Tombstone (film)
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| Tombstone | |
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| Directed by | George P. Cosmatos |
| Produced by | Sean Daniel James Jacks |
| Written by | Kevin Jarre |
| Starring | Kurt Russell Val Kilmer Sam Elliott Bill Paxton |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group |
| Release date(s) | December 25, 1993 |
| Running time | 130 min. |
| Language | English, Spanish, and Latin |
| Budget | $25,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Tombstone is a 1993 Western movie written by Kevin Jarre and directed by George P. Cosmatos. The story involves Wyatt Earp and his brothers moving to Tombstone, Arizona where they and Doc Holliday face off against a band of criminals called the Cowboys.
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[edit] Plot
Wyatt Earp (played by Kurt Russell), a retired peace keeper with quite a reputation, re-unites with his brothers Virgil (Sam Elliott) and Morgan (Bill Paxton) in Tucson, Arizona where they venture on towards Tombstone, a small but growing mining town to settle down. There they encounter Wyatt's longtime friend Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), a southern rogue who seeks relief from his tuberculosis in Arizona's drier environment.
All is not perfect however. Wyatt's wife, Mattie Blaylock, is slowly becoming dependent on laudanum (opium) which she acquired to heal her headaches. Just as Wyatt and his brothers begin to benefit from the rebuilding of a saloon's below average prospects, they make their first meeting with the Cowboys, an organized crime ring headed by "Curly Bill" Brocious (Powers Boothe) that wear red sashes around their waist to mark their affiliation. Conflict is narrowly avoided upon Wyatt's insistence that he is retired and no longer interested in pursuing a career in law-keeping. This also marks a less than ideal first meeting for Doc Holliday and his Cowboy counterpart, the psychopathic Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn), as both begin a tense conversation in Latin.
Also just arriving in town are theatre performers Josephine Marcus (Dana Delany) and her actor companion Mr. Fabian (Billy Zane).
Wyatt, although no longer a law-man, cannot betray his good-qualities, and in a town inundated with Cowboys it isn't long before tensions rise. An intoxicated Curly Bill is shooting aimlessly in the middle of town after his visit to a Chinese opium house and is approached by town Marshal Fred White to relinquish his firearms before any harm is done. Curly Bill shoots Marshal White and is subsequently knocked unconscious from behind by Wyatt. Tension mounts as Ike Clanton and other Cowboys, intent on rescuing Curly Bill, are turned away by Wyatt, his shotgun-toting brothers, and Doc. Curly Bill later stands trial but is not found guilty and released.
Wyatt also makes run-ins with Josephine, who unlike other ladies of her time is quite forward towards Wyatt. Although their actions are quite innocent there is a spark between them that neither can deny.
Later, Virgil, unable to tolerate the lawlessness of Tombstone becomes the new town Marshall(replacing Fred White) and imposes a weapons ban in town limits. Further dealings with the Cowboys prompts the legendary battle at the O.K. Corral. Virgil and Morgan are wounded, three Cowboys are killed, and county sheriff John Behan's allegiance to the Cowboys is revealed. As retribution for the Cowboy deaths Wyatt's younger brother Morgan is shot dead, while Virgil's arm is shot making it useless. Wyatt and family decide to leave Tombstone and head back to Tucson to board a train. Followed by the Cowboys, Wyatt sees that his family leaves safely while he deals with them. Wyatt announces that he has become a U.S. Marshal and that he intends to kill any man he sees wearing a red sash. He lets Clanton return to send the message and enters a vengeful stage in his life when he, Doc, an ex-Cowboy named McMasters (Michael Rooker) and his friends Texas Jack Vermillion and Turkey Creek Jack Johnson join forces to wipe out the Cowboys.
At another epic battle Wyatt is ambushed in a riverside forest by the Cowboys. Wyatt is beckoned by the river and seeks out Curly Bill who obliges and a knee-deep water gunfight is over before it begins with Curly Bill laying in the water dead. Johnny Ringo becomes the head of the Cowboys.
At one of their lower points, Doc's health is under assault and they depend on the accommodations of Henry Hooker (Charlton Heston). It is learned that Mr. Fabian was shot by Cowboys who wanted to steal Josephine's watch. Due to his now distant relation (geographically and in closeness) with his wife, Wyatt reaches a point of understanding here where he realizes what he wants in life and who (Josephine).
Ringo sends the message that he wants a showdown with Wyatt to end the hostilities and Wyatt is in agreement. Although Doc is a better match for Johnny he is currently in no condition for a gunfight and cannot join Wyatt.
