Truly Dreadful Film

Instant Favorite.

A Major Disappointment

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Wichita is directed by Jacques Tourneur and written by Daniel B. Ullman. It stars Joel McCrea, Vera Miles, Wallace Ford, Edgar Buchannan, Lloyd Bridges and Keith Larsen. It's filmed in Cinemascope/Technicolor with cinematography by Harold Lipstein and music by Hans J. Salter.Wichita is an origin story, that of one Wyatt Earp (McCrea), the story is set before he gets to Dodge City, where apparently some famous gunfight occurred. From a narrative stand point it's a town tamer story, Earp arrives in a newly thriving Wichita, at this point he's a hunter of buffalo only. But as the cowboys converge on the town, and things turn very dark, Earp - a bastion of good and just righteousness - finds it impossible to continue in turning down the town superior's offers of becoming the town Marshal.It's one of those Western movies that made Western movie fans become Western movie fans. A film you would have watched as a youngster and just bought totally into the good guy against the baddies central core. Of course as youngsters we wouldn't have cared a jot about thematics such as capitalism ruling over common sense, or metaphysical leanings ticking away, all while a genius director is composing shots and frames of great distinction. Hell! Even the intelligence and maturity in the writing would have escaped us, the dark passages merely incidents of no great concern...Wichita is damn fine film making. OK! It isn't wall to wall action. Sure there is a good round of knuckles, a bit of trench warfare and the standard shoot-outs, but these are just conduits to smart and compelling human drama, richly performed by McCrea (brilliantly cast) and company. Tourneur, Ullman and Lipstein make sure there is no waste on the page or via location framing, the costuming authentic and pleasing, and of course the story itself, the set up of the iconic man himself, is as compelling as it is splendidly entertaining.It be a traditional Western for the traditional Western fan. Nice! 8/10

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.

I missed the beginning but enjoyed what I saw of this film. McCrae is Wyatt Earp, hired by the city fathers to clean up the wild town of Wichita, Kansas. He begins by prohibiting the wearing of guns in the town limits. It gives the city fathers second thoughts because, after all, a cow poke is not a cow poke without an instrument to kill, and Wichita wants the cow pokes to visit and spend their dollars in the saloon and other facilities.Wyatt is joined by his brothers, Morgan and Virgil, and they arrest the most corrupt of the town fathers who, mistaking their identities, tries to hire them to kill Wyatt.Lloyd Bridges is on hand for a final shoot out. Vera Miles is stunning in the way that only a beauty contest winner from a prairie state can be stunning. What do they feed their young girls in Oklahoma -- peaches, corn, and cream? Miles' father objects to the pairing of McCrae and Vera. "You know why, don't you Wyatt?" "Yes, I do." They're talking about the likelihood of Earp's being shot down on the streets, but Dad might have harboring somewhere in the back of his preconscious the realization that McCrae is about one hundred years Miles' senior. McCrae was aging by this time and following the trajectory of other fading actors by appearing in inexpensive Westerns. Even the urbane Ray Milland could be found in boots. But McCrae seems to have been a genuinely nice guy, so he's acceptable in the role. It was directed efficiently but without poetry by Jacques Tourneur, of all people. The script leaves the some of the heavies just enough humanity to raise this above the usual Manichean Western that divides people into pure good and pure evil.It's ironic that the audience watching this on television will root for, and applaud, Wyatt Earp in his attempt to bring peace to the town by forbidding the wearing of guns -- ironic because the most powerful gun lobby in Washington has just successfully argued that the best way to prevent regular shoot outs like Wichita's is to arm everyone with guns, including school teachers.

The same year that Wichita came out, 1955, the TV series about Wyatt Earp debuted with that famous theme song, "Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp, brave courageous and bold." And certainly Hugh O'Brian was all these things in that series.But the western hero that fit all those virtues was certainly Joel McCrea. After portraying Buffalo Bill Cody in the way Cody would have liked to have been remembered it was only natural that Wyatt Earp be done the same way.Wichita was the first town that Earp had a job in law enforcement and he was there one year, 1875-1876. Wichita is purportedly the story of that year and how he cleaned up the town and made law and order function in Wichita. It's certainly all been done before, but the story is in the hands of a capable cast.Particularly to watch is the double dealing role that Edgar Buchanan has and how a bad case of mistaken identity costs him dearly.Tex Ritter sings a nice title song over the credits and while it didn't exactly have the impact that his same efforts had in High Noon, it certainly sets the tone for this film as well. After all back in the day Tex made a western or three.