Gunfight at the O.K Corral - HMB

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is different than other films, like The Searchers, because there isn't a clear definite "other" or sidekick. Instead you have two strong male leads in Marshal Wyatt Earp and Dr. John 'Doc' Holliday. In The Searchers there is the alpha-male, Ethan Edwards, and his apprentice, Martin Pawley. The same can be seen in the film Red River between Thomas Dunson and Matt Garth. The sidekick is a role reserved for someone who is sub par to the alpha-male cowboy, this is not seen in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Instead one finds two male characters that have their own stories which in the film happen to cross paths on more than one occasion. In the beginning of the film Earp saves Holliday from a lynching and helps him escape, on the basis that Holliday will never come back. The story then picks up some months later with Holliday returning to Dodge City because no other town will have him and he is out of money. He shows up just in time to help Earp who is short on men. The two later end up in Tombstone, Arizona where the famous gunfight at the O.K. corral actually occurs. Neither man is following the other they both end up in the same place for different reasons. Earp shows up at Tombstone in order to help out his brother Vergil who is killed, which is her reason for entering the famous gunfight. Holliday ends up in the gunfight for two reasons, one because he believes he still owes a debt to Earp for earlier saving his life, and two because Ringo is in the gunfight. Ringo being the man who stole away Holliday's romance Kate Fisher. Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp are each alpha-males in their own right, who have their own separate story lines and don't look up to anyone. They each know what they have to do and follow their own inner morals. Even on the film cover the men are shown as equals standing back to back, each holding a gun. In this film the "other" of the sidekick is not apparent.