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Wichita

Wichita

Western · 1955

Former buffalo hunter and entrepreneur Wyatt Earp arrives in the lawless cattle town of Wichita Kansas. His skill as a gun-fighter makes him a perfect candidate for Marshal, but he refuses the job until he feels morally obligated to bring law and order to this wild town.

Movie details

Wichita

“THE TRUE SAVAGE STORY OF WYATT EARP!”

1955 Western 1h 21m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

Former buffalo hunter and entrepreneur Wyatt Earp arrives in the lawless cattle town of Wichita Kansas. His skill as a gun-fighter makes him a perfect candidate for Marshal, but he refuses the job until he feels morally obligated to bring law and order to this wild town.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Wichita?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Death of a Gunfighter

Death of a Gunfighter

Western · 1969

In the turn-of-the century Texas town of Cottonwood Springs, marshal Frank Patch is an old-style lawman in a town determined to become modern. When he kills drunken Luke Mills in self-defense, the town leaders decide it's time for a change. That ask for Patch's resignation, but he refuses on the basis that the town, on hiring him, had promised him the job for as long as he wanted it. Afraid for the town's future and even more afraid of the fact that Marshal Patch knows all the town's dark secrets, the city fathers decide that old-style violence is the only way to rid themselves of the unwanted lawman.

Tall in the Saddle

Tall in the Saddle

Western · 1944

When Rocklin arrives in a western town he finds that the rancher who hired him as a foreman has been murdered. He is out to solve the murder and thwart the scheming to take the ranch from its rightful owner.

Doc

Doc

Western · 1971

Doc Holliday travels to Tombstone, Ariz., with prostitute Katie Elder. Although the trip is difficult because Doc is ill with tuberculosis, they eventually reach their destination, where Holliday is reunited with his old friend Marshal Wyatt Earp, who has been clashing with the Clanton gang. Tensions between Earp and the Clantons rise until their infamous final showdown brings it to a head.

Dodge City

Dodge City

Western · 1939

In this epic Western, Wade Hatton, a wagon master turned sheriff, tames a cow town at the end of a railroad line.

The Shootist

The Shootist

Western · 1976

Afflicted with a terminal illness John Bernard Books, the last of the legendary gunfighters, quietly returns to Carson City for medical attention from his old friend Dr. Hostetler. Aware that his days are numbered, the troubled man seeks solace and peace in a boarding house run by a widow and her son. However, it is not Books' fate to die in peace, as he becomes embroiled in one last valiant battle.

Last Train from Gun Hill

Last Train from Gun Hill

Western · 1959

A marshal tries to bring the son of an old friend, an autocratic cattle baron, to justice for the rape and murder of his wife.

Open Range

Open Range

Western · 2003

A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.

The Outlaw Josey Wales

The Outlaw Josey Wales

Western · 1976

After avenging his family's brutal murder, Wales is pursued by a pack of soldiers. He prefers to travel alone, but ragtag outcasts are drawn to him - and Wales can't bring himself to leave them unprotected.

Along the Great Divide

Along the Great Divide

Western · 1951

US marshal Len Merrick saves Tim Keith from lynching at the hands of the Roden clan, and hopes to get him to Santa Loma for trial. Vindictive Ned Roden, whose son Ed was killed, still wants personal revenge, and Tim would like to escape before Ned catches up with him again. Can the marshal make it across the desert with Tim and his daughter? Even if he makes it, will justice be served?

Cahill: United States Marshal

Cahill: United States Marshal

Drama · 1973

J.D. Cahill is the toughest U.S. Marshal they've got, just the sound of his name makes bad guys stop in their tracks, so when his two young boy's want to get his attention they decide to rob a bank. They end up getting more than they bargained for.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jacques Tourneur

Written by

Daniel B. Ullman

Joel McCrea

Joel McCrea

Wyatt Earp

Vera Miles

Vera Miles

Laurie McCoy

Lloyd Bridges

Lloyd Bridges

Gyp Clements

Wallace Ford

Wallace Ford

Arthur Whiteside

Edgar Buchanan

Edgar Buchanan

Doc Black

Peter Graves

Peter Graves

Morgan Earp

Keith Larsen

Keith Larsen

Bat Masterson

Court is in session

Put Wichita on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Patience is part of the point.”

Duration becomes texture. The film asks you to inhabit its world instead of merely processing its plot.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“A test of endurance, your honour.”

Stillness keeps submitting itself as meaning. At some point, contemplation needs something worth contemplating.