There is a Tombstone shootout so far-fetched it seems completely made up – but it really happened. This Kurt Russell western has been considered a classic since its arrival, and it’s easy to see why. Straight from Wyatt Earp’s Tombstone scene from introduction to the emotional finale between Earp and dying friend Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), it’s an unforgettable ride. The film is largely faithful to Earp’s time in the titular boomtown, where he and his brothers became enemies with the outlaw gang the Cowboys, leading to much bloodshed and the famous shootout at the OK Corral.
Like practically every film based on historical events, Tombstone takes some liberties with reality, either wildly exaggerating what happened or condensing events and characters. One example is the attempted assassination of Virgil Earp (Sam Elliott) and the death of Morgan Earp (Bill Paxton); In the film, this happens on the same night, but in reality, months apart. The death of Curly Bill (Powers Boothe) is another key moment and, as ridiculous as it sounds, it’s not far from the truth.
Wyatt Earp actually killed Curly Bill, as seen in the Tombstone ambush scene
Either Wyatt Earp is very lucky or Curly Bill was just a bad shot
The second half of Tombstone sees Earp and his allies unleash a wave of revenge against the Cowboys gang and their leader, William Brocius (aka “Curly Bill”). The film shows Bill and his men surprising Earp with an ambush in a riverside forest, with the latter trapped by gunfire. Against all logic, Earp simply walks into the middle of the river while Bill and his men open fire, before aiming and emptying a double-barreled shotgun at Bill..
Now, it should be noted that the way Tombstone depicts this violent battle in great detail; for example, it wasn’t an ambush, as Wyatt and his men accidentally ran into Bill and his men in a bar (via True West Magazine). A fact Tombstone What happens is that Curly Bill opened fire on Wyatt and somehow missed before Earp killed him. with two shots to the chest. According to Earp’s own account, these shots practically cut the bandit in half as well.
Tombstone ditched the weird comedy of the Curly Bill shootout
Tombstone better made this battle seem more mythical
The early 1990s saw a duel of biopics with Tombstone and Kevin Costner Wyatt Earpwith the former becoming a huge success while the latter was a critical and financial failure. Both Earp films depict Curly Bill’s death in similar ways, with the outlaw unleashing a hail of gunfire before being gunned down. by Earp’s shotgun. Both scenes make Earp look like the ultimate badass – but the actual battle was much less graceful.
The fact that Wyatt Earp was unharmed, despite his coat nearly being torn to shreds by gunfire, only added to the lawman’s mystique.
Before crossing paths with Curly Bill, Earp loosened his gun belt, which was already slipping down his legs after he killed the Cowboys’ leader. When the rest of the bandits opened fire, Earp had to awkwardly fumble for his pistol, with the holster at knee height.. During his attempts to fight back, he somehow dodged more bullets that hit his coat and they even shot through the heel of his boot.
The film also shows all of Earp’s men on his side during the ambush, but Sherman McMaster (played in Tombstone by the great Michael Rooker) actually fled when the battle began. Despite this, McMaster was hit in the side during his retreat and the binoculars he was wearing were shot out. Despite the mess, Earp managed to fight back and even hit some of the Cowboysincluding Johnny Barnes, before beating a hasty retreat.
The fact that Earp was unharmed, despite his coat nearly being torn to shreds by gunfire, only added to the lawman’s mystique. Accounts of this shooting have varied over the years, with the Cowboys even claiming that Curly Bill had not died and had instead fled to Mexico. Of course, they wouldn’t want to give Earp credit for killing their leader, so the way Curly Bill’s death is portrayed in Tombstone is almost universally accepted as what really happened.
Source: True West Magazine