Frontier Marshal (1934 film)

Frontier Marshal is a 1934 American Pre-Code Western film directed by Lewis Seiler and starring George O'Brien. Produced by Fox Film and Sol M. Wurtzel, the film is the first based on Stuart N. Lake's enormously popular but largely fictitious "biography" of Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal. A second version of the film, also produced by Wurtzel, was made in 1939, and a third interpretation by John Ford entitled My Darling Clementine was released in 1946.

Frontier Marshal
Directed by	Lewis Seiler
Written by	Stuart Anthony William M. Conselman
Based on	Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal 1931 novel by Stuart N. Lake
Produced by	Sol M. Wurtzel
Starring	George O'Brien Irene Bentley Alan Edwards
Cinematography	Robert H. Planck
Edited by	W. Donn Hayes
Music by	Arthur Lange
Distributed by	Fox Film
Release date	January 19, 1934 (1934-01-19) (U.S.)
Running time	66 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

He supposedly wrote the book with Earp's input,^[1] and it portrays Earp as a fearless lawman. But before the first movie was released, his widow Josephine Earp sued Fox Film Corporation for $50,000 in an attempt to keep them from making the film. She said it was an "unauthorized portrayal" of Wyatt Earp. She succeeded in getting Earp's name completely excised from the movie.^[2] His character was renamed "Michael Wyatt," and the movie was released as Frontier Marshal.^[3]

Plot

Wandering lawman Michael Wyatt rides into a lawless town and runs into conflict with the local boss, Doc Warren.

Cast

• George O'Brien as Michael Wyatt
• Irene Bentley as Mary Reid
• George E. Stone as David 'Abe' Ruskin
• Alan Edwards as Doc Warren
• Ruth Gillette as Queenie LaVerne
• Berton Churchill as Ben 'Hiram' Melton
• Frank Conroy as George 'Oscar' Reid
• Ward Bond as Ben Murchison
• Edward LeSaint as Judge Walters
• Russell Simpson as Editor Pickett

Production

Actor Ward Bond appears in three films based on the Wyatt Earp story and Lake's spurious book: this film, the 1939 version and John Ford's My Darling Clementine (1946), playing different roles in all three.

References

1. "Earp, Wyatt". Encyclopædia Britannica (2007). Archived from the original on May 4, 2007. Retrieved August 30, 2007.
2. Faragher, John Mack (1996). Carnes, Marck C. (ed.). Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies. New York: Heny Holt. ISBN 9780805037593. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
3. Hutton, Paul (1995). "Showdown at the Hollywood Corral, Wyatt Earp and the Movies". Montana: The Magazine of Western History (Summer 1995).

External links

• Frontier Marshal at IMDb
• Frontier Marshal at the TCM Movie Database
• Frontier Marshal at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films