Wyatt sets off for the showdown, not knowing that a healthy Doc beats him to the scene. Doc confronts a surprised Ringo and tells him "I'm your huckleberry". Ringo becomes nervous and tells Doc that he doesn't want to fight him, but Doc says they are just finishing their "game" from a previous encounter. Ringo accepts and both men stare each other down as they circle around. As both men lift their guns, Doc gets the first shot off, hitting Ringo in the head and killing him. Wyatt runs when he hears the gunshot only to encounter who he thought was his ailing friend on his feet and well. They then press on to finish the job of eliminating the Cowboys, though Clanton escapes their vengeance by throwing away his red sash.
Doc is later admitted to a sanatorium in Glenwood Springs, Colorado where shortly after a visit from Wyatt he dies. Immediately prior to his death, Doc looks at his feet and the condition of the bed in which he is lying, and mutters "I'll be damned. Oh, this is funny", after which he dies. Doc realizes he was about to "die with his boots off" (as opposed to "dying with your boots on", i.e. in a gunfight). Wyatt decides to pursue Josephine and the movie ends with an account of the events to occur in the following years.
[edit] Production
In 1989, Kurt Russell was given the script for Tombstone. At the time Kevin Jarre and Kevin Costner were going to make the movie together but disagreed over the film's focus. Costner felt that the emphasis should be on Wyatt Earp and decided to make his own movie with a different screenwriter. Russell signed on and made an agreement with producer Andrew Vajna to finance it with a budget of $25 million.
Originally, Jarre and Russell wanted to cast Willem Dafoe as Doc Holliday but Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group refused to distribute the film if he was cast. Because Costner was making a competing Wyatt Earp film, he used his clout (which was considerable at the time) to convince most of the major studios except for Buena Vista to refuse to distribute Tombstone. Jarre and Russell went with their next choice, Val Kilmer.
Filming was plagued with several problems. According to Henry Cabot Beck's article, "The 'Western' Godfather" in True West magazine, early in the production screenwriter Jarre was fired as director and replaced by George P. Cosmatos. One reason cited for his dismissal was that he refused to cut down the length of his screenplay. Sylvester Stallone recommended Cosmatos to Kurt Russell based on the work he did on Rambo: First Blood Part II. According to Russell, in Beck's article, the actor made an agreement with Cosmatos that he would ghost direct the movie. Every night, Russell would give Cosmatos a shot list for the next day.
Both Russell and Kilmer have said that the screenplay was too long (Russell estimated by 20 pages). According to Kilmer, "virtually every main character, every cowboy, for example, had a subplot and a story told, and none of them are left in the film." He has said that over 100 people, cast and crew, either quit or were fired over the course of the production. Russell even went so far as to cut down his scenes in order to let other actors have more screen time.
[edit] Trivia
- Tombstone was in production at the same time as Wyatt Earp. Tombstone was released first, on December 25, 1993, and Wyatt Earp followed half a year later on June 24, 1994. While neither film was a blockbuster, Wyatt Earp's large budget ($63M) and paltry domestic theatrical box office ($25M) have left it with the reputation of being a bomb.
- Robert Mitchum was originally set to play Old Man Clanton, but Mitchum suffered a horse riding accident which made him unable to play the part. Mitchum ultimately narrated the film, while the part was written out of the script. Much of Old Man Clanton's dialogue, however, was spoken by other characters, particularly Curly Bill, who was effectively made the gang leader in lieu of Clanton.
[edit] Historical inaccuracies of the film
- "Curly Bill" Brocius and Johnny Ringo are portrayed as the leaders of the Cowboys, when in fact the band was loosely knit, and mostly disorganized in reality.
- The Cowboys did not wear red sashes.
- Doc Holliday and Johnny Ringo had reputations as killers but actually killed six men between them: Holliday with one kill and Ringo with five that are documented.
- In the film, Virgil Earp is depicted as merely tolerating Doc Holliday, rather than actually liking him. In reality he did like Holliday, and he was quoted years later as saying that Doc Holliday was always someone they could count on.
- There was never any attack on a Mexican wedding party.
- Mattie Blaylock, Wyatt Earp's common law wife when he arrived in Tombstone, did not become addicted to laudanum until later, but it did begin in Tombstone.
- Wyatt Earp was not against serving in law enforcement, and had applied for other positions prior to the position he eventually held.
