Wichita

Released Jul 8, 1955

1 hr. 21 min.

Western

List

100%

9 Reviews

Tomatometer

65%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

After a group of drunken trail riders runs amok, Mayor Andrew Hope (Carl Benton Reid) of Wichita, Kan., recruits the intrepid Wyatt Earp (Joel McCrea) to end lawlessness. Armed and ready for anything, the new marshal decides he will end gun violence simply by banning guns. Soon Earp must face crooked rancher Clint Wallace (Walter Sande) and whiskey slinger Doc Black (Edgar Buchanan), vicious locals who like Wichita exactly as it is and don't take kindly to being told what to do.

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Jose G

Solid Western. Its short running time and relatively modest premise makes it seem like an extended episode of a really good Western TV series, but the great acting and Cinemascope/Technicolor cinematography make for an enjoyable Western adventure (historical inaccuracies and all).

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Really good movie about Wyatt herb as a sheriff of Wichita yes I highly recommend this one. James Welch Henderson Arkansas October 22, 2023

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/23/23

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Steve D

Lames western trying to cash in on Earp.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

07/02/23

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Audience Member

Wichita is atop the top-shelf Westerns.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

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ashley h

Wichita is an amazing film. It is about Wyatt Earp who reluctantly accepts the Marshal's job after noticing the total lawlessness in Wichita in 1874. Joel McCrea and Vera Miles give fantastic performances. The screenplay is good but a little slow in places. Jacques Tourneur did a great job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this motion picture because of the adventure. Wichita is a must see.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

You have to laugh how critics love a movie that the audience did not like. This movie was a disgrace to Wyatt Earp's name.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

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Jacques Tourneur

Director

Joel McCrea

Wyatt Earp

Vera Miles

Laurie McCoy

Lloyd Bridges

Gyp Clements

Wallace Ford

Arthur Whiteside

Edgar Buchanan

Doc Black

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Richard Brody

New Yorker

Daniel Ullman's script turns backroom political dealings into high drama; Tourneur's poised and lyrical direction elevates it to a sort of secular scripture.

Mar 25, 2013

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Jacques Tourneur's first and best film in CinemaScope is also one of his strangest westerns.

Jun 25, 2005

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

A fairly intelligent and moderately entertaining Western.

Rated: 2.5/4

Sep 9, 2023

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

A simple and entertaining Technicolor western that, through rich panoramas captured in CinemaScope, revisits the myth of Wyatt Earp with a good role from Joel McCrea. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 7/10

May 28, 2021

Full Review

Nathanael Hood

The Retro Set

...an astounding little Western.

Rated: 8/10

Dec 28, 2018

Full Review

Glenn Heath Jr.

House Next Door

Despite a collage of wide-angle shots scanning the open range, Wichita's first act feels strangely cramped, establishing the close proximity between Wyatt's sturdy stoicism and the cowboy's aimless volatility.

Mar 4, 2011

Full Review

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Synopsis

After a group of drunken trail riders runs amok, Mayor Andrew Hope (Carl Benton Reid) of Wichita, Kan., recruits the intrepid Wyatt Earp (Joel McCrea) to end lawlessness. Armed and ready for anything, the new marshal decides he will end gun violence simply by banning guns. Soon Earp must face crooked rancher Clint Wallace (Walter Sande) and whiskey slinger Doc Black (Edgar Buchanan), vicious locals who like Wichita exactly as it is and don't take kindly to being told what to do.

Director: Jacques Tourneur
Screenwriter: Daniel Bruce
Production Co: Allied Artists Pictures Corporation
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 8, 1955, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 22, 2009

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