Wyatt and the Doc Trivia Quiz

Answer:

I managed to locate 14 films that featured the character Wyatt Earp, commencing with "Wild Bill Hickock" in 1923, which starred Bert Lindley as the legendary lawman, through to "Tombstone Rashomon" (2017), where Adam Newberry was Earp. Not all of these, however, featured the character of Doc Holliday and not all of them featured what you would call "Hollywood's leading men".

This list was made up of five films, and the first of them is John Ford's classic 1946 western "My Darling Clementine", which featured Henry Fonda as Earp and Victor Mature as Holliday. The film, whose ensemble cast also included Linda Darnell, Walter Brennan and Ward Bond, focuses on the events in the lead-up to the Gunfight at the OK Corral, triggered by the rustling of the Earp's cattle and the murder of their brother James by the Clantons.

Henry Fonda, whose Broadway and Hollywood career spanned five decades, made a name for himself as the embattled Tom Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940) and the juror who chose to stand out in "12 Angry Men" (1957). He would win a Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Norman Thayer Jr. in "On Golden Pond" (1981). Victor Mature was a leading man in Hollywood throughout the 1940s and 1950s, starring in a number of musicals with Rita Hayward and Betty Grable and is probably best known for the above role, along with "Samson and Delilah" (1949) and "The Robe" (1953).

As a footnote, Ford would also direct the 1964 film "Cheyenne Autumn" which featured James Stewart as Wyatt Earp, but it is not a part of this quiz.

"The Gunfight at the OK Corral" (1957) is the first of two films in this quiz that were directed by John Sturges. Sturges is best known for directing "The Magnificent Seven" in 1960 and "The Great Escape" in 1963, but here he directs Burt Lancaster as Earp and Kirk Douglas as Holliday in a fictionalized portrayal of the event. The film was based on a novel by famed author Leon Uris and is also notable for the appearances of a young Dennis Hopper, in his third film role, and a man who would feature prominently in Sergio Leone's "Dollar" trilogy, Lee Van Cleef.

In his 45 year Hollywood career, Burt Lancaster made a name for himself playing the roles of tough guys with tender hearts. He has been named as one of the "Greatest Stars of Hollywood" and was nominated for an Academy Award on four separate occasions, winning the coveted Oscar in 1961 for his performance in "Elmer Gantry". His off-sider in this film is Kirk Douglas who was a leading box office star of the 1950s and a three time Oscar nominee. His most famous roles were that of Spartacus in 1960 and the tortured artist Vincent Van Gogh in "Lust for Life" (1956). Including this movie, Lancaster and Douglas would feature in seven films together, which led to many considering them a team. Their first, together, was "I Walk Alone" (1948), the only time Kirk would be the villain in a film with Burt, and the last was "Tough Guys" in 1986. On each occasion it would be Lancaster who received the top billing.

The second Sturges film was "Hour of the Gun" (1967), which showcased the famous gunfight and its aftermath in Tombstone, Arizona. James Garner stepped in as Wyatt Earp with Jason Robards putting his acting skills forward as Doc Holliday. This adaptation is a little more accurate than Sturges' predecessor and it goes so far as to show that the protagonist, Ike Clanton, played by Robert Ryan, survives the encounter. That said, it also shows him being ultimately killed by Earp, which is not correct as the real Clanton was killed in a duel with a constable some years later. The other item of note here is the appearance of Jon Voight, father of Angelina Jolie, in his second film role, this time as Curly Bill Brocius, one of Clanton's henchmen.

James Garner was a star of the screen during the 1960s, gaining strong reviews for his performance as the scrounger in John Sturges' "The Great Escape" (1963), alongside Steve McQueen. His other roles included the sleepy eyed detective in "Marlowe" and the straight shooting lawman in "Support Your Local Sheriff!", both in 1969. He bookended this decade with memorable roles as Brett Maverick in television's "Maverick" during the 1950s and as Jim Rockford in "The Rockford Files" (also television) during the 1970s. He was nominated for an acting Oscar in 1985's "Murphy's Romance" alongside Sally Field. Jason Robards, on the other hand, was not so much a leading man as he was an actor's actor. He gained success for his portrayals of Eugene O'Neil characters, and he became one of those rare actors to win acting's Triple Crown - an Oscar, a Primetime Emmy and a Tony Award.

"Tombstone" (1993), directed by George Cosmatos and Kevin Jarre, was a talent laden affair that took a fictionalized look at the Gunfight at OK Corral and featured Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer producing arguably his greatest performance as the hard-drinking, tuberculosis ridden, Doc Holliday. The cast also included the likes of Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Booth, Michael Biehn (a chilling performance as Johnny Ringo), Charlton Heston, Billy Zane and Billy Bob Thornton.

Kurt Russell became famous as a star of numerous Disney films during the 1970s but managed to break out of that mold with an Emmy nominated performance as the King of Rock and Roll in "Elvis" (1979). His star would shine even brighter as the menacing anti-hero Snake Plissken in 1981's "Escape From New York" and then as the kung-fu kicking truck driver in "Big Trouble in Little China" (1986). Val Kilmer's breakout role would be as Lt. Tom "Iceman" Kazansky in "Top Gun" (1986). This paved the way for his take on the ill-fated Jim Morrison in "The Doors" (1991) and the Caped Crusader, Batman, in "Batman Forever" (1995). He documented his struggle with throat cancer in the 2020 book "I'm Your Huckleberry: A Memoir", the title referencing a line that he'd quote to Johnny Ringo in "Tombstone". Unlike the other actors named here, Kilmer is the sole one to have played both Holliday and Wyatt Earp on the big screen - the latter as an aging lawman in "Wyatt Earp's Revenge" (2012).

"Wyatt Earp" (1994) is a biographical drama that follows Earp's story from his days as an Iowa farm boy through to his deputation as a feared lawman. This then leads to the Tombstone feud with the Clantons and the ultimate shootout. Kevin Costner is Earp in this Lawrence Kasdan epic that runs for over three hours and Dennis Quaid is the Doc. They are supported by a strong cast led by Gene Hackman, Mark Harmon, Michael Madsen, Tea Leoni and Isabella Rossellini.

The British daily newspaper "The Guardian" labelled Dennis Quaid as one of the best actors never to have been nominated for an Academy Award. They showcased his performances as the rocker Jerry Lee Lewis in "Great Balls of Fire" (1989), the never-say-die Jim Morris, who made his Major League Baseball debut at the age of 35, in "The Rookie" (2002) and as Captain Frank Towns in "Flight of the Phoenix" in 2004 as examples to support their case. Kevin Costner's accolades include two Academy Awards and a string of memorable film roles which boast "Field of Dreams" (1989), "JFK" (1991), and "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (1991). He is also one of the key players in Hollywood working toward the revival of the western genre. To this end he was memorable as the hot-headed Jake in "Silverado" (1985), directed and starred in the Oscar winning "Dances with Wolves" (1990), and directed the revisionist western "Open Range" (2003). In 2024 he directed and produced the first chapters of the epic western series "Horizon: An American Saga".