DOC

This grim, realist western was produced and directed by Frank Perry in 1971 and recounted events that were already well-known to audiences about a certain 'Doc' Holliday, his friend Wyatt Earp and a particular gunfight at a particular corral but this one was down and dirty, (literally; Doc is scrubbing his woman, a certain Kate Elder, minutes into the movie), and telling it in a very different light. Of course, being the 'adult' version of the story doesn't mean it's any more 'truthful' than any of the others. In all these cases, I think it is best to stick to that old adage, 'Print the Legend'.

So how does "Doc" stand up against the others as cinema? The answer is actually pretty well. At his best, Perry was a fine director who was able to bring a keen intelligence to his material and in Stacy Keach, (Doc), Harris Yulin, (Earp), and Faye Dunaway, (Kate), he had three outstanding actors, while thanks to superb production design and the cinematography of Gerald Hirschfeld is also a terrific looking picture. However, it's let down somewhat by Pete Hamill's script which is so concerned with being 'different' that it actually ticks every cliche in the box. On the other hand, one of the films more interesting touches is to suggest that maybe Wyatt harbored feelings for Doc that were a little more than platonic. It may not be a 'great' western, then, but it's a fine piece of revisionism, so much so that its 'truthfulness' hardly matters at all.