Scene Anatomy 101 12.18.08: Tombstone
Posted by George H. Sirois on 12.17.2008
You'd never think someone like this would meet his end in peace...
ISSUE #197 – 3 TO GO
This past weekend, I was having a conversation with a friend about the 1994 film Star Trek: Generations. While we both agreed it was one of the lesser entries in the franchise, we differed a bit with our opinions on the death of James T. Kirk. Personally, I liked it because for all the time we've seen Kirk "saving civilization as we know it," Soran would not be the one going down in Star Trek history as the man who killed him. He went into the great unknown with an undefeated record; in the end, it was his own determination to accomplish this last mission to save a whole star system that brought about his demise.
A character going out in a "blaze of glory" - to quote Jon Bon Jovi – is one thing. It's always a great big dramatic moment when you see someone for whom you have an emotional investment trying to bring as many people as possible with them as they get gunned down by the enemy. It's something else entirely to see someone go through so many different challenges and come out of them intact. This allows the character to meet his eventual end in peace, having accomplished everything that was in front of them.
It's really special when you see someone that you just know was going to meet his end on the streets, and that person defies the odds and is given the peaceful passing he deserves. And we got to see that in the 1993 George Cosmatos hit film...
Written by Kevin Jarre, Tombstone was one of two films released around the same time that dealt with Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and Wyatt's two brothers Morgan and Virgil crossing paths with an organized gang of criminals known as The Cowboys. (The other film was the less successful Kevin Costner / Kevin Reynolds film Wyatt Earp.) Early on in this much more effective telling of Western history, after we see Wyatt (Kurt Russell), Morgan (Bill Paxton), Virgil (Sam Elliott) and their wives arriving in the town of Tombstone, we are also introduced to Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), who is also living in this town. Doc was eager to come to this side of the country since the dryer climate would be easier on him due to his tuberculosis. When we first see him, he is winning poker games and killing anyone that dares call him a liar, which is why he feels like a hypocrite later on when he is deputized to take on The Cowboys.
Near the end of the film, when Doc takes his last ride with Wyatt Earp (without his badge, to make himself feel better), he knows that this is going to be the end of him no matter what. Doc's still well enough to ride and shoot and do everything that is required of him, but he's already been bed-ridden once during this journey and he only has a limited amount of strength left. By the time the ride is over, his strength has completely left him and he has to retire to the sanatorium for bedside care.
Wyatt walks into the sanatorium with a paperback booklet in his hand. As he slowly walks up to Doc's bed, he can hear a priest beside his friend, giving him his last rites. It's definitely a gloomy situation, seeing Doc lying still on a bed, a blanket covering his body and his bare feet sticking out. Fortunately, Wyatt wasn't too late to say goodbye to his friend.
The priest walks away as he finishes the last rites, leaving Doc and Wyatt alone for this moment.
DOC: Hello, Wyatt. Father Feeney and I were just... investigating the mysteries of the Church of Rome. It appears... my hypocrisy knows no bounds.
WYATT: You're no hypocrite, Doc. You just like to sound like one.
Wyatt holds up the paperback booklet and smiles.
WYATT: I brought you something.
He then slides the booklet under Doc's hands. The two of them remain silent for a moment, and then Wyatt – in a near-desperate move to lighten the mood – opens up the endtable by the bed. He pulls out a small pad and pencil, and a deck of playing cards.
WYATT: Well, let's see. Where are we today? I'm $17 down to you. Two bits a hand, stud.
Doc struggles to speak. He can't even look at the deck of cards. It's too much of a reminder of the world he's about to leave, just when he's made peace with the fact that his time has been reduced to mere minutes. Having Wyatt there is enough of a reminder, but seeing Wyatt AND the cards?
DOC: You keep comin' back here. I told you not to, and I meant it.
Wyatt's response is both another attempt to make Doc smile and a good illustration of what Wyatt came home to after their last ride. Morgan's dead. Virgil's wounded for life and has left town. His wife turned out to be an addict who left him, and he pushed Josephine away after Morgan was killed.
WYATT: You're the only person I can afford to lose to anymore.
He takes a moment of silence to ponder everything that he's lost, but he's not going to let himself get depressed over it. Not when his friend is in front of him like this.
WYATT: How we doin' today, Doc?
Doc's response shows that despite Wyatt's constant disregard for his request, he has still accepted his fate.
DOC: I'm dyin'. How are you?
