The beginning credits of Hour of the Gun (1967) are accompanied by showdown music, punctuated by solemn kettle drums and the drawn out squeals of violin strings, as two groups of men prepare to converge upon one another. No dialogue is needed to heighten the tension, and the tone is set by the onscreen text at the conclusion of the credits: “This picture is based on fact. This is the way it happened.” The stage is set for a no-nonsense Western, with gritty characterizations and tautly constructed gunfights, but the disclaimer also attempts to prepare the viewer for a relentless examination of morals and conscience upon one of the most lionized of all western figures, Wyatt Earp.
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Hour of the Gun, released in 1967, is considered to be director John Sturges’ finest film. Starring James Garner as Earp and Jason Robards as Doc Holliday, it was released a decade after Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) (also a Sturges film) and is considered the sequel. Indeed, the film opens with the shootout at the corral and builds its story from that event. On the surface, Hour of the Gun appears to be a typical Western–a struggle for power between the forces of evil and good, in this case, a political battle for control of Tombstone. Yet Sturges presents an undercurrent plot more sinister than the typical cowboy fare, a realistic look at the conflict between moral righteousness and the temptation of personal revenge.
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