Wichita is directed by Jacques Tourneur and written by Daniel B. Ullman. It stars Joel McCrea, Vera Miles, Wallace Ford, Edgar Buchannan, Lloyd Bridges and Keith Larsen. It's filmed in Cinemascope/Technicolor with cinematography by Harold Lipstein and music by Hans J. Salter.Wichita is an origin story, that of one Wyatt Earp (McCrea), the story is set before he gets to Dodge City, where apparently some famous gunfight occurred. From a narrative stand point it's a town tamer story, Earp arrives in a newly thriving Wichita, at this point he's a hunter of buffalo only. But as the cowboys converge on the town, and things turn very dark, Earp - a bastion of good and just righteousness - finds it impossible to continue in turning down the town superior's offers of becoming the town Marshal.It's one of those Western movies that made Western movie fans become Western movie fans. A film you would have watched as a youngster and just bought totally into the good guy against the baddies central core. Of course as youngsters we wouldn't have cared a jot about thematics such as capitalism ruling over common sense, or metaphysical leanings ticking away, all while a genius director is composing shots and frames of great distinction. Hell! Even the intelligence and maturity in the writing would have escaped us, the dark passages merely incidents of no great concern...Wichita is damn fine film making. OK! It isn't wall to wall action. Sure there is a good round of knuckles, a bit of trench warfare and the standard shoot-outs, but these are just conduits to smart and compelling human drama, richly performed by McCrea (brilliantly cast) and company. Tourneur, Ullman and Lipstein make sure there is no waste on the page or via location framing, the costuming authentic and pleasing, and of course the story itself, the set up of the iconic man himself, is as compelling as it is splendidly entertaining.It be a traditional Western for the traditional Western fan. Nice! 8/10

The people of Wichita want it to become a boom town, a place to sell cattle, served by the railroad, and where the cowboys come to spend their money in the saloons. So what is the last thing they should do? To make Wyatt Earp the Marshal. But that is exactly what they end up doing when the cowboys get too drunk, start shooting aimlessly and kill a boy (named Michael Jackson!!) Wyatt(Joel McCrea) arrests some of them and forbids the use of firearms. Bat Masterson is also there to help him. Jacques Tourneur knew how to give an extra touch to what could be an average western, which also has some remarkable actors like Lloyd Bridges, Edgar Buchanan and the eternal bad guy, Jack Elam. There is a great scene when Wyatt first shows up, almost a dot at the top of the hill. A western worth seeing.

Wichita is a western that again focuses on a life and deeds of legendary Wyatt Earp, only this time without gunfight at the OK Corral. The action doesn't take place at Tombstone, but in a small cattle town of Wichita where our hero (this time played by Joel McCrea) arrives and very soon is offered a post of a Marshall due to his strong persona and skills in using the gun.In a very short time he manages to change completely the life of the town from a very dangerous place where one could be killed or robbed at any moment to the most peaceful town in the wild west.An interesting western directed by Jacques Tourneur, that revisits some of the used western's cliches, but also contains some spectacular action sequences and some personal Tourneur touches in directing which rise the film little above the average and turn it into a pleasurable viewing experience. 7/10

It is for me a very good film, one of the best western of cinema's story. Jacques Tourneur proves here that he is a great director and if still many cinema critics are not convinced, I recommend them to read the book about Jacques Tourneur by Chris Fujiwara. I wait for the DVD coupled with for example the beautiful stranger on a horseback.