Wyatt nods, again trying to keep his friend's spirits up.
WYATT: Pretty much the same.
Doc weakly forces a smile.
DOC: So now we can add self-pity to your list of frailties.
Wyatt cuts him off.
WYATT: All right, Doc. All right. How many cards you want?
Doc doesn't even look at the cards that Wyatt placed in his hand.
DOC: I don't want to play anymore.
But Wyatt's not listening at Doc's pleas.
WYATT: How many?
When Doc still doesn't answer, Wyatt looks at Doc's hand and pulls three cards out, then puts three new cards in their place. Doc tries to conjure up some form of anger at Wyatt's actions.
DOC: Damn you. You're the most fallible... stubborn... self-deluded, bullheaded man I've ever known in my entire life.
Wyatt continues to play the game, not acknowledging what Doc just said.
WYATT: I call.
Wyatt then looks at Doc's cards and lays his own down on the bed.
WYATT: You win.
Doc continues on with what he has to say, and it's this statement that makes Wyatt sit back and listen to him. He's never been one to say something like this to anyone.
DOC: Yet with all... you're the only human being in my entire life who ever gave me hope.
Wyatt puts the cards down and listens intently to his friend. It seems that there's a bit more that he has to get off his chest before he can truly go in peace.
DOC: I was... in love once. With my first cousin. She was... 15. We were both so...
Wyatt nods, smiling at Doc.
WYATT: That's good, Doc. That's good. What happened?
It pains Doc to respond, but he still does it. We can tell that this is the first time he's ever confessed this love to anyone, and it shows how much he cares for Wyatt that he would entrust him with this information.
DOC: She joined a convent over the affair. She was all I ever wanted. What... What did you want?
Wyatt ponders that question. After everything that he had gone through, what was it that he really wanted? He hesitates before giving his best possible answer.
WYATT: Just to live a normal life.
DOC: There's no normal life, Wyatt. There's just life. You get on with it.
WYATT: Don't know how.
Doc almost wants to slap the self-pity out of Wyatt's mouth, but instead he reveals to his friend that the key to living his life the way he wants to is right in front of his face. It's been there all this time, ever since she first showed up in Tombstone with her troupe.
DOC: Sure you do. Say good-bye to me. Go grab that spirited actress, and make her your own. Take that beauty and run. Don't look back. Live every second. Live right up to the hilt. Live, Wyatt. Live for me.
Wyatt hesitates to move, so with his last bit of energy, Doc takes it upon himself to assist his friend one last time.
DOC: Wyatt, if you were ever my friend, if you ever had even the slightest feeling for me... leave now. Leave now. Please.
Wyatt nods and slowly stands. Thanks to Doc, he knows what he has to do to get the push he needed. His last words to his friend reflect not only the times when they rode together, but this moment when Doc pushed the missing piece of his life in front of his face.
WYATT: Thanks for always being there, Doc.
As Doc requested, Wyatt leaves the sanatorium All alone, with nurses attending to others, Doc looks at the booklet in his hands. The booklet is entitled, "My Friend, Doc Holliday" by Wyatt Earp.
Doc forces a smile and even squeaks out a laugh.
DOC: I'll be damned. This is funny.
And then, with his eyes still open, Doc Holliday breathes his last breath. After such a violent and painful life, with his body failing him due to tuberculosis, he passes on in peace, on a bed with his head resting on a pillow.
This is such a wonderful scene in an already terrific film, since those who aren't familiar with Doc Holliday's life story would assume that he gets gunned down at some point in the story. But he not only survives the various attacks by The Cowboys, but he even takes Wyatt's place and guns down The Cowboys' leader Johnny Ringo. To top that, he sends Wyatt off in the right direction to get his life in order and go after the woman he loves.
And what does Wyatt do to repay the man who was always there for him? He writes a story about him and has it published. By doing this, Wyatt takes his frail and dying friend and makes him immortal in print. It's when he sees this booklet, that's when Doc is able to laugh and die in peace. It's a perfect final moment in the life of someone that was expected by everyone – including himself – to go much sooner.
Only three more columns to go! And next week, I'll be using this column as a gift to one of my readers. As he requested, we'll be taking a very early look at a group of students who will eventually come together and form a club. You may have heard of them: the jock, the nerd, the princess, the basket case and the criminal.
Until next week, Class Dismissed!
-- George H. Sirois
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