened not him

[@davewillis3437]

Most historically accurate depiction of "The Street Fight" (as Wyatt himself called it) was in the film "Tombstone" & even it had some big inaccuracies. But all in all pretty true. Even down to what witnesses said were the words spoken at the time. Tombstone even got the way Wyatt carried his gun that day right. It was in a holster built into his long coat.

[@dgoldstein2108]

You are correct. Ford's version lasted a lot longer than the 30 second actual fight. The actual fight happened between two buildings NEAR the corral but not in it and, there were no rifles involved. One shotgun and the rest pistols. There was a trial w/ witnesses and testimonies were published in the local paper

[@1_fishin_magician153]

wow....was John Ford related to Henry Ford ?

[@scottywayne3601]

i like in the movie wings of eagles, ward bong played john dodge the movie script writer dude and he looked and dressed like john ford lol

[@conorolaf1762]

Mr Ford is blowing a bit of Blarney here.

[@wrlord]

Learn before you speak.

[@jameswilspn1907]

As a boy my father met Buffalo Bill Cody.

[@wesb8159]

Harry Carry knew him and Tom Mix knew him too

[@mindeloman]

The truth of the old west is that it was FAR less romantic than hollywood's reimagining. (Like the photo of billy the kid and the regulators playing croquet. Look it up) There are but a handful of documented cases of face-to-face shoot outs. Thugs of yesteryear are the same as today. They like to shoot from behind and in the dark. Beatings and knifings were far more common too. The circumstances in the alley by the OK corral are quite sensational because those kinds of shootouts just never happened. Thousands of movies in the 20th century make it seem common place but at the time it was quite rare and quite crazy; but to this day we'll never know who drew first.

[@miketerry581]

Wish they would make a movie about Bass Reeves, look him up he was INCREDIBLE

[@chrisguerra2341]

All true with one exception..There Is documentation as to who drew first

[@hughjassole7600]

Val kimer best Doc Holliday of all time Played Doc Holliday even better than the actual Doc Holliday that's how good he was

[@M4BoarBiker]

hugh Jassole agreed !

[@beachbum8215]

Agree 100%

[@georgesouthwick7000]

hugh Jassole Probably the second best portrayal of Doc Holliday was by Stacy Keach in the movie “Doc”.

[@ub1953]

Watch Wyatt's nephew on a game show also on youtube; more western folklore...

[@guitaristdotcom]

Saw that. Interesting character.

[@carvinlambert6899]

When the fiction is better than the Truth, Print the Fiction.

[@teller121]

Wyatt Earp's wife Josie was religious and went to retreats in Utah??? First I've heard of that. And it is obvious that the fanciful gunfight at the end of this excellent movie had nothing in common with the 10/26/1881 affair. No way Earp told Ford it happened the way he depicted it in this 1940 film. He shouldn't shove that on Wyatt. Truth is obvious: Ford wanted a far more dramatic ending than the 30-second, point-blank reality.

[@jamesaritchie1]

Yes, she became very religious not long after marrying Wyatt. That much is accurate. Earp did tell ford exactly how the gunfight that made him famous went. Told him several times, in fact. But Ford did it his way for "dramatic" effect. No film has reproduced the fight exactly as Earp said it happened. The closest is Tombstone with Kurt Russell, but even it has some inaccuracies.

[@teller121]

do you know what led to her religious fervor? certainly it wasn't Wyatt, from all I've heard. Wyatt is always seen as rather secular. I just haven't read anything that either was religious. I'd like to believe it so that they were.

[@wbl5649]

@@jamesaritchie1 First of all she was a Jew. Did Jews have regional meetings in Mormon Utah ? LOL. Secondly she couldn't have been too damn religious as it is documented she gambled a lot and lost lots if money while married to Earp and they used to fight about it.

[@garylivingston170]

There was a forensics show a few years ago that showed every single shot, where it came from, etc. Basically this was a police action to disarm violators of carrying guns and it went wrong. There was no pre-set up, Mogan Earp fired two of the fatal shots along with Doc unloading a shot gun. It was reported that evening Doc cried uncontrollably. So, the anxiety of the event, the type casting of these tough characters is all fiction.

[@edwynnkelley136]

Henry Ford, not John Ford.

[@readlots9983]

Look at Ford's hands and how beautiful they are.

[@gerrydooley951]

he soaked them in lamb's urine every night

[@hemming57]

Remember, Wyatt Earp died in 1929. He was not famous then. What he told Ford about the OK Corral, may very well be the reason Ford shot it that way. MDC, was the first movie about Wyatt Earp.

[@readlots9983]

There were two movies about Wyatt Earp before My Darling Clementine - Frontier Marshal (1934) and Frontier Marshal (1939). Supposedly, Ford looked at the '39 version and said he could do a better job than that. *

[@budsaplenty]

Everything Earp was involved in was crooked or fell apart. A true piece of shit would be the term of the 1880's

[@teller121]

he was a lawman on the frontier in times so different from now. there were no civil rights departments, no Miranda, no TV cameras, little respect for law and order among the bad seed that came west after the Civil War. Your POS comment is without merit, imo. No one of that period said anything bad about him as a lawman. They might have not liked him or that he might have gone too far in dealing with trouble makers. He worked with his wife of 47 years in dusty mining camps. Maybe not what I'd do, but it wasn't dishonest. He had a lot of success running saloon in AK and was thought to have made $80,000 when that was big money. OK Corral wasn't crooked. The people that were killed were organized crime on horseback.

