Leadership Lessons from The movies (You’ll Never Guess which One) ( Number Twenty)

“Tombstone” with Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer is a wonderful and memorable retelling of an often repeated tale….

By John E. Carey
March 22, 2007

Everyone who has been around some knows this story: Wyatt Earp (in this edition played by Kurt Russell) decides to retire from law and order work as a marshal. He convinces his brothers and their wives that it is time to travel further west from Oklahoma and make some real money. They settle in Tombstone, Arizona and buy into the “Oriental,” a gambling and liquor establishment.

There is one problem: the inept local lawmen cannot make the town safe enough for law abiding women and children.First his brothers take positions as law officers and finally Wyatt is convinced to join the family business.

Val Kilmer almost steals the show from Kurt Russell playing the tuberculosis infected “Doc” Holiday.  Kilmer looks pale and sweaty throughout this film; a man on the edge of collapsing physically.

But “Doc” mentally is sharp as a tack.  When a bad guy threatens him with several minutes of in your face gunplay, “Doc” responds by elegantly twirling his shot glass an equally long time.  The bar patrons love it and he proves over and over in this film that brains and flourish beat unguided firepower.

Kilmer as “Doc” also proves a great friend to Wyatt and frequently goads the bad guys into bad moves.

Sam Elliott plays Virgil Earp. This is the weathered, grey haired cowboy famous for his roles as General John Buford in “Gettysburg,” Wade Garrett in “Road House,” and the lead cowboy in “Conanger.” He’s great here in “Tombstone” too.

Powers Boothe is one of the lead bad guys. You might remember him from “By Dawn’s Early Light” (1990) or “Red Dawn” (1984) where he did steal the movie playing Lt. Col. Andrew Tanner.

But then Boothe was playing against a bunch of kids. In this movie he is practically evil personified, with aces embroidered into his chaps.

Burt Lancaster played Wyatt in “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” in 1957 and Kirk Douglas rides the trail with him as “Doc.” That is a great flick: but “Tombstone is a complete and admirable retelling of the same story with flair and panache.

Oh: and in this “Tombstone,” Dana Delaney provides the sexual allure: and she carries off her role magnificently.

Buy, steal, TVo or rent “Tombstone.” It is a western to make you want to be a cowboy again.