Frontier Marshal

For seventy-one minutes the film manages to fit in the deteriorating security situation in Tombstone as the camera flashes to the street for all the shootouts and horseplay. Compared to My Darling Clementine, this one is more easy going. Cesar Romero captures best acting over Vic Mature in the role of Doc Holliday, IMHO if only because Mature's part seemed overwrought, and the part of Holliday seems to fit Romero in a decisively more real way. Even still, the script in Frontier Marshal still caricatures Holliday as overly emotional, especially in the scenes in the saloon where he's purposely drinking himself to death because ex-flame Nancy Kelly comes in on the stage. Still, Romero was a great actor, and his scenes with Randolph Scott as Earp are a nice mix of two actors who had real naturalness. The B&W photography (Charles Clarke) stands out throughout and all the scenes in this movie are well assembled. It is over before you know it.

I'm not a huge fan of the Western genre but there are a few Westerns that really enjoy - this film goes into the my liked Western films. It is highly fictionalized version of the events that lead up to the famous gun fight but really fun to watch.

I have to say I enjoyed the entire cast which is one of the reasons why I like this film - it's not just the story and action on screen but the actors themselves that makes this particular film worth watching to me.

Binnie Barnes as Jerry - she really tickled me, constantly trying to keep up her tough exterior but in the end we saw the softer side of Jerry. A character I really liked watching.

Scott and Romero were good together. While Carradine, Chaney and Sawyer was made a great trio of "villains". You can't but to laugh as some of the things that happens - in particular when Doc Halliday (Romeo) gets Pringle (Chaney) to dance... lol.

Anyway, this one worth checking out if you haven't seen it already. Fictionalized Fun.

8.5/10

Yes, yes, I know. My Darling Clementine(MDC) is a famous remake of this picture. That one got the John Ford treatment and went into greater depth as far as character development goes. But there's nothing wrong with "Frontier Marshal" and it can stand on its own. First off, since it is an action western it had a better lead actor in stalwart Randolph Scott - Henry Fonda was a more cerebral actor and not really a two-fisted type. Second, I think Caesar Romero played Doc Holliday with more heart than Victor Mature, who was a limited actor.

In MDC, the OK Corral confrontation was better and had more tension but the barroom bimbo was Binnie Barnes, who did a better job than Linda Darnell. Ward Bond was in both pictures and got a promotion in MDC to Earp's brother. And you get a chance to see Eddie Foy Jr. in the earlier movie.

"Frontier Marshal" is only 71" long and therefore not as comprehensive as MDC. In sum, I guess the worst thing that could be said about "Frontier Marshal" is that MDC was made, which in sheer production value diminishes the whole enterprise. If you like westerns, see this one. You will appreciate it better if you haven't seen MDC - which I also feel suffers from one of the lamest titles in Hollywood annals and detracts from the final product. "Frontier Marshal" was on FMC the other morning and I rated it a seven.

That would describe Wyatt Earp. Lucky because I can't think of anyone else who's had more stalwart Hollywood heroes playing him in film. Off the top of my head Tom Mix, George O'Brien, Henry Fonda, Burt Lancaster, James Garner, James Stewart, Joel McCrea right down to Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner. We certainly can't forget Hugh O'Brian on television. And also Wyatt was lucky in that he lived long enough so that no one was around to refute him when he gave a series of interviews to Stuart Lake for an authorized biography shortly before he died in 1929.

As this film is based on Lake's book you won't get anything else but the Wyatt of legend. Certainly Randolph Scott fulfills the legend and that's what we print according to John Ford.

This film isn't too often seen because whole parts of it were taken and used by John Ford in My Darling Clementine. Frontier Marshal should be seen back to back to graphically illustrate the difference between a good routine action western and an almost poetical film expression.

Parts that were played by Victor Mature, Cathy Downs, and Linda Darnell in My Darling Clementine are taken here by Cesar Romero, Nancy Kelly, and Binnie Barnes. It might seem odd that British Binnie Barnes would show up in a western as a saloon girl, but that's no more strange than Marlene Dietrich doing the same that year and being very accepted.

Eddie Foy, Jr. is in the cast playing his celebrated father who was entertaining in Tombstone at the time the Earps were providing law and order.

The Clantons believe it or not are completely eliminated from the story. The chief villain is real life Clanton retainer Curly Bill Brocius played here by Joe Sawyer. Eliminated also are Wyatt's brothers and as you can imagine the final shootout at the OK Corral is staged differently than in any other telling of the tale.

Probably Randolph Scott's Wyatt Earp would be a lot better known had he the benefit of John Ford's direction.

This was the movie which John Ford remade as his classic My Darling Clementine. Here, Randolph Scott plays Wyatt Earp and Caesar Romero plays Doc Holiday, but there are no Clantons or Earp brothers. Instead, John Carradine plays a bad saloon owner heading a gang that is trying to take over Tombstone.

Of course, this movie can't directly compare to My Darling Clementine, but it's a pretty good western in its own right. Its one of Randolph Scott's better early roles.

Many of the classic scenes in My Darling Clementine were taken directly from this movie, and it's very interesting to compare the two. This version of Frontier Marshal was a remake of an earlier 1933 version, and, of course, this story has been told many times since.

The Maltin Guide gives it three stars. Check it out if you're a western fan, or just a fan of My Darling Clementine.