The "Dodge City Peace Commission," June 1888. (L to R) standing: W.H. Harris, Luke
Short, Bat Masterson, W.F. Petillon. Seated: Charlie Bassett, Wyatt Earp, Frank McLain
and Neal Brown.
Posted on 01/01/2013 11:28:29 AM PST by virgil283
Today on Starz movie network," The Life and Legend Of WyattEarp : Episode 1. Wyatt Earp Becomes A Marshal...Starring: Hugh O'Brian, Mason Alan Dinehart II, Denver Pyle...This Western television series loosely based on the adventures of the frontier marshal. The half-hour black and white series ran on ABC-TV from 1955 to 1961".....This hasn't been on TV for many years....3:30pm EST
As a kid I wondered why Hugh O’Brien was clean shaven when the real Wyatt Earp sported a handlebar mustache.
Also, how did he ever outdraw anyone, clearing leather with that 12” barrel Buntline Special?
Val Kilmer totally made “Tombstone”. Without him it would have been a mediocre film.
I'm no critic, but the only other completely compelling performance I laud was done by Kurt Russell playing US Hockey team coach Herb Brooks. A role for which he was not nominated, either.
Good show! I think I’ll be watching it. I got tired of watching HGWT when the same shows kept repeating. I hope they don’t do that with “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.”
Sorry. Watching a Three Stooges marathon..on the AntennaTV channel. I dumped the STARZ/Encore package.
The real Earp used the long barreled pistol to bob people on the skull more than shoot people. He said it saved many lives. He would knock people out rather than have them shot. Can’t remember if Doc Holiday was featured in the TV show. The relationship/friendship between the two is one of the more interesting features in the story.
There was an article in the “American Rifleman” a year or two back about an old soldier who was stationed near Tombstone and knew Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.
If my memory is correct he thought Earp was a pimp and scoundrel who only pinned on a badge when it suited his interests. He described Doc Holliday as an insane killer.
That's because in real life there were no fast-draw duels. It's all a Hollyweird invention. Which disappointed me deeply when I read historic accounts of the old west when I got older. There were a lot of people good with guns, but when they wanted to dispatch someone, they had their guns already drawn and pointed at the bad guy. And no shooting from the hip either. They aimed their six-guns if they wanted to hit anything.
I can think of one man on man shootout in the streets of Wichita.
It involved Wild Bill Hickock. Probably wasn’t a quick draw tho. Hickock killed the other guy at a long range then turned and killed his deputy who was coming to his aid. I think this haunted Hickock for a long time.
I read about that shootout. Hickok was one of the west’s best pistoleros, but even he said he wasn’t that fast on the draw. He said it was the person who could best stand and keep shooting in the face of flying lead coming at them which determined who was the best gunfighter. But he never really engaged in any mythical Hollywood-style, fast-draw duel with anybody. However, he was a deadly shot with his Navy Colts as a number of people found out to their everlasting regret. And of course, Wild Bill found out he was not immune to flying lead either.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.