Doc

In a long line of truly interesting, fascinating individuals the wild west produced in the 19th Century, some stand out from the rest. For me, John 'Doc' Holliday has always been one of my favorites, a dentist turned gunfighter who gained fame for his friendship with famed lawman Wyatt Earp. Countless movies have been made about Earp and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, but Holliday is typically a supporting player to Earp. That's not the case in 1971's Doc, a western devoted to Holliday himself.

Riding west to Tombstone, Arizona, Doc Holliday (Stacy Keach) stops at a wayward, isolated stop along the trail. In a game of cards with a cowboy, Ike Clanton (Michael Witney), Holliday "wins" a woman, Kate Elder (Faye Dunaway), a prostitute similarly making her way west. Holliday agrees to have Kate travel with him as far as Tombstone, but upon arriving in the violent booming mining town, the gunfighter finds something he wasn't expecting. His friend Wyatt Earp (Harris Yulin) is the territorial Marshal, but not the town sheriff in Tombstone. Just the same, Wyatt sees the potential for riches with a town in his fingertips waiting to be controlled. He needs Doc's help though, Wyatt controlling the town from his position as a law officer, Doc from the saloons controlling the business end. Earp's grab for power though is a tricky one with the Clantons standing in the way, leaving Doc to decide how he wants to proceed.

If you needed an example of what a revisionist western really is, this 1971 western from director Frank Perry is right at the top of the list. It isn't interested in painting a romantic, heroic vision of the west. It's going for real, violent, cynical and dirty. Within minutes of meeting, Doc and Katie are in bed together. Riding through the mountains, they have a conversation about farting and later oral sex. In other words, this isn't John Ford's My Darling Clementine. Wyatt Earp is played as an unhinged psychopath, and the Clantons are unknowing -- if a little slow -- dupes in Earp's master plan. I like anything that tries to take a fresh, new look at assumed 'knowns' in history, but there's a line too. The best revisionist westerns find that middle ground in between the romantic vision and the ultra-cynical picture.

So while I didn't love the version of the story that Perry and scriptwriter Pete Hamill presents, it did appeal to me. The story of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Tombstone and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral has had countless film adaptations, and it's fair to say this is unlike any of the other versions. From what's been revealed and discovered in the last 100-plus years, this vision of Earp has some truth to it. He wasn't the clean-cut marshal some history books have made him out to be. Was he this psychotically unhinged though? I'm thinking probably not. As well, we see Dunaway's Katie Elder (known now as Big Nose Kate) as a whore traveling through the west. The topper though is definitely the finale, the iconic showdown between Wyatt and his two brothers and Doc vs. the Clanton/McLaury clan at the O.K. Corral. It is by the far the most gunplay you'll see in the entire movie, but it's over in a flash. Without giving any spoilers away, this gunfight is unlike any other depiction of the iconic event we've seen in any film version.

Through all the revisionist history though, what stands out from this 1971 western is the focus on Doc Holliday. Still a relative unknown, Keach does a fine job playing the tuberculosis-ridden dentist turned gunfighter John 'Doc' Holliday. He has a reputation as a gambler and a killer, that reputation preceding him wherever he goes. Doc is struggling through a disease that is tearing him apart, sending him into horrific fits of coughing. Traveling west in hopes of holding off the disease as much as possible, Holliday is looking for something else out of life, not just what he's known with gambling, drinking and women. In Kate Elder, he may have found that outlet to a better life. We also get a window into Doc with his relationship with the Kid (Denver John Collins), a young cowboy working with the Clantons who seeks out Doc's help learning how to be a gunfighter. In a story dead set on tearing history down and apart, it's cool to see Keach do such a fine job creating a human character.

Unfortunately, not much of the rest of the cast is especially memorable. Dunaway is trying, but I think she's simply miscast. She's too good-looking for the part, a rather unglamorous part. I liked Yulin as Earp mostly because it's such a departure from the known Wyatt Earp, but it's a one-note performance. Earp is nuts. That's all. John Scanlon is good as Bartlett, the friendly bartender, Dan Greenburg plays Clum, the newspaper editor hovering over the situation like a social conscience (subtle, huh?). I did like Whitney as Ike Clanton, another fresh look at a supposedly known individual, a surprisingly sympathetic character caught up in the Earp's whirlwind. Also, Earp's brothers are completely marginalized to dupes, latchkeys, and idiots. Lack of star power isn't a huge issue, but the performances here other than Keach and Whitney are disappointing.

I liked a lot about this movie. The almost silent opening at the isolated tavern is tense and unnerving with Perry using some interesting camera angles in a slow, anxiety-ridden sequence. There's no soundtrack at all, just a few instances of mariachi music being played live in a cantina or saloon. 'Doc' was filmed on location in Almeria where countless spaghetti westerns were filmed, giving the story an oddly effective other-worldly feel. I loved how the film looks, how scenes are composed with lighting and shadows. On the other hand, the history is garbage. Revisionist is one thing, but like lesser efforts, it simply tries too hard to tear down the history. A mixed bag with some really good positives and some really bad negatives.

Doc (1971): ** 1/2 /****