The casting of Will Geer as Wyatt Earp was appalling ! Will was a fine actor in warm human parts such as Grandpa Walton but he was just not believable as an ice cold gunfighter turned lawman. Shame on the casting director- and the director for allowing this choice to stand !
shareI thought it was more human than your larger than life depictions in most films.
And by having some supporting characters more easy going and lighthearted, it makes Jimmy Stewart more surly by comparison.
I thought the same, but a friend explained Will Geer portrayed Wyatt Earp as a father figure. In the context of the movie an older Earp makes sense and a good directorial choice, imho.
share[deleted]
So...your feeling is the casting director is to not only find an actor who can play the part, they have to look exactly like what you assume think the character looks like and, for pre-movie, video & recording figures, what they sound and behave like?
There goes Julie Andrews as Maria VonTrapp in Sound of Music.
There goes Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra.
There goes Spencer Tracy as Thomas Edison.
There goes James Cagney as George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy.
There goes Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl and Funny Lady.
And the list just goes on and on.
What an idiotic premise. Remember - It's called ACTING.
Your post brings up another point: Jimmy Stewart was entirely wrong for this role! His high-pitched voice was so annoying in this movie!! And if they had to mess up Wyatt Earp to make Jimmy's character seem "surly," they may as well have had Wally Cox play the role of Wyatt Earp!!
shareAppalling, with an exclamation point? Give me a break.
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Well, the point was to portray Earp somewhat differently (sly, unassuming, folksy) and surprise the viewer.
shareI picked this discussion up a little late--but I love the choice of Will Geer as Earp. His almost "Oh by the way--I'm Wyatt Earp" was great! He acted as a man would who didn't have prove any more that he was a tough guy. His name and reputation said it all.
shareIt's so interesting to see different actors play the same characters. Tombstone and Wyatt Earp's "Wyatt Earp" characters can't be compared to Will Geer's interpretation. Just enjoy seeing different versions of a story or character. I have four different versions of Little Women and really enjoy remakes. (I should say most remakes, frankly some have absolutely stunk).
shareMost of the famous lawmen of the Old West first got the dime-novel treatment before they received the Hollywood look. Except for "Winchester '73," the fiction look distorts the real persons being portrayed. Only in this movie do the writers and director try to give Wyatt Earp an authentic reading. Naturally, there can be no true re-creation of history, no matter how true to life the story is, because we are all creatures of the present and unique individuals.
Kenneth Rorie
Damn straight. Geer was indeed a fine actor when well cast, but no way could he begin to suggest Wyatt Earp. Rock Hudson is much more credible as an Indian! I cringe at Geer's scenes every time I see this otherwise fine and entertaining movie --
shareHudson isn't even recognizable as such. He's very believable as the 'chief', or head of the renegade band, at least.
Geer is good. He's contrasted with a guy who couldn't be Virgil, either. I like the idea, though, of hanging the guns up on the wall until they have no space remaining. I would have liked to see that angle in Tombstone.
The problem with 'Virg', is that he's too short and too old. And Geer is too hefty. The Earps were slender, bony, and the actors in Tombstone captured the appearance, and even some of the attitude (as least based on their shootout testimonies) much better. But the idea that Earp was a talker, and also one to go for the gun calmly, but reluctantly, is probably true to Wyatt. At the right angle, and with a guy looking much more like Morgan in the background, as they corner the smarmy hood in the house, you could almost just barely believe Geer as Wyatt.
I didn't have a problem with it.
I have to agree with you whole-heartedly on this for the fact that I have done much research on Wyatt Earp and he was a tough man that had a rough exterior. The casting of Will Geer, while a very good actor, was not a good one and most likely was done to make Stewart look even as one poster here said "more surly by comparison". For the most part from what I have researched, Wyatt Earp was the same all the way through his life and did not differ even in to old age.
shareI couldn't disagree more. Will Geer as Wyatt Earp is one of the reasons I enjoy this movie so much. His characterization, while perhaps not consistent with historical accounts, adds a great deal of wit and wisdom to the tale. Because his name is Wyatt Earp--like an earlier poster stated, he has nothing more to prove and can act as he wishes. In contrast to his folksy-humor, there are also a few scenes (like the bar scene) where he flashes a menacing reminder that he's the one in control of the Town and that there better not be any trouble--or else.
In a much later movie, called Sunset, James Garner, as a much older Earp, uses a similar brand of wit in his characterization.
Long before Grandpa Walton, Geer played some very nasty characters. He wasn't always avuncular.
Carpe Noctem
Geer was the surly one, opposite Stewart in BROKEN ARROW the same year. And the previous year he was a less than honorable lawman in the Glenn Ford film LUST FOR GOLD.
"I think it would be fun to run a newspaper"
Geer was an 'actor'. People need to not identify actors as the characters they play.
Carpe Noctem
Yeah, everybody knows that incredibly, Wyatt Earp looked just like Hugh O'Brian. :=)
John
Au contraire. At least to a point they do. E.g., the porcelain doll-like face of Nicole Kidman playing some tough dyke felon in prison who had been in there for years, gotten into fights and stuff just DOESN'T WORK, no matter how well the acting. Then there is PRESENCE and DEMEANOR. Greer in this movie had zero screen presence IMO. Even though much younger than in his Grandpa Walton role, he still has that grandfatherly appearance and demeanor. He wasn't convincing as ANY lawman, especially the famous Wyatt Earp, in this movie to me.
shareHe's sure a wimpy Wyatt Earp. A crime was committed in his town. Isn't he supposed to go after Dutch Henry himself since he's the marshall??? Instead he leaves it up to Lynn.
shareGeer was an 'actor'. Actors shouldn't be identified as the characters they play.
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"I'll give you the moon, Mary." - George Bailey