Review: 'Doc' Offers Magnetic Performances and a Gay Vibe, but Misses the Mark

These days it's hard to be a Faye Dunaway fan. I spent so many years defending her alleged abominable behavior, saying that if a man acted the way she was purported to act on many of her sets, he would be seen as a perfectionist, but she's unfairly maligned and called difficult. Completely unfair. And yet...

In recent years, Dunaway has given me pause to reconsider with a number of well publicized bouts of madness, the last one involving her actually having assaulted a crew member and demeaning and humiliating her gay assistant while rehearsing for the Broadway-bound play "Tea at Five" (which immediately closed in Boston). It's one thing to leave angry voice messages (for a biographer), but it's another to behave in an unhinged and violent manner. (All this is well publicized, btw...Google it!)

Regardless, in her heyday she was still a formidable actor and movie star, one of the best of the 1970s for certain. She didn't have the range of Jane Fonda, but she was justly nominated for three Best Actress Oscars, winning for her audacious and acerbic turn in Sidney Lumet's classic, "Network."

And she is one of the main reasons to watch several oddball films from that decade, including "Doc," in which director Frank Perry (later to helm "Mommie Dearest") ventured to revitalize and revise the western genre. Robert Altman brilliantly succeeded in doing just that that very same year (1971) with "McCabe and Mrs. Miller," starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. Perry's attempt is a valiant one, but it doesn't quite succeed, possibly due to Perry giving into pressure and not having the courage of his initial convictions.

In Dunaway's autobiography, she discusses how the screenplay initially was revisionist in the sense that it established a gay relationship that was always hinted at between Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. But the actors went about dismantling it. It's a shame, too, because the homoerotic tension that remains does suggest something that could have been a lot more fascinating. But the deliberate quashing of the Doc/Earp gay angle, coupled with a key casting blunder, makes "Doc" a curiosity instead of a must-see.

The plot has Doc Holliday (Stacy Keach) picking up a prostitute, Katie Elder (Faye Dunaway), and riding into Tombstone to help his friend, Marshall Wyatt Earp (Harris Yulin), clean up the town, like they did in Dodge. Earp becomes sheriff and must deal with resistance from a group of cowboys known as the Clantons. Doc takes an interest the younger Clanton, known as The Kid (Denver John Collins, in his only significant screen acting role). All of it leads to the infamous showdown at the O.K. Corral, which, in this film, is about 30 seconds long.

For fans of Wyatt Earp/Doc Holliday films, the more recent "Tombstone" (1993) and "Wyatt Earp" (1994), as well as "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (1957) and "My Darling Clementine" (1946), are much more cherished. (Personally, I found Kevin Costner's "Wyatt Earp" to be a bore.)

"Doc" holds a special place in cinema history, if only for screenwriter Pete Hamill's wanting to make a statement about the Vietnam War. He said, "We were continuing to fight because of some peculiar notions of national macho pride." Analyzing the film on that level proves interesting.

Of even more interest is Doc's relationship with The Kid, which feels a lot more sexual than it does patriarchal. Doc is horribly rough with Katie, but super gentle with The Kid. There is a tender, loving nature to many of the Doc/Kid scenes. It doesn't hurt that Collins is nice on the eyes and Keach was a handsome leading man. Collins is also a rather transfixing screen presence. One wonders why he didn't go onto more major screen roles.

Keach delivers a terrific performance. And Dunaway steals all her scenes simply by doing what she does best, delving into her role with aplomb and taking no prisoners.

The one actor completely out of his element is Yulin. I never bought him as Earp. I never bought him as any kind of person in authority. And he has little charisma. it's an odd miscasting mistake. I wonder if he wasn't a last-minute replacement.

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray looks grittily terrific. The "Brand New 2K Master" transfer allows for a rich presentation. The DTS-HD Master 2.0 audio track is also first rate.

The Special Features include the trailer, as well as a so-so commentary by filmmaker Alex Cox ("Sid and Nancy"), who is way too interested in the tech aspects and locations, as well as the real history, but has little to say about the actors and the making of the film. His musings are intermittent, and leave a lot to be desired.

"Doc" is one of those forgotten '70s films that is certainly worth a look, but it's not one that you will likely want to watch again.

"Doc" is available now on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.