Frontier Marshal *** (1934, George O’Brien, Irene Bentley, George E Stone, Alan Edwards) – Classic Movie Review 11,930

Wyatt Earp,

Director Lewis Seiler’s 1934 Western film Frontier Marshal stars George O’Brien, Irene Bentley, George E Stone and Alan Edwards.

George O’Brien plays lawman Wyatt Earp (though he is actually named Michael Wyatt for legal reasons) in this competent oater, with a decent performance by O’Brien and solid Fox production. Wyatt rides into a lawless town and clashes with town boss Doc Warren (Alan Edwards).

It is the first adaptation of Stuart N Lake’s book Wyatt Earp Frontier Marshal, which was filmed again in 1939 as Frontier Marshal, which stars Randolph Scott as Wyatt Earp, and eventually to become John Ford’s My Darling Clementine and finally Powder River in 1953.

Lake’s biography, published two years after Earp’s death in 1929, was later found to be largely fictionalised. However, it is a good story.

John Sturges’s Gunfight at OK Corral in 1957 is another version of the story.

Also in the cast are Ruth Gillette, Berton Churchill, Alan Edwards, Frank Conroy, Ward Bond, Russell Simpson, and Jerry Foster.

It is produced by Sol M Wurtzel for Fox Film.

Earp’s widow Josephine Earp sued Fox for $50,000 to try to keep the studio from making the film by alleging it was an ‘unauthorised portrayal’ of Wyatt Earp. Fox went ahead but she succeeded in getting Earp’s name removed, his character renamed Michael Wyatt and the title shortened to Frontier Marshal.

Frontier Marshal is directed by Lewis Seiler, runs 66 minutes, is made and released by Fox Film, is written by William Conselman and Stuart Anthony, is shot in black and white by Robert H Planck, is produced by Sol M Wurtzel, is scored by Arthur Lange (musical director) and is designed by Duncan Cramer.

More than 40 actors have played Wyatt Earp, but few have even slightly resembled him.

Ward Bond appears in different roles in the three Wyatt films, Frontier Marshal (1934), Frontier Marshal, (1939) and My Darling Clementine (1946).

The cast are 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 , and Jerry Foster.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 11,930

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