Tombstone

Trivia: Val Kilmer has been quoted as saying that screenwriter Kevin Jarre insisted the actors wear real wool costumes, in accordance with the time period. During the scene in the Birdcage Theater, Val Kilmer says, a thermometer was placed on the set, and it read 134 degrees Fahrenheit. Kilmer suggested jokingly that this was the reason Doc Holliday killed so many people: "It's just, like, he wore wool in the summer, in the Arizona territory, and that made him mad."

MovieFan612

Trivia: Val Kilmer is widely believed to be the most historically accurate portrayal of Doc Holliday. He is the same height, same build, and uses phrases used by Doc Holliday (eg "I'm your huckleberry" and "You're a daisy if you do").

Vin15Nets

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Suggested correction: But Hucleberry Finn appeared in Tom Sawyer in 1876 and was a bad influence on, or "made trouble' for Tom.

Not sure what this correction is trying to state, but "I'm you're Huckleberry" was slang in the late 1800's for "I'm your man" and didn't derive from Twain or Huck Finn. Twain uses the earlier slang meaning of huckleberry for Finn, meaning an inconsequential person, to establish Finn is a boy of lower extraction or degree than Tom Sawyer.

Bishop73

Trivia: The expression "I'm your huckleberry" spoken by Doc means "I'm the perfect man for the job." It is not a reference to Mark Twain's Huck Finn, as that book was published in 1885 and this movie takes place in 1881.

MovieFan612

Trivia: During filming Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell became good friends. One bought a grave slot in the actual Tombstone for the other and the other bought a piece of property in the town for the other. The fun thing is that neither knew that the other had bought them anything until they exchanged "gifts".

Trivia: Val Kilmer can be seen at the Casino doing his famous "coin flip" trick over his knuckles, except using a poker chip in place of a coin. He does this once in almost every film he starred in during the 80's through the 90's. It's quite impressive, and something fun to look for in his movies.

Jazetopher

Trivia: When Wyatt is at the train station standing on the loading platform, giving Ike Clanton his "you tell em' I'm comin', and hell's comin' with me" speech, really going crazy on Ike, he's standing in front of train car 5150 (the California police code for a crazy person).

MovieFan612

Trivia: In the scene when Sam Elliott is shot and staggers into the bar and falls, when they pick him up, they accidentally slam his head into the underside of the bar.

Trivia: Every line said at the O.K. Corral shootout was actually said at the actual shootout.

Vin15Nets

Trivia: In reality, Fred White did not die the night he was shot. In fact, it was his testimony that the shooting was accidental that led to the freeing of "Curly" Bill, not a "lack of witnesses" as shown in the film. He died two days after he was shot.

MovieFan612

Trivia: Just before the famous O.K. Corral shootout, Wyatt retrieves his gun from home. The gun shown is a 12-inch barrel Peacemaker, but Wyatt received a custom 10-inch version from the people of Dodge City. The armourer who supplied the guns for the film could not find a 10-inch specimen, and therefore used a 12-inch version. This fact was stated in an issue of Guns and Ammo magazine. Incidentally, the man who plays Texas Jack was the technical consultant on the film.

Trivia: Billy Bob Thornton was told to act like a bully and ad-libbed his constant tirade during the poker game with the other players.

Trivia: Jon Tenney, who plays Sheriff Johnny Behan, is using the real Behan's actual pistol, a 4 inch Colt Sheriff's Model, in the film. Screenwriter Peter Sherayko tracked it down and purchased it in order to end an argument between him and co-writer Kevin Jarre over the type of pistol Behan had used.

wizard_of_gore

Trivia: When Doc is playing poker in Prescott, AZ with Ed Bailey, (and our first introduction to him), he says, "Hmm. Five hundred. Must be a peach of a hand." This quick remark references his roots in Georgia where he probably practiced dentistry before he became ill.

MovieFan612

Factual error: During the gunfight in the lot behind the OK Corral, Tom McLaury is firing a six shooter at Doc just before Doc fires his shotgun in the air to scare Tom's horse away. The mistake is that Tom McLaury wasn't armed during the actual gunfight. He was shot by Doc while he was reaching for the rifle he had stored in his saddle. (01:14:58)

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Suggested correction: The events have been intentionally adjusted by the filmmakers to create a coherent and entertaining movie. It is not a documentary. This film is loosely based on true events; it's not a day-to-day account of the events of 1880 through 1882. Artistic license does not constitute a movie mistake.

Brenda Elzin

Changing facts in historical material does constitute factual mistakes, whether anybody wants to call them that or not.

It really depends on the degree to which the film-maker alters the facts, and whether that alteration is glaring or changes the story line. For most, it doesn't. Tom got shot and Doc shot him. There is an implicit duty of the audience to "suspend disbelief" - an acknowledgment that it is impossible to get every small detail correct.

How does changing the facts make it a good movie? I guess it might entertain those who know nothing about the facts. But for those who have studied and read up on things, going way out of the story does little in making a good story. That is why I like "Wyatt Earp" MUCH more than "Tombstone." No, "Wyatt Earp" is not a documentary. It, too, has altered some facts. But, to me, it is much closer to the truth. Even some of the dialog is from the Tombstone Epitaphs reporting of the incident.

More mistakes in Tombstone

Doc Holliday: Oh. Johnny, I apologize; I forgot you were there. You may go now.

More quotes from Tombstone

Question: Whatever happened to Morgan's wife and Kate? They are never mentioned by the narrator at the end of the movie.

Answer: Morgan's wife, Louisa "Lou" Earp accompanied Morgan to be buried in California. She remarried Gustav Peters in December of 1885 and died in 1894, at the age of 36, in Los Angeles. Kate "Big Nose Kate" Haroney is thought to have spent time with Doc Holliday during his time in Colorado until his death in 1887. Afterwards, she married a man and moved to a town near Tombstone until she left him for another man. She lived with the other man until his death in 1930 doing odd jobs in hotels and for the railroad. She died in the Pioneer's Home in Arizona in 1940 just a few days before her 90th birthday.

Zwn Annwn

More questions & answers from Tombstone

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