- Trouble maker Johnny Tyler was not a dealer in the Oriental Saloon, but rather a rowdy customer. He was, however, thrown out by Wyatt Earp. He had not previously known Doc Holliday either.
- Josephine Marcus was not a leading actress of the time. She had been in Tombstone quite some time with Behan, off and on, prior to Wyatt Earp's arrival, as well as having lived with a Tombstone attorney for a time.
- Marshal Fred White is portrayed as elderly, when in fact he was either 31 or 32 years of age when he died.
- The movie depicts 51 shots being fired in roughly 128 seconds during the Gunfight at the OK Corral. In reality, roughly 30 shots were fired in roughly 30 seconds.
- Wyatt Earp is depicted as the most experienced of the Earp brothers, when in fact Virgil was, and Wyatt Earp did not achieve his fame as a lawman in Dodge City, but rather following the OK Corral shootout.
- When Doc Holliday and Johnny Ringo squared off to fight, neither friends to Doc or the Cowboys intervened. They were, rather, disarmed by the law.
- The Cowboys never shot into the Earp's house, or at the Earp women.
- The attacks on Virgil Earp and Morgan Earp did not happen immediately after the OK Corral shootout, nor did they happen on the same night. The attack on Virgil was carried out on December 28th, 1881, and the murder of Morgan happened on March 18th, 1882.
- An actor was not killed during a stagecoach robbery, nor was Josephine Marcus robbed.
- Sherman McMasters was not killed during the vendetta ride. None of the Earp faction died.
- Johnny Ringo's death is a mystery, and did not take place during the vendetta ride. Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp were in Colorado when it happened.
- Doc Holliday died in a hotel, not a sanatorium.
- Josephine Marcus was not from an enormously wealthy family.
- During the OK Corral Gunfight, it appears to be hot. In reality, it had snowed the previous day, and was cold that day.
- When Doc Holliday is portrayed in the stabbing of Fred Bailey, he is shown stealing the money from the table, and fleeing with Kate. In fact, he did not steal any money from the table, and was arrested by the town Marshal for the stabbing. However, when a lynch mob formed outside, Kate set a shed on fire to distract the mob, then calmly walked in and held a shotgun to the Marshal so that she and Doc could escape.
- Johnny Behan was not the Sheriff at the time the Earp's arrived in Tombstone. In November, 1880, when Wyatt Earp resigned as Deputy Sheriff, Behan replaced him. When Cochise County was created, in February 1881, Behan and Wyatt Earp agreed that Behan would run for Sheriff, then appoint Wyatt as his under-sheriff once elected. Behan was elected, but did not make the appointment, which did lead to tensions between he and Wyatt Earp.
- Josephine Marcus is depicted as being in "Fly's Studio" having a semi-nude photograph taken on the day of the OK Corral shootout. The alleged photograph of her semi-nude and in the possession of Johnny Behan was taken long before, and one that has often been advertised as being her is in fact not, and was actually an unknown woman photographed in 1914.
- Ike Clanton did not take Behan's gun in "Fly's Studio" and fire through the window during the OK Corral shootout. In fact, he never fired any shots at all, was unarmed, and fled the scene down Allen Street.
- Wyatt Earp and Josephine Marcus became involved romantically several months before the OK Corral shootout, shortly after she had broken off her relationship with Behan.
- The shootout in which "Curly" Bill Brocius was killed did not take place across a river, but instead he was shot by Wyatt Earp by shotgun in the first seconds of an ambush on the Earp party by the Cowboys.
- Wyatt Earp did not write a booklet about Doc Holliday, he did not visit Doc prior to his death, and did not know of his death until a good while after.
- The "Birdcage Theater" was not built until after the OK Corral shootout.
- Doc Holliday stabbed Ed Bailey in Fort Griffin, not in Prescott, Arizona.
[edit] Historical accuracies of the film
- The dialogue of the OK Corral gunfight.
- Wyatt Earp's twisting of Johnny Tyler's ear was one of his favorite ways to move a pest or troublemaker along.
- John Behan's speech about himself being the head of the anti-Chinese league.
- As in the portrayal in the film, the shooting of Marshal Fred White was, by White's own deathbed testimony, accidental, and Brocius acted as if he sincerely regretted the incident, and apparently liked White personally. Most other Earp films show it as a very cold and planned murder.
- Doc Holliday was never violent towards Kate. In most other films depicting their relationship, he is shown to be abusive.
- The look of Tombstone as just being built because at 1860's.
