By Richard Harland Smith
Wichita
Brief Synopsis
Wyatt Earp fights to straighten out a crooked cow town.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Jacques Tourneur
Director
Joel Mccrea
Wyatt Earp
Vera Miles
Laurie [McCoy]
Lloyd Bridges
Gyp [Clements]
Wallace Ford
[Arthur] Whiteside
Edgar Buchanan
Doc Black
Film Details
Genre
Western
Classic Hollywood
Release Date
Jul
3,
1955
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Allied Artists Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Allied Artists Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Location
Modesto, California, United States; Newhall, California, United States; Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, United States; Sonora, California, United States; Thousand Oaks, California, United States; Arizona, United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 21m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.55 : 1
Synopsis
In 1874, Clint Wallace and his foreman, Ben Thompson, are driving their cattle from Texas to Wichita, Kansas, the new trail head of the West, when they meet lone rider Wyatt Earp. The taciturn Wyatt relates that he wants to start a business in Wichita, to which the railroad has just come, and rejects Wallace's job offer. Late at night, Gyp and Hal Clements, two of Wallace's cowhands, steal Wyatt's money, but Wyatt surprises them and retrieves his cash. Thompson, afraid that the quick-drawing Wyatt will shoot the Clementses, pulls a gun on him to make him drop his weapon, and Wyatt then thrashes Gyp in a bare-knuckles fight. Wyatt rides off and soon reaches Wichita, which is bustling with preparations for the arrival of Wallace's many cowhands, who the town hopes will be the first of many. Unable to find a place to stable his horse, Wyatt seeks advice from newspaper publisher Arthur Whiteside, who takes an immediate liking to the stranger when he professes an aversion to saloons and violence. Wyatt accompanies eager reporter Bat Masterson to a ceremony welcoming the railroad to Wichita, at which businessman Sam McCoy, the man largely responsible for the venture, speaks. Wyatt then goes to open a bank account but is interrupted by a gang attempting to rob the bank. While Bat protects Sam's daughter Laurie, who is also present, Wyatt foils the robbery and is asked by Mayor Andrew Hope to become the town's marshal. Wyatt demurs, stating that he is a businessman, not a lawman, but Sam, believing that Wyatt's actions belie his words, advises Hope to ask Wyatt again. Later, Hope and Whiteside speculate about Wyatt's past, which includes a term as marshal of a town overrun by crime. Wyatt had cleaned up the other town after its marshal, Billy Smith, the current marshal of Wichita, was chased out. The next day, the town leaders greet the just-arrived Wallace and Thompson, while the cowhands head for the saloons and dance-hall girls. Wyatt runs across Laurie and escorts her home, cautioning her not to go out alone until after the cowboys depart. As time progresses, the cowboys become drunk and raucous, and soon, led by Thompson and Gyp, begin galloping through the streets and shooting into the air. During the "hurrah," as the unruliness is called, a saloon girl is injured and a toddler, fascinated by the noise, is killed as he stands in front of a window. Infuriated, Wyatt demands Billy's badge and a shotgun, and heads into the street alone. Wyatt forcefully tells the culprits to drop their weapons, and although Gyp initially refuses, Thompson realizes that Wyatt will shoot them if they do not comply. Wyatt jails the drunken men, then, knowing that he will be unable to get them convicted of murder, tells Hope that he will make the men leave town. Hope, fearing the loss of the men's business, worries that Wyatt's solution is too drastic. The next morning, Wallace asks Wyatt how much the men's fines will be, and threatens a jail break when Wyatt informs him that he will have to wait until after the trial before his men can be freed. Wyatt promptly arrests Wallace, and although Sam applauds Wyatt's firm handling of the