''Tombstone, the Town Too Tough to Die'' is a 1942 American
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
about the
Gunfight at the OK Corral
The gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a thirty-second shootout between lawmen led by Virgil Earp and members of a loosely organized group of outlaws called the Cowboys that occurred at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, i ...
. It is directed by
William McGann
William C. McGannHe listed himself as "William M. Mcgann" in the World War I draft (April 15, 1893 – November 15, 1977) was an American film director. He directed more than 50 films between 1930 and 1942. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsy ...
and stars
Richard Dix
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...
as
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which law ...
,
Kent Taylor
Kent Taylor (born Louis William Weiss; May 11, 1907 – April 11, 1987) was an American actor of film and television. Taylor appeared in more than 110 films, the bulk of them B-movies in the 1930s and 1940s, although he also had roles in more p ...
as
Doc Holliday
John Henry Holliday (August 14, 1851 – November 8, 1887), better known as Doc Holliday, was an American gambler, gunfighter, and dentist. A close friend and associate of lawman Wyatt Earp, Holliday is best known for his role in the event ...
and
Edgar Buchanan
William Edgar Buchanan II (March 20, 1903 – April 4, 1979) was an American actor with a long career in both film and television. He is most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the ''Petticoat Junction'', ''Green Acres'', and ''The ...
as
Curly Bill Brocious
William Brocius (c. 1845 – March 24, 1882), better known as Curly Bill Brocius, was an American gunslinger, gunman, cattle raiding, rustler and an outlaw The Cowboys (Cochise County), Cowboy in the Cochise County, Arizona, Cochise County area ...
. The supporting cast features
Rex Bell
Rex Bell (born George Francis Beldam; October 16, 1903 – July 4, 1962) was an American actor and politician. Bell primarily appeared in Western films during his career. He also appeared in the 1930 movie '' True to the Navy'', starring Clar ...
as
Virgil Earp
Virgil Walter Earp (July 18, 1843 – October 19, 1905) was both deputy U.S. Marshal and Tombstone, Arizona City Marshal when he led his younger brothers Wyatt and Morgan, and Doc Holliday, in a confrontation with outlaw Cowboys at the Gunfig ...
and
Victor Jory
Victor Jory (November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982) was a Canadian-American actor of stage, film, and television. He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast in villainous or sinister roles, such as Oberon in ''A Midsummer N ...
as
Ike Clanton.
Plot
Set in the legendary town of
Tombstone, Arizona
Tombstone is a historic city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1877 by prospector Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It became one of the last boomtowns in the American frontier. The town grew si ...
, the plot centers on former gunslinger
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which law ...
, who helps the
sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
round up criminals. Earp becomes a lawman after he sees an outlaw accidentally kill a child during a showdown. Earp's brothers and
Doc Holliday
John Henry Holliday (August 14, 1851 – November 8, 1887), better known as Doc Holliday, was an American gambler, gunfighter, and dentist. A close friend and associate of lawman Wyatt Earp, Holliday is best known for his role in the event ...
help him take on the outlaw and his gang. More trouble ensues when the sheriff becomes involved with the gang. Earp manages to get them on robbery charges and the situation finally culminates at the infamous
O.K. Corral.
Cast
*
Richard Dix
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...
as
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which law ...
*
Kent Taylor
Kent Taylor (born Louis William Weiss; May 11, 1907 – April 11, 1987) was an American actor of film and television. Taylor appeared in more than 110 films, the bulk of them B-movies in the 1930s and 1940s, although he also had roles in more p ...
as
Doc Holliday
John Henry Holliday (August 14, 1851 – November 8, 1887), better known as Doc Holliday, was an American gambler, gunfighter, and dentist. A close friend and associate of lawman Wyatt Earp, Holliday is best known for his role in the event ...
*
Edgar Buchanan
William Edgar Buchanan II (March 20, 1903 – April 4, 1979) was an American actor with a long career in both film and television. He is most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the ''Petticoat Junction'', ''Green Acres'', and ''The ...
as
Curly Bill Brocious
William Brocius (c. 1845 – March 24, 1882), better known as Curly Bill Brocius, was an American gunslinger, gunman, cattle raiding, rustler and an outlaw The Cowboys (Cochise County), Cowboy in the Cochise County, Arizona, Cochise County area ...
*
Frances Gifford
Mary Frances Gifford (December 7, 1920 – January 22, 1994) was an American actress who played leads and supporting roles in many 1930s and 1940s movies.
Early years
Gifford was born and raised in Long Beach, California, and at the age of 16, ...
as Ruth Grant
*
Don Castle
Don Castle (September 29, 1917 – May 26, 1966) was an American film actor of the 1930s and 1940s.
Biography
Castle was born in Beaumont, Texas. He started his acting career as a stage actor, then moved to films. The actor, who resembled Clar ...
as Johnny Duane
*
Clem Bevans
Clem Guy Bevans (October 16, 1880 – August 11, 1963) was an American character actor best remembered for playing eccentric, grumpy old men.
Early life
Bevans was born in Cozzadale, Ohio.
