Rainey Dawn 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

kevin olzak 1939's "Frontier Marshal" was the clear inspiration for John Ford's 1946 "My Darling Clementine," but was actually the second screen version of Wyatt Earp's posthumous tome, a highly fictionalized account of his Wild West days. In the wake of Fox's successful "Jesse James," it's no surprise that they would perform similar heroism toward other notorious figures, with handsome Randolph Scott enjoying one of his earliest lead roles as Wyatt Earp, and heartthrob Cesar Romero in the highly romanticized part of Doc Halliday. The villains are certainly an interesting lot, with John Carradine, Lon Chaney, and Joseph Sawyer among them, they're just totally ineffective against Earp, for whom everything falls into place too easily. Carradine's Ben Carter runs a saloon across the street from the one that does more business (where the broads hang out), so he and his gang resort to occasional holdups to keep things interesting. Carradine actually gets the least amount of screen time, while Lon Chaney's Pringle at least gets to 'dance' before the trigger happy Halliday. By the time we get to the OK Corral, only Sawyer's Curly Bill remains standing to take the fall, Chaney and Carradine casually dismissed in ignominious fashion. The two actors, already teamed as James gang members in "Jesse James," both went on to greater glory by year's end, Carradine in "The Grapes of Wrath," Chaney in "Of Mice and Men." Chaney would reappear opposite Randolph Scott in 1944's "Follow the Boys" and 1947's "Albuquerque," while Carradine appeared with Scott in 1941's "Western Union" and 1945's "Captain Kidd." In addition, Carradine would oppose Wyatt Earp twice more, opposite Hugh O'Brian in the 1959 TV episode "The Fugitive," and opposite James Stewart in 1964's "Cheyenne Autumn." The only character that really resonates is Romero's Halliday, here a surgeon rather than dentist, while Ward Bond (playing the cowardly former Tombstone marshal) not only appears from the 1934 version, but graduated to Morgan Earp in the John Ford remake. It's a solid and enjoyable Western, but below the standard set that year by "Stagecoach" or "Destry Rides Again."

MartinHafer Hollywood made a bunch of bad historical films about the old west which just goes to prove that the public seemed to want to see this ridiculously romanticized version of cowboys and frontier justice. In particular, the studios made a ton of films about Jesse James and other bigger than life characters and villains from the west and almost none of these films were in any way accurate. The biggest problem is that the films took very minor characters and events and made them seem much more important than they really were. And, to spice things up, they used a lot of license with facts to make the films interesting. For example, Billy the Kid and Calamity Jane, to be quite blunt, were exceptionally ugly people--nothing like the pretty folks who portrayed then in films. But, ugly folks don't sell tickets--nor would a typical gunfight from this era--most of which involved one idiot shooting another in the back--not the heroic 'shootout in the town square' usually portrayed! Here in "Frontier Marshall", the film is about Wyatt Earp and the OK Corral--probably THE most bastardized event on the frontier--and an event that was portrayed at least 173418 times in movies! There are the famous versions like "My Darling Clementine" and "Gunfight at the OK Corral" and lesser-known ones like "Frontier Marshall"--and quite a few in between. While my 173418 is a total exaggeration, IMDb lists at least 50 times he was portrayed--about 49 times too many if you ask me. If you care, "Frontier Marshall" was apparently the first to portray him--so it can be blamed for this proliferation!! And to think...all this for a shootout that only lasted about 30 seconds (seriously)! And, the truth be told, Earp and Doc Holliday was NOT seen as heroes at that time but as villains. Although the jury acquitted them, the judge commented that Earp used poor judgment and excessive force during the altercation in which two of the three killed by him and his deputies were unarmed!!! Now THAT'S the sort of film I want to see! In this film, Earp is played by handsome Randolph Scott and Holliday (billed as 'Halliday' in this movie) is played by equally handsome Cesar Romero. As for Scott, he seemed to play Randolph Scott (which he was very adept at doing)--not Earp. In the film, Holliday is at least playing a doctor--a surgeon (he was actually a dentist but they needed him to be a surgeon in order to save the cute kid!) and drank because of a woman he lost (he actually most likely drank to cope with the symptoms of tuberculosis). But no matter--despite being about 80% wrong, the characters are quite entertaining and I am pretty sure the real life Earp AND Holliday would have loved this sort of heroic characterization.The film is competently made but occasionally a bit heavy-handed such as poor little Pablo being shot...and then saved by the Doc as well as the lady on main street shooting it out! Yep, you didn't know that the famed gunfight involved a gun-slinging woman--at least in this film. And, Holliday dies in the fight--at least in this film. And, there really is not gunfight at any corral in this movie either! If you can completely ignore the fact that it's all poo, it's watchable and not much more. The bad and anticlimactic ending sure didn't help with either.

disdressed12 i liked this western quite a bit.it is made in 1939,and some may find the pace a bit sedate,but that didn't bother me.i liked the story and the cast of characters.the main character is Wyatt Earp(Randolph Scott)newly deputized as marshal to try to bring some law into the town of Tombstone.The character Of Doc Halliday(Ceasar Romero)also plays a prominent role.there were a few scenes which were meant to be funny,and they probably were back in 1939,but they fell a bit flat for me.it's the movie that inspired the John Ford classic My Darling Clementine(1946).the 1957 movie Gunfight at the OK Corral is also apparently inspired by this movie.one thing i should mention is that the sound and the picture were crystal clear,so kudos for Fox for the technical work that went into the DVD.anyway,when all is said and done,i thought this was a pretty good movie.easily an 8/10