Here's an actor I don't think we've seen before : Richard Dix. Born in 1893, he was an early star of Westerns who made a successful transition from Silents to sound. Dix was famous enough to have been referenced in Olson Johnson's legendary "Blazing Saddles" speech, and was also nominated for Best Actor for his role in "Cimarron", which won Best Picture in 1931. It was negligent on our part that we hadn't watched any of his films, but we've remedied that situation and now have a Richard Dix Twofer for your approval, beginning with last night's "Tombstone : the Town Too Tough to Die"(1942). Dix stars at Wyatt Earp, in what may be one of the first motion pictures about the notorious lawman, who died in Los Angeles only 13 years prior. The movie includes the gunfight at the OK Corral, though it's just part of the story, which is mainly about Earp and his friendship with a young drifter named Johnny Duanne (Don Castle).
As the movie opens, an outlaw named Curly Bill Brocious is shooting up the main drag of Tombstone. He and his boys do this whenever they get drunk, which is like clockwork. The sheriff is afraid of Bill and does nothing to stop his hell raising. Then the Earp brothers ride in. Everyone knows Wyatt from his exploits in Dodge City, where he cleaned up what had been the most lawless town in the west. Tombstone now holds that title, and the citizens want Earp to replace their weak-kneed sheriff. Earp says he's retired and is just passing through, but after Ike Clanton shoots a young kid in a gun battle, he changes his mind. Accepting the sheriff's badge from the mayor, Earp and his brothers Virgil and Morgan set about to make Tombstone a place of law and order. First on Wyatt's agenda is to shut down Curly Bill. Little does he know Bill's got the mayor in his pocket.
I have to cut in here to mention that over the past couple years, I watched in it's entirety the complete tv series "Tombstone Territory", which starred Pat Conway as Sheriff Clay Hollister. The time frame is the 1870s - 1880s, about the same as when Wyatt Earp is said to have been sheriff, so I don't know why they use a different character, but at any rate, many of the other western legends of that time are portrayed in various episodes, including Curly Bill Brocious, who appears in the very first one. And the plot of that first episode is the same as the first act of this movie : The sheriff (Earp in the movie, Hollister in the tv show) decides to co-opt Curly Bill rather than confront him. He does this by bringing up the issue of cattle taxes. "Now Bill, you know there's a tax on all those steers you rustled. So even though you stole 'em, you've still gotta pay the tax. Unless you wanna help me out in another way, then I might be willing to overlook it".
"Oh, and what way is that, Wyatt"?
"By helpin' me collect from all them other thieves, like the Clantons and McLaurys".
Curly Bill is a shrewd character and makes the wise choice to help Earp, whom he can't outdraw in any event. The two of them ride from ranch to ranch, enforcing not only the cattle tax, but also the one on silver. The local miners, including the aforementioned bad guys, are used to getting off scot-free in this regard, and resent Earp's crusade. Their grumbling about him gets louder until it boils over into into a plan to shoot him dead. The showdown is of course the famous Gunfight.
I mentioned that Wyatt Earp died in 1929, and once again the notion of time trips me out, because we think of the Old West (or the Wild West) as ancient history. It certainly feels that way, when we look at old black and white or sepia photographs from that era, some of which are tintypes. The cameras used back then required time exposures to capture a portrait, making the subjects look stiff yet blurry in their poses, adding to the perception of antiquity. The clothing, hairstyles (including facial hair) and everything about the era seems like it was hundreds of years ago instead of just 150, but what really blows my mind are the connections we can make between our lives and the folks who lived then. Take the Civil War for instance, which began in 1860, twenty one years before the Gunfight at the OK Corral, or a full generation earlier.
My Mom used to tell the story of an old man who lived on her street in Canton, Ohio when she was a little girl. "He was a veteran of the Civil War and was very senile. He used to sit on his porch, and the only thing he ever said was 'five, five and five' ". I always remembered Mom's story because of the "fives". I mean, what a weird thing to say, right? But the point is, the guy was in the Civil War. So that's only One Degree of Kevin Bacon from him to us, with Mom in the middle. And it's the the same with Wyatt Earp. Mom would've been six when he died, so the Old West isn't as far back as we think.
