Hour of the Gun

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Sturges directs. Lucien Ballard behind the camera. Jerry Goldsmith scores. Ferris Webster cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $1.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 259 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
• 4Directed by John Sturges, shot by Lucien Ballard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Jerry Goldsmith. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Ferris Webster shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7James Garner and Jason Robards and Robert Ryan carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "Wyatt Earp - hero with a badge or cold-blooded killer?".
• 9IMDB entry: tt0061787 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 10Classified under 9 themes, including "arizona", "wyatt earp", "doc holliday", "revenge".

The technical file

Cinematography

Lucien Ballard

Original score

Jerry Goldsmith

Editing

Ferris Webster

Makeup / hair

Charles Blackman

Runtime

100 min · 1h 40m

Status

Released

Budget

$1,800,000

Box office

$2,000,000

Return

111% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

Hour of the Gun (1967) ↗

Also by

John Sturges

• 
  Keeper of the Bees

  1947 · ★ 10.0
• 
  The Great Escape

  1963 · ★ 7.9
• 
  The Magnificent Seven

  1960 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Fast Company

  1953 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Bad Day at Black Rock

  1955 · ★ 7.3
• 
  Shadowed

  1946 · ★ 7.3

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Hour of the Gun ≣ 1967 ≣ Trailer

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Hour of the Gun (1967) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2017-05-04
  ★ 9/10

  If you are going to kill like me, you might as well drink like me. Hour of the Gun is directed by John Sturges and adapted to screenplay by Edward Anhalt from Douglas D. Martin's novel Tombstone's Epitaph. It stars James Garner, Jason Robards and Robert Ryan. Music is by Jerry Goldsmith and cinematography is by Lucien Ballard. Story begins with the shootout at the O.K. Corral and tells of the aftermath involving the major players. Although John Sturges' Gunfight at the O.K. Corall ten years previously proved to be popular, the director was never happy with the finished project, due in no small part to the fact that Hal B. Wallis controlled the script. Here Sturges takes control and crafts what in essence is a sequel to the 57 movie. Leaning more towards a character study with a dark edge, Hour of the Gun is refreshing in giving the Wyatt Earp/Doc Holliday characters a different story than the one we normally see on the screen; one that actually attempts historical accuracy where possible. Viewing it now it's easy to see why the film was received coldly back on release. The Western movie was just about creaking along as a viable cinematic genre as it was, but with Sturges and Anhalt portraying one of America's folklore heroes in moral decline, it's unsurprising that it found itself out of sync with the times. However, time has been very kind to it, where over decades the re-evaluation of many a psychological Western has seen it viewed as one of the more bolder and cynical tinted oaters from the 60s. With a fine script from Anhalt to work from, who also features as a player in the film as Holliday's whiskey smuggling carer, the cast work well. Ryan files in for villain duties as Ike Clanton and Garner as Earp and Robards as Holliday make for a suitably sombre pairing. There's also some quality in the support ranks where Albert Salmi, John Voight, Jorge Russeck and Karl Swenson leave good impressions. With Goldsmith tonally aware for the scoring and master photographer Ballard utilising the Panavision on offer for the Durango locations, it's an all round well put together production. Some fat could have done with being trimmed off it to get it 10 minutes shorter; for the story starts to feel over long entering the last quarter. But Hour of the Gun is not only a better than your average 60s Western, it's also one of the better Wyatt Earp movies available to those interested in the subject. 7.5/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• TH

  The Mirisch Company

  US

• 

  United Artists

  US

Key crew

• ProducerJohn Sturges
• EditorFerris Webster
• Art DirectionAlfred Ybarra
• Set DecorationRafael Suárez
• CastingLynn Stalmaster
• Assistant DirectorThomas J. Schmidt
• SoundJesús González Gancy
• Script SupervisorJohn Franco
• Property MasterJoe LaBella
• Production SupervisorAllen K. Wood
• Production ManagerNate H. Edwards
• Unit Production ManagerJack Lacey
• Makeup ArtistCharles Blackman
• Music EditorRichard Carruth
• Special EffectsSass Bedig
• Assistant EditorJorge Azcárate
• Sound Effects EditorFrank E. Warner
• Construction CoordinatorWilliam Maldonado

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• arizona
• wyatt earp
• doc holliday
• revenge
• shootout
• western town
• tombstone arizona
• 19th century
• ok corral

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1967-11-01NR

Also known as

International titles

• L'ora delle pistoleIT
• Die fünf GeächtetenDE
• 7 Secondes en EnferFR