Intense gunfight

According to folks who know more about it than I do, the way the fights are done here is more realistic. The whole "fast-draw" business seems to have been mainly invented by Hollywood, or maybe the dime novels of early in the 20th century. It seems to have been accuracy, not speed, that was most important.

Hitch (on the ground): "That happened quick."

Cole: "Everybody could shoot."

The shootout at the end was a classic "calling-out" duel, only without seconds. In those duels, it was accuracy that counted, too.

The "call out in the street" gun fight seldom happened in the real old west, there are only a couple of good examples. The fight between James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok and Dave Tutt in Springfield, Mo. in 1865 is one such, and it wasn't a "quick draw" contest, as both men faced each other from the side (very much like Everett Hitch did when killing Bragg in the film) with guns drawn at 75 yards, and each fired one shot. Tutt missed, Hickok shot Tutt through the heart; this is a hell of a shot with a .36 caliber cap & ball 1851 Colt revolver (which has the stopping power of a modern .32 ACP). The film device of "quick draw" is just that, invented in the 1930's to spice up the horse operas. Actor and stuntman Arvo Ojala created the steel lined versions, dropped loop buscadero holster that became common for the "quick draw" in western films. Ojala had a weekly appearance on the longest runneing western TV show, being shot down in the opening moments of "Gunsmoke" by Marshall Dillon. by Period holsters rode high on the belt where they offered protection, and many were cross draw to make drawing easier when riding a horse. Handguns did not win the West. Usually one only used the revolver as a ready defensive weapon while one moved to get to a rifle or shotgun. The gun that won the west was most likely the 1873 Winchester rifle, with second place falling to the doubled barrel shotgun. The tools that settled the west was the self scouring plow and the Intercontinental Railroad. There is a lot more on this subject but I am tired and have a meeting at 10 AM.

Beauhooligan

Sorry for the late reply, but I only saw this movie for the first time yesterday, and joined IMDB community today. I've spent most of my 66 years studying the American West.

Standup gunfights were very rare. The two most famous were between W.B. Hickock and Dave Tutt in Springfield, MO in 1865, and the Tombstone fight at the OK Corral in 1881. It's really hard to come up with others. And, no, they weren't quick draw affairs. That's movie creativity. In Springfield, Hickock and Tutt came at each other from across a plaza, guns drawn. In Tombstone, the Earps went to disarm the 'cowboys'. Being told by then Sheriff Behan they'd been disarmed, they continued to the lot only to find that they were still armed. The cowboys drew and both sides shot at about the same time.

Forget about how movies and TV have portrayed Western gunfights. It simply didn't happen.

I think not.

Welcome to my Nightmare- Freddy Krueger