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Hour of the Gun [1967] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
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Our Price: £6.13 (subject to change)
Sturges second, darker, better take on the Earps and the Clantons
Review date: 2008-10-12 Rating: 10 out of 10
Hour of the Gun is easily my favorite take on the Wyatt Earp legend, with John Sturges making amends for the strangely rather unsatisfying Gunfight at the O.K. Corral with this dark, revisionist take of the aftermath that seeps with post-Kennedy cynicism. People aren't killed, they're assassinated by riflemen hiding in shadows, trials fail to see justice done, the good townspeople buy off bad guys and the motives for the Clanton-Earp feud are more political and economic than personal (Robert Ryan's Clanton is more of a calculating businessman trying to fend off encroaching Eastern conglomerates and willing to sacrifice his family to do it than the usual crooked pater familias). Throughout, James Garner's Wyatt Earp moves further away from the law as an increasingly cold-blooded desire for vengeance takes over from his principles while Jason Robards bitter Doc Holliday can do little but watch and stand dying by his side.
With a terrific script by Edward Anhalt (who gives himself good cameo as Doc's doc) there's a neat symmetry running through the film - Clanton slinks away from the O.K Corral before the lead starts flying only to find his gang deserting him the same way at the end - enhanced by Sturges' strong visual sense, with locations always sparsely populated or streets often completely empty to emphasise the narrow focus of the conflict. Sturges' usually effortless mastery of Scope frame seems a bit forced in a couple of set-ups where you can see him lining up his actors as if blocking them onstage, but you can forgive him when he throws in an opening sequence that Sam Peckinpah borrowed for The Wild Bunch - the unscripted moment Peckinpah referred to as `the Walk thing' when the Bunch go to their final fate (Peckinpah was a great admirer of Sturges, and as even used Hour's cinematographer Lucien Ballard on Bunch). Throw in a terrific score from Jerry Goldsmith just as he entered his prime, and it's a winner.
The 2.35:1 transfer is mostly good with a little occasional edge-enhancement. The only extra - unless you count fulscreen version of the film on the B-side of the NTSC disc - is the trailer.
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Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Charles Aidman
Albert Salmi
Jason Robards
James Garner
Robert Ryan
Creators:
James Garner (Primary Contributor)
Jason Robards (Primary Contributor)
Lucien Ballard (Cinematographer)
John Sturges (Producer)
Ferris Webster (Editor)
Edward Anhalt (Writer)
Director(s):
Recording label: MGM
Manufacturer: MGM
EAN: 0027616923547
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Closed-captioned, Colour, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC,
Release date: 2005-05-17
Universal product code (UPC): 027616923547
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Region code: 1
Running time: 100 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1967
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)