Wichita

Good serviceable version of the Wyatt Earp story. Well directed and acted, but nothing special.

More literate than most westerns, which figures because making relatively literate genre flicks was Jacques Tourneur's thing, but otherwise unremarkable. The usual schmaltz with the macho men and the docile women and goodies vs. baddies. It's too bad about 5-year-old Michael Jackson...

Well crafted but not particularly exciting Tourneur western is often argued as evidence of his versatility. To this viewer there is just no getting around how much superior his best noirs are to this for their cinematography _and_ psychology. Wichita is relatively flat comparatively, both in terms of narrative and subtext (is there even a subtext?), and it hardly distinguishes itself as a Wyatt Earp piece either.

84.50

Western do Jacques Tourneur #1 do dia: Choque de Ódios. DVD Versátil Cinema Faroeste Volume 2.

Capitalism is no good folks.

Sheriff with a firm moral fiber stands against the greed of an entire town. Wichita is filled with 50's style melodrama and a super hero in Wyatt Earp that can't miss.

A well-done and enjoyable Western, despite the gun control theme. Never realized cowboys in those days were so out of control.

Star Rating: ★★★★

Nicely photographed in colourful cinemascope, but otherwise a fairly average western. McCrea is as lifeless as he always is and his Wyatt Earp comes across as a moralistic party-pooper. Wichita looked way more fun before he turned up on the scene.

Interesting western. On the surface it's quite generic and light, but underneath it's a portrayal of a society (including the hero!) rotten to the core (ruled by fear, violence and capitalism). In a sense it shares some similarities with Douglas Sirk's 1950s suburbian melodramas.

A few touching moments examining the consequences of violence. My favorite of which is the smallest and most understated - Wyatt casually warning the new woman in town to stay away from the windows at night, because of stray bullets.