Wichita

1955. USA. Directed by Jacques Tourneur. Allied Artists. Produced by Walter Mirisch. Screenplay by Daniel B. Ullman. With Joel McCrea, Vera Miles, Lloyd Bridges. Of the countless Wyatt Earp retellings, this is one of the most exciting and stylish, yet regrettably one of the least known. Tourneur biographer Michael Henry Wilson detects an anti-romanticism in the film’s direction and in McCrea’s performance, an emphasis less on rugged individualism and heroics than on ideals of community and democracy. Mirisch and McCrea would create five more films together, and remain lifelong friends. 81 min.