Getting back to the film, Dix plays Earp as every bit the classic Hollywood cowboy, and looks the part with his pencil thin moustache. His Earp is smiling but stern, as if he's thinking "looks like I've gotta teach Curly Bill another lesson. When will he ever learn"? I don't know how realistic his portrayal is when compared to more recent (and supposedly authentic) ones, like Kurt Russell's or Kevin Costner's, but the screenplay was based on a book by Walter Noble Burns, called "Tombstone, an Iliad of the Southwest". It was written in 1927, so it can be considered early source material, and as such, it's probably reliable.
Edgar Buchanan is crude and boisterous as Curly Bill, who's intelligent enough to know when he's overmatched, but also unable, in the final analysis, to control his criminal impulse. You'll see when and why. As an actor, Buchanan was known to my generation as old "Uncle Joe" from the tv series "Petticoat Junction". The theme song had him "movin' kinda slow" but here he's the life of the party. Interestingly, Doc Holliday is just a marginal character in this film, his history sketched to just a few perfunctory details. And Ike Clanton (Victor Jory) is portrayed as a coward.
The main plot line follows the actions of Johnny Duanne, who arrives in town with nothing but self assurance and a Gable grin. He needs dough and is immediately secured by an advance from Curly Bill, against a promise to join his gang. But then he meets Wyatt Earp at the Crystal Palace Saloon. He likes Earp, who brings out the better angels of his nature. Johnny's loyalties are then torn for the rest of the picture. Pulling for the good side is Frances Gifford, the Song and dance gal from the Crystal Palace. She loves Johnny and wants him to go straight. We saw Gifford pre-pandemic in "Tarzan Triumphs", and haven't forgotten her, but will Johnny?
Overall, "Tombstone : the Town Too Tough to Die"is a faithful adaptation of the well known Tombstone story, in this case given the Hollywood Studio treatment, '40s style. For me, it was something of a minor classic, and I'm surprised it's not more well known. Two Big Thumbs Up, highly recommended. /////
Our other Richard Dix film was "Eyes of the Underworld"(1942), seen the previous night. It popped up on a list of film noirs, which led to our Dix discovery. He plays a police chief with a secret in his past.
The movie opens with headlines trumpeting steel and rubber shortages caused by the war. A radio announcer informs us that this has led to an increase in auto theft, the cars being sold for their raw materials. A crooked city councilman is behind the theft ring. He's so shifty that he's brought down a state investigator to try and pin the spree on the Lawndale police chief (Dix), as the brains behind the racket.
The councilman chooses Dix because of a secret in his past that one of the car thieves knows about. Dix was once in prison, for embezzling money from a bank. He's long since paid his debt to society, however, and gone straight. Still, he doesn't want his son to know. Also, his secretary (Wendy Barrie) is in love with him. Dix fears it could ruin their marriage plans. So, he decides to resign, on the councilman's "advice". He also breaks off his relationship with Barrie. She knows he doesn't mean it; something's wrong. She confronts him about his actions and he spills the beans. "Now you know", he tells her.
"Oh, you fool! Did you think that would make me stop loving you"?!, she replies. Strengthened by her faith in him, he goes undercover to nail the councilman and break up the theft ring. His m.o. is to just play up the "retirement" angle, so the crooks will think he's out of the picture. Then he and his loyal driver (Lon Chaney Jr.) go behind the scenes and start asking questions, to find out where the bad guys keep the cars. Cheney gets emotional and threatens to pound anyone who won't talk. I think it's a staple in his contract, but he's great at it.
Dix seems to be a Hollywood Good Guy in the Gary Cooper/Randolph Scott mold, except he predates both of those guys, and has more of a Matinee Idol look. He's a capable actor, though, with plenty of charisma, so we'll be looking for much more from him, and in fact we have "Cimarron" coming up. I've just reserved it from the library. As for "Eyes of the Underworld", it's a fast moving 61 minuter, a solid noir, and with Dix and Lon Chaney, you absolutely can't go wrong. Two Big Thumbs Up. ////
That's all for the moment. I apologize for the delay in posting, as this blog should've appeared yesterday, but we'll get back on track with the next one. Look for it tomorrow night.
Have a great day. Tons, tons, and more tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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