1967 - HOUR OF THE GUN, excellent but forgotten film.

This is John Sturges and the writer Edward Anhalt's followup to Gunfight at the OK Corral the film Sturges made 10 years earlier.  Hour of the Gun  focuses on Wyatt Earp and what happened to him after the shootout at the OK Corral.

The film has very good performances from James Garner and Jason Robards Jr, along with typically excellent Sturges direction particularly in the action scenes.  Along with Anthony Mann, Sturges knew how to stage and photograph action scenes while incorporating strong scenic values within those scenes.

 

 

In Hour of the Gun, Sturges is interested in exploring the line between vengeance and justice, particularly how the law is used and manipulated by Wyatt Earp to achieve his goal, of bringing down the Clantons.

For a change this film is fairly faithful to the actual facts.  This is an underrated western film that never got the credit it deserved.

100 minutes.