situation, he warns the new marshal that Wichita's prosperity depends upon the cattlemen. Wyatt retorts that he will not stand by while children are murdered, then forces the offenders to leave town. Afterward, Wyatt institutes a ban on firearms within city limits and allows the admiring Bat to act as his deputy until the reinforcements he has sent for arrive. The town leaders, including Sam and saloon owner Doc Black, complain to Hope that Wyatt has gone too far and decide to confront him. At dinner that night at the McCoys, Wyatt and Laurie flirt and plan on picnicking the following day. After dinner, Wyatt grimly tells the men that he will not change his methods of combating violence, and that if they are not satisfied, they will have to fire him. Before they can reply, news comes that some of the errant cowboys have returned to Wichita, and Wyatt goes after them. Wyatt gets the drop on the troublemakers in a saloon, and warns them that if they return, he will not waste time arresting them, but will kill them instead. Later, while Wyatt and Laurie picnic, he professes his feelings for her, stating that he does not want to waste time with demure courting, and Laurie responds with a kiss. In the evening, two gun-toting strangers arrive in town, and Black, assuming that they are the gunslingers he summoned from Wallace's ranch, hires them to kill Wyatt. While the men are laying their plans, Wyatt takes Laurie home, and there, Sam, worried that Laurie could get hurt if an outlaw comes gunning for Wyatt, asks him not to see her again. Wyatt reluctantly agrees, then goes to Black's saloon, where Black is mortified to learn that the two strangers are Wyatt's brothers, Morgan and Jim. An infuriated Black vows vengeance as he is forced to leave town, then meets with Clements and his cohort Al. Meanwhile, Laurie seeks out Wyatt, and he explains why her father has prohibited their relationship. He walks her home and there is confronted by Sam and Hope. Much to Sam's surprise, Hope supports Wyatt's law-and-order methods and refuses to fire him. After the men quarrel, Wyatt leaves but is shot at by Black, Clements and Al. Mary, Sam's wife, is hit by a stray bullet and killed instantly. Accompanied by his brothers, Bat and Whiteside, Wyatt pursues the killers and succeeds in shooting Clements and Al. Black escapes and travels to the Wallace ranch, where he incites the men by lying about Wyatt's actions. Believing that Wyatt killed his brother in cold-blood, Gyp heads a group of men riding to Wichita, but upon their arrival, the men learn the truth about Mary's murder. Sam, who now regrets his harsh words against Wyatt, stands beside the marshal as he faces the men. When Gyp insists on a duel, Wyatt outdraws and kills him. Black then attempts to shoot Wyatt, but Sam shoots him first. As the rest of Wallace's men leave, Sam and Wyatt shake hands, and soon after, Laurie and Wyatt are married. While watching the bride and groom wave goodbye, Sam shakes his head, telling Whiteside that he tried to persuade Wyatt not to leave Wichita for a new job as marshal of Dodge City.
Director
Jacques Tourneur
Director
Cast
Joel Mccrea
Wyatt Earp
Vera Miles
Laurie [McCoy]
Lloyd Bridges
Gyp [Clements]
Wallace Ford
[Arthur] Whiteside
Edgar Buchanan
Doc Black
Peter Graves
Morgan [Earp]
Keith Larsen
Bat Masterson
Carl Benton Reid
Mayor [Andrew Hope]
John Smith
Jim [Earp]
Walter Coy
[Sam] McCoy
Robert Wilke
Ben Thompson
Jack Elam
Al
Mae Clarke
Mrs. [Mary] McCoy
Walter Sande
[Clint] Wallace
Gene Wesson
1st robber
Rayford Barnes
Hal Clements
George Sherwood
Marshal Billy Smith
I. Stanford Jolley
Stanton
William Newell
Bartender
Charles Morton
Bartender
Sam Peckinpah
Teller
Bob Swan
Robber
Rory Mallinson
Robber
Dorothy Tennant
Mrs. Stanton
Al Wyatt
Cowpuncher
Alex Sharp
Cowpuncher
Anna Navarro
Girl
George De Normand
Proprietor
Coleen Vico
Dance hall girl
Adele Taylor
Dance hall girl
Cathy Marlowe
Dance hall girl
Chester Jones
William, servant
Jody Mccrea
Gunman
Jeanne Dean
Mary Alan Hokanson
Frank Hagney
Gertrude Astor
Crew
William Austin
Film Editor
William Beaudine Jr.