[@budsaplenty]

All of their wives were whores! you better get your history straight and not from some lying book you find on a shelve! It's the reason Billy Clayborne got killed he witnessed Holliday and others robbing a stage and was telling all about it. Why did the city tell the Earps and Holliday keep your ass's off the street after the Corral murder it was open season on all of them. It's you that don't know shit about this murder or the people involved.

[@budsaplenty]

And if they were so on the up and up why was there a warrant of murder against them after the killing in Tucson? To the very day he died Wyatt has a murder warrant against him.

[@TheSaltydog07]

I guess this was made before Ford got rough with Fonda when making "Mr. Roberts."

[@plasticweapon]

that's not a very good guess.

[@speedystriper]

That happened in the early 50s. This was filmed in 1971. They must have buried the hatchet by then.

[@juanm.o1560]

Que es John Ford? Una marca de quesitos?

[@nathanroberts355]

I should be the legend lawman wyatt earp famous lawman at tombstone Arizona

[@tommypetersen2540]

Ford's totally b.s.ing here! His movie was widely inaccurate but also absolutely beautiful on its own terms. It's still considered the best Wyatt Earp film ever made, even though it contains virtually nothing that is historically correct. That is the genius of Ford, even when he is full if it, he's brilliant. Says a lot that Henry Fonda is there, as they had a huge falling out on "MISTER Roberts" . Even those who hated him would kill to work with him! ( John Wayne anybody?)

[@Vingul]

Wayne hated Ford?

[@aqueen04]

@@Vingul No, Wayne never seemed to. Ford could and did treat Wayne like crap, to the point that many of Wayne's costars would grow appalled by Ford's behavior, but Wayne never pushed back whenever Ford had a go at him. Ford did quite a bit to help Wayne succeed in the film business and was something of a father or coach figure to Wayne (Wayne even called him Coach sometimes), and so Wayne seemed to just tolerate Ford's vitriol. I recall one story, though, about how Ford was really laying into Wayne and it was so bad that another actor (I can't recall who) actually stood up to Ford and said that he should never treat "Duke" that way again. Ford was said to have burst into tears in response to getting called out.

[@Vingul]

@@aqueen04 Wow. I had no idea about the nature of their relationship. Hard to imagine Wayne so "submissive" (in lack of a more appropriate word). Thanks for that.

[@nightowl5475]

I probably would of told the old bastard to go F, himself, but I probably would destroy any chance of getting into movies. But, it’s just a character flaw that I have, I just call out other people’s bullshit. The funny thing is, I treat people the way I would like to be treated, which is very good. But, just can’t take dealing with an old curmudgeon or even a younger asshole, male or female, I’m the guy that calls them out on their bullshit. I’ve blown many a good jobs for it too, but I just can’t help it. I really enjoy sticking it to a person like a John Ford.

[@MajorDenisBloodnok]

@@Vingul John Wayne saw Ford as his mentor, he had a tremendous respect and admiration for him. Ford was, in a certain way, a sadistic who liked, from time to time, to give a "special treatment" to his actors. Wayne was his main target because he admired Ford and owed him his career. Ford liked to tease and even to humiliate him in public, especially about Wayne's attitude during WWII. The other actors felt bad for him. Henry Fonda was far less submitive, even if he was still a young actor when he worked with Ford for the first time. He was already successful, so he didn't owe him his career. He admired Ford but was well aware of his bad sides. Even if he appears in this documentary, Fonda had a major blow with Ford in 1955 during the filming of Mister Roberts. They had a disagreement about the movie and during the discussion, without warning, Ford, who was drunk, punched Fonda. Later, Ford, crying, made his apologies but their friendship ended here and they never worked together again. As for James Stewart, he was already a star when he worked for Ford, so it was more difficult to have power on him but Ford gave him once or two his special treatment... Lee Marvin told that he never suffered from Ford's sadism because Ford knew that Marvin wouldn't have hesitate to punch him...

[@WV591]

Wonderful age of gifted directors and actors before the dark ages of CGI and lousy politically correct movie industry filled with untalented shit.

[@spacecatboy2962]

john ford, say what you want, but he made cars affordable for the masses

[@mikescooby7625]

Hee hee

[@bjrnmgranvang1107]

Every time Hollyweird try to make a movie based on a true story, they screw it up. No exception, what so ever. Especially war movies, like Saints & Soldiers, A Bridge Too Far, The Longest Day, Valkyrie, Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers (mini-series) and The Pasific, just to mention a few. And, who the hell knows what really happened at the OK Corral that day anyway. For all we know, Earp may have layed it on thick, and John Ford being John Ford, well, why let facts ruin a movie that's suppose to make money? Give the audience what they want, what they need. Because it is a business, whether we like it or not. The good guys win, and the bad guys lose. What the director put in between is just artistic freedom, or liberty if you will.