- Facial hair, guns, and attire were fairly accurate.
- Doc's sayings of "Daisy" and "Huckleberry" were actually said by him.
- The ages of the characters, with the exception of Marshal Fred White.
- Sheriff Johnny Behan did in real life often use jurisdiction to his own benefit, both to become involved in incidents that were more of a city matter and to avoid getting involved when he felt it would affect his own popularity.
- The murder-rate of Tombstone, during the late 1870s and into the mid-1880s did truly rival many modern day metropolitan cities, per-capita.
- Josephine Marcus is alleged to have had a nude photograph of her taken and it was in the possession of Mark Twain, who had shown it to other men around town. This led to its minor inclusion in the film. However, it wasn't taken that day, as depicted. And it may not be her at all.
- Virgil Earp, after being shot in the assassination attempt on his life, did refuse to have his arm amputated and did tell his wife that he still had one arm to hold her with.
- Ike Clanton was known more for his big talk than any actual actions. He had the reputation of talking loud and bragging, but never following up on any threats. He was also known to back down when pushed, unless he had his opponent outnumbered with friends.
[edit] Interpretation
While the movie is based on true events and real characters, it has a hidden undertone that goes along with the plot. In the beginning of the film this is set when the Mexican priest quotes the Bible. As Johnny Ringo correctly points out, the priest is quoting the book of Revelations, “behold the pale horse [and] the man who sat on him was Death […] and Hell followed with him.”
Before that, one of the Cowboys tries to translate the quote by saying that a ‘sick horse will come down to revenge for him.’ While the translation is incorrect, the idea was right. The priest is sort of putting a ‘curse’ on the gang and has sealed their fate of death as he is the messenger of God. As Ringo shoots the priest in the head, he can be heard yelling that the Cowboys are the sons of Satan.
This theme plays out in the movie, primarily with the obvious distinction that the ‘pale horse’ is Doc Holliday as depicted by his sick appearance throughout the movie (because of tuberculosis). Wyatt Earp represents Death as he later exclaims in his famous line. In the theater scene, when Curly Bill asks Ringo if he would make a deal with the devil. Ringo firmly states that he “already did it,” once again alluding to the “sons of Satan” rant.
The other noteworthy point of the movie is that Ringo and Holliday are supposed to be mirror images of each other (not opposites as Doc later describes). When Holliday claims, “I know … he reminds me of … ME,” he is alluding to seeing the same sadistic characteristics of himself in Ringo. (This is before the famous Latin exchange between the men) At this moment, instinctively, Doc Holliday knows he must rid the world of his counterpart.
Later in the movie we see a scene where Ringo asks the Earp brothers if anyone had the “guts to play for blood?” Holliday interrupts and states, “I’m your Huckleberry … that’s just my game.” He is referring to the fact that he is just like Ringo and that they are the only two that would ‘enjoy’ that sort of thing.
Just before the O.K. Corral shootout, the film shows a brief scene where the Earp brothers along with Doc are walking and a fire is burning in the background. This is in reference to the Revelations quote of Hell following with him.
After Morgan is killed and Virgil leaves, it leads us to the most memorable moment in the movie when Wyatt screams, “you tell ‘em I’m coming … and Hell’s coming with me!” Again alluding to the fact that he is indeed ‘Death’ (extracting revenge on behalf of the priest).
The part of the movie where divine intervention occurs can be seen as the fate that was dealt to the Cowboys by the priest. As Wyatt Earp walks along the river, Curly Bill misses several point blank shots. This symbolizes that nothing can defy God’s word (which was handed down by the priest).
The last two moments involve Doc Holliday. The first is when he is sick in bed as Earp explains that he will have to face Ringo in a ‘fight’. Holliday reveals that Wyatt can’t win the fight, but he also describes Ringo as someone who “can never steal enough or kill enough … [and that] he wants revenge for being born.” In essence, all Holliday did was describe himself, knowing that he and Ringo thought alike.
At the end when Holliday finally faces Ringo, Doc exacts the priest’s revenge by killing Johnny in the exact same manner in which the priest was murdered. Holliday draws quickly and shoots Ringo in the forehead.
[edit] Critical response
Tombstone is estimated to have grossed over $56 million in the United States.[1] Val Kilmer's portrayal of Doc Holliday has frequently been praised[citation needed]. He was nominated for two MTV Movie Awards in 1994 for Best Male Performance and Most Desirable Male. Several movie critics said he deserved an Oscar nomination for his performance[citation needed].
