John Sturges
We’ve done more than a few John Sturges films in our classic and not so classic western series. Some you may recall and some you may not like Escape from Fort Bravo and Hallelujah Trail. In the memorable category you’ll find The Law and Jake Wade, Last Train from Gun Hill, Gunfight at the OK Corral and two we’ll feature here as we salute John Sturges’ career in the western director’s chair.
Sturges distinguishes his western filmography for me by being willing to take on historical events. Most Hollywood productions resist dabbling in history or if they flirt with it, cannot resist doing so in largely unrecognizable revisionist variation. Sturges got his start with the ‘highly fictionalized’ 1957 Gunfight at the OK Corral. He returned to the corral ten years later with 1967’s Hour of the Gun. Billed as “Based on fact. This is the way it happened,” the film mostly did better by Hollywood standards. Based on Edward Anhalt’s non-fiction book Tombstone Epitaph, I wonder if the author would agree. Still, Sturges held claim to historical authenticity until 1993’s Tombstone with Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, and Sam Elliott raised the historical standard bar, with ‘Best ever’ portrayals of Wyatt, Doc, and Virgil.
Sturges also lays claim to directing one of the best western films of all time, The Magnificent Seven. Sturges’ western adaptation is based on Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, featuring iconic portrayals by Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, and the badest bad hombre of them all, Eli Wallach. The film score was nominated for Best Original Score by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was selected as a top 25 American film score by the American Film Institute. All that goes to show how good the score was before the Marlboro Man made it famous.
Sturges was an innovator in cinematography, pioneering wide screen CinemaScope in Bad Day at Black Rock, a contemporary western starring Spencer Tracy. The film earned Sturges an Oscar Nomination for Best Director and a place in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress along with The Magnificent Seven. In 1992 Sturges received the National Motion Picture & Television Golden Boot Award for lifetime achievement in western film.
Next Week: The Walking Hills
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Ride easy,
Paul
Sturges distinguishes his western filmography for me by being willing to take on historical events. Most Hollywood productions resist dabbling in history or if they flirt with it, cannot resist doing so in largely unrecognizable revisionist variation. Sturges got his start with the ‘highly fictionalized’ 1957 Gunfight at the OK Corral. He returned to the corral ten years later with 1967’s Hour of the Gun. Billed as “Based on fact. This is the way it happened,” the film mostly did better by Hollywood standards. Based on Edward Anhalt’s non-fiction book Tombstone Epitaph, I wonder if the author would agree. Still, Sturges held claim to historical authenticity until 1993’s Tombstone with Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, and Sam Elliott raised the historical standard bar, with ‘Best ever’ portrayals of Wyatt, Doc, and Virgil.
Sturges also lays claim to directing one of the best western films of all time, The Magnificent Seven. Sturges’ western adaptation is based on Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, featuring iconic portrayals by Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, and the badest bad hombre of them all, Eli Wallach. The film score was nominated for Best Original Score by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was selected as a top 25 American film score by the American Film Institute. All that goes to show how good the score was before the Marlboro Man made it famous.
Sturges was an innovator in cinematography, pioneering wide screen CinemaScope in Bad Day at Black Rock, a contemporary western starring Spencer Tracy. The film earned Sturges an Oscar Nomination for Best Director and a place in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress along with The Magnificent Seven. In 1992 Sturges received the National Motion Picture & Television Golden Boot Award for lifetime achievement in western film.
Next Week: The Walking Hills
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
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