Career
Bevans had a very long career, starting in va ...
as Tadpole Foster
*
Victor Jory
Victor Jory (November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982) was a Canadian-American actor of stage, film, and television. He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast in villainous or sinister roles, such as Oberon in ''A Midsummer N ...
as
Ike Clanton
*
Rex Bell
Rex Bell (born George Francis Beldam; October 16, 1903 – July 4, 1962) was an American actor and politician. Bell primarily appeared in Western films during his career. He also appeared in the 1930 movie '' True to the Navy'', starring Clar ...
as
Virgil Earp
Virgil Walter Earp (July 18, 1843 – October 19, 1905) was both deputy U.S. Marshal and Tombstone, Arizona City Marshal when he led his younger brothers Wyatt and Morgan, and Doc Holliday, in a confrontation with outlaw Cowboys at the Gunfig ...
*
Harvey Stephens
Harvey Stephens (August 21, 1901 – December 22, 1986) was an American actor, known initially for his performances in Broadway productions, and thereafter for his work in film and on television. He was most active in film beginning in the 193 ...
as
Morgan Earp
Morgan Seth Earp (April 24, 1851 – March 18, 1882) was an American sheriff and lawman. He served as Tombstone, Arizona's Special Policeman when he helped his brothers Virgil and Wyatt, as well as Doc Holliday, confront the outlaw Cochise C ...
*
Hal Taliaferro
Floyd Taliaferro Alderson (November 13, 1895 – February 10, 1980) was an American film actor who specialized in westerns. After serving in the Great War, he began his career in the era of silent films, when he frequently used the name Wally ...
as Dick Mason
*
Wallis Clark
Wallis Hensman Clark (2 March 1882 – 14 February 1961) was an English stage and film actor.
Biography
Clark was born in Bolton, Lancashire, England, the son of William Wallis Clark (1854 - 1930), an engineer. Prior to acting, Clark was an en ...
as
Ed Schieffelin
Edward Lawrence Schieffelin (1847–1897) was an U.S. Army Indian Scouts, Indian scout and prospecting, prospector who discovered silver in the Arizona Territory, which led to the founding of Tombstone, Arizona. He partnered with his brother Al an ...
*
Donald Curtis
Donald Curtis (born Curtis D. Rudolf; February 27, 1915 – May 22, 1997) was an American actor who had roles in dozens of films and television series.
Biography
Curtis was born in Spokane, Washington, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl W. Rudol ...
as
Phineas Clanton
Phineas Fay Clanton (December 1843 – January 5, 1906) was the son of Newman Haynes Clanton and the brother of Billy and Ike Clanton. He was witness to and possibly played a part in a number of illegal activities during his life. He moved frequ ...
*
Dick Curtis
Richard Dye (May 11, 1902January 3, 1952), known professionally as Dick Curtis, was an American actor who made over 230 film and television appearances during his career.
Early years
Curtis was born in Newport, Kentucky, the son of Frank Dye ...
as Frank McLowery
*
Paul Sutton
Paul Sutton (May 14, 1910 – January 31, 1970) was an American radio writer and actor who also acted in film.
Biography
He was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
He is perhaps best known as one of the actors who portrayed Sergeant Willia ...
as Tom McLowery
*
Charles Middleton as 1st Mayor
*
Charles Stevens as Indian Charley
*
Jack Rockwell
Jack Rockwell Trowbridge (October 6, 1890 – November 10, 1947) was an American film actor who was born in Mexico. He appeared in over 250 movies, mostly Westerns, between 1927 and 1947.
Rockwell's older brother was character actor Charles ...
as Bob Paul
*
Chris-Pin Martin as Chris
* James Ferrara as
Billy Clanton
William Harrison Clanton (1862 – October 26, 1881) was an outlaw Cochise County Cowboys, Cowboy in Cochise County, Arizona Territory. He, along with his father Newman Haynes Clanton, Newman Clanton and brother Ike Clanton, worked a ranch nea ...
*
Charles Halton
Charles Halton (March 16, 1876 – April 16, 1959) was an American character actor who appeared in over 180 films.
Life and career
Halton trained at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his Broadway debut in 1901, after which he ...
as Mayor Dan Crane
*
Spencer Charters
Spencer Charters (March 25, 1875 – January 25, 1943) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 220 films between 1920 and 1943, mostly in small supporting roles.
Biography
Charters was born in Duncannon, Pennsylvania. Until ...
as Judge Fred Horgan
*
Emmett Vogan
Charles Emmett Vogan (September 27, 1893 – October 6, 1969) was an American actor with almost 500 film appearances from 1934 to 1954, making him, along with Bess Flowers, one of the most prolific film actors of all time.
In 1913, Vogan ...
as
Editor John Clum (uncredited)
External links
*
1942 films
American black-and-white films
Films directed by William C. McGann
Paramount Pictures films
1942 Western (genre) films
American Western (genre) films
Cultural depictions of Wyatt Earp
Cultural depictions of Doc Holliday
Films about brothers
Films set in Tombstone, Arizona
1940s English-language films
1940s American films
{{1940s-Western-film-stub