Wichita

Wichita is a western that again focuses on a life and deeds of legendary Wyatt Earp, only this time without gunfight at the OK Corral. The action doesn't take place at Tombstone, but in a small cattle town of Wichita where our hero (this time played by Joel McCrea) arrives and very soon is offered a post of a Marshall due to his strong persona and skills in using the gun.

In a very short time he manages to change completely the life of the town from a very dangerous place where one could be killed or robbed at any moment to the most peaceful town in the wild west.

An interesting western directed by Jacques Tourneur, that revisits some of the used western's cliches, but also contains some spectacular action sequences and some personal Tourneur touches in directing which rise the film little above the average and turn it into a pleasurable viewing experience. 7/10

The film was well developed in Wichita where appeared Wyatt Earp (Joel McCrea) as one of the many lawman hired to keep the peace . Wyatt Earp was a gunman and sometime peace officer whose legendary reputation as a paragon of law and order was largely manufactured by himself and his biographer Stuart Lake . Undoubtedly he was also a man of great courage and gunfighting skill . After working as a freighter and buffalo hunter Earp served as a policeman in Wichita (during 1875-76 years) and then as an assistant town marshal of Dodge city . Wichita was a major cattle town that started life as a trading post for the Indians who had a village nearby and later a white settlement developed around . The town was incorporated as a third class city in 1871, and the following year , when the railroad reached the ___location , it becomes a booming railhead of the cattle drives from Texas up the Chisholm trail . Like other cattle towns (Abilene) the rowdy , free-spending cowboys attracted saloon keepers , gambling houses , brothels , dance houses and all types of frontier riff-raff , the city became notorious for its lawlessness and vice , serving the needs of Texas cowboys . Wichita was the leading cattle shipping center , with 200.000 cattle and 2.000 cowboys flooding into the area at the height of the station . At the movie the cowboys (such as Robert J.Wilke and Jack Elam) amuse themselves shooting the air and is when Wyatt Earp intervenes to keep the order . He is helped by his brothers James (John Smith) and Morgan (Peter Graves) who was badly wounded in the explosive showdown known as the Gunfight at the O.K .Corral (26 October 1881) . At the film appears Bat Masterson (Keith Larsen) working as a journalist . Bat was also a peace officer and gunfighter of legendary reputation as Earp and spent the last twenty years of his life as a popular sports writer on a New York newspaper , moving on to Dodge City , he served as a police officer and became a comrade of Wyatt . The motion picture develops pretty well the events around Wichita . The casting is frankly magnificent as the main characters (Joel McCrea , Vera Miles) as well as the excellent supporting actors (Edgar Buchanan , Lloyd Bridges , Wallace Ford and Sam Peckinpah plays a bit part as a bank teller). The picture was well directed by Jacques Tourneur . Rating : Good Western , well worth watching .

The now-familiar and evergreen story of Wyatt Earp's maverick attempts (& succeeding) at ridding all guns from the Western frontier town of Wichita, is again shown here, directed with some style by Jacques Tourneur, from 1955.

Joel Mc Crea - not quite a superstar of Westerns, is suitably refrained but still somehow imposing as the law enforcement officer Earp. There's good action at the start, as bands of outlaws ride in, guns blazing, fights in Saloon bars and general terrorising of the residents.

Mc Crea is good, Vera Miles lovely and a turn from Lloyd Bridges is always welcome. The colour and clarity are also good, though the Technicolor less vibrant and saturated than is often the case, making the film look more natural.

Though I'm no expert on the Western, I do enjoy a good one and whilst this was entertaining enough, it didn't strike me as one to particularly remember. It didn't drag, wasn't boring and is probably better than average, but not quite enough for 7/10.

Up front I must tell you that I usually HATE westerns featuring folks like Jesse James, Billy the Kid and other real life folk. This is because very rarely do the filmmakers get it right--and completely fictionalize these lives to make minor characters seem far, far more important and interesting than they really were. So, when I saw that Joel McCrea stars as Wyatt Earp, I was NOT pleased. And, to make it worse, Bat Masterson apparently is in the film as well. The only reason I forced myself to watch it is because even a bad McCrea western is still usually worth seeing. Plus, it did help that folks like Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Edgar Buchanan, Wallace Ford, Vera Miles and Jack Elam also were in the film.

To set the record straight, I used to teach US History and much of what's in this film is crap. While it is true that Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson did work together for a bit, it was in Texas, not Kansas. Also, Earp WAS a deputy in Wichita--never the marshall or sheriff. And, although Bat Masterson DID become a newspaper man, that was later--after he was a lawman. I sure wish they'd kept the script and just changed the names--it would have improved it immensely. That's because it really is a very, very good film apart from all the historical confabulations!

In this story, Wyatt is a peace-loving and patient man. He's headed into Wichita to open a business and live a normal life. Unfortunately, the town is pretty lawless--especially when the cattlemen and their hands arrive in town. During one of these times, the guys shoot up the town--and kill a little kid. So, Wyatt is quickly sworn in as sheriff and he takes on these drunken rowdies with only the assistance of young Bat Masterson. You'd think the town would be thrilled, right? Well, this is NOT the case of the rich guys in town who own the saloons and stockyards! They want the sheriff to turn a blind eye to the outrages of the cattlemen because their fortunes depend on cattle. However, Wyatt will only do it his way--the RIGHT way! What's to happen next? See the film for yourself.

Excellent acting, lots of action and a terrific take on the myth of the old west. Yes, I do mean myth as gunfights and much of what we think of as common stuff in the west rarely ever occurred--and more often than not, it was just some guy shooting another guy in the back!

Joel McCrea delivers the goods once again in "Wichita". McCrea gives a solid performance in this movie. The rest of the cast is also strong. The movie looks great too. The story is well told and quite exciting at times. "Wichita" is a rock solid 1950s western. I can't wait until I see it again. Honorable mention: a never dreamier Vera Miles.