Assistant Director
Ralph Butler
Recording
Mary Chaffee
Set Construction
John Chalay
Assistant Director
Robert Dawn
Makeup
Sam Gordon
Props
Del Harris
Sound Editing
Richard Heermance
Associate Producer
Austen Jewell
Assistant Director
Joseph Kish
Set Decoration
Harold Lipstein
Director of Photography
David Milton
Art Director
Walter Mirisch
Producer
Fred Morgan
Stills
Teddy Mossman
Props
Eve Newman
Music Editor
Mark Phillips
Camera Operator
Edward Polo
Makeup
Paul Price
Unit Publicist
Milt Rice
Special Effects
Hans Salter
Music Composition and Conducting
Hans Salter
Composer
Dwan Spencer
Recording
Daniel B. Ullman
Story and Screenplay
Ned Washington
Composer
Mary Westmoreland
Hairdresser
Allen K. Wood
Production Manager
Darrell Woodhouse
Chief Electrician
Videos
Movie Clip
Film Details
Genre
Western
Classic Hollywood
Release Date
Jul
3,
1955
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Allied Artists Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Allied Artists Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Location
Modesto, California, United States; Newhall, California, United States; Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, United States; Sonora, California, United States; Thousand Oaks, California, United States; Arizona, United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 21m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.55 : 1
Articles
Wichita
Between his masterworks, Out of the Past (1947) and Night of the Demon (1957), Jacques Tourneur made this Technicolor-CinemaScope western for Allied Artists. A prequel of sorts to John Ford's My Darling Clementine (1946), Wichita (1955) charts the transition from private citizen to public figure of Wyatt Earp, whom Tourneur and screenwriter Daniel B. Ullman etch as a man in tune with nature but one whose presence in society (after a spell in the wilderness) brings out in his fellow man their baser instincts. Star Joel McCrea was pushing fifty when he made the film (two decades older than the real life Earp at the time) and in the bell lap of a long career; equally adept at comedy as he was in action, McCrea had decided after starring in The Virginian (1946) to work exclusively in westerns. A specialist in the genre, the actor did his homework to play Earp - if only to distinguish his take on the character from those of Henry Fonda, Richard Dix, and Randolph Scott - and read Earp's memoir, Frontier Marshal. Ultimately, with Wichita bearing little relationship to fact, McCrea elected to play Earp as himself. Among the film's supporting players (Vera Miles, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Jack Elam) is Sam Peckinpah, as a bank teller. Then a busy Allied Artists dialogue director, Peckinpah was on the cusp of transitioning to TV writing and feature directing. A few years later, Joel McCrea would make his last great western for Peckinpah with Ride the High Country (1962).
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
Wichita
Between his masterworks, Out of the Past (1947) and Night of the Demon (1957), Jacques Tourneur made this Technicolor-CinemaScope western for Allied Artists. A prequel of sorts to John Ford's My Darling Clementine (1946), Wichita (1955) charts the transition from private citizen to public figure of Wyatt Earp, whom Tourneur and screenwriter Daniel B. Ullman etch as a man in tune with nature but one whose presence in society (after a spell in the wilderness) brings out in his fellow man their baser instincts. Star Joel McCrea was pushing fifty when he made the film (two decades older than the real life Earp at the time) and in the bell lap of a long career; equally adept at comedy as he was in action, McCrea had decided after starring in The Virginian (1946) to work exclusively in westerns. A specialist in the genre, the actor did his homework to play Earp - if only to distinguish his take on the character from those of Henry Fonda, Richard Dix, and Randolph Scott - and read Earp's memoir, Frontier Marshal. Ultimately, with Wichita bearing little relationship to fact, McCrea elected to play Earp as himself. Among the film's supporting players (Vera Miles, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Jack Elam) is Sam Peckinpah, as a bank teller. Then a busy Allied Artists dialogue director, Peckinpah was on the cusp of transitioning to TV writing and feature directing. A few years later, Joel McCrea would make his last great western for Peckinpah with Ride the High Country (1962).
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film is loosely based on the life of Wyatt Earp (19 March 1848-13 January 1929), who served as a police officer in Wichita, KS, for a brief period of time, circa 1874-1876. For more information on films about Wyatt Earp, please consult the entries for the 1934 Fox production Frontier Marshal in AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40 and the 1946 Twentieth Century-Fox picture My Darling Clementine in AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1941-50.
According to studio publicity and Hollywood Reporter news items and production charts, location sites for the production included Arizona and Newhall, Thousand Oaks, Sonora and Modesto, CA, as well as California's Sierra Nevada foothills. Studio publicity noted that the picture marked the motion picture acting debut of Joel McCrea's son Jody, who had previously appeared as a stunt double in one of his father's films. [Some contemporary sources refer to Jody McCrea as "Jode."] Modern sources add Kermit Maynard to the cast. Wichita was Allied Artist's first CinemaScope production.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Summer July 1955
CinemaScope
Released in United States Summer July 1955
