Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone
Excerpt: During the Spicer Hearings.
Following the November 3rd court session:
Doc walked with Wyatt to the Cosmopolitan Hotel to visit with Morgan and Virgil in order to fill them on their day in court. Wyatt stopped by Virgil's room and Doc simply poked his head in the door and called a greeting to Virg. Then he went down the hall to Morg's room and found his friend sitting in the middle of his bed, cross-legged, rolling a cigarette. He was in pain, but managed a grin. "How did you fellows make out in court today?"
"Could have been better, I guess."
"What happened?"
“Johnny Behan was at it again.” Doc took out his notes and quoted large portions of Behan's testimony and pointed out several discrepancies. Then he said, “Here’s one you might remember. The district attorney was questioning Behan about a conversation Behan had with Wyatt, shortly after the shooting was over. It was when Wyatt said to me, 'Behan, you have deceived me. You said you had disarmed them. Then Behan said, 'I did not say anything of the kind. I had said. 'Earp, I told you that I was there for the purpose of arresting them and disarming them. He said he thought I said that I had disarmed them.’”
“Bullshit!” Morg roared. “That’s exactly what the son-of-a-bitch said, ‘I have disarmed them.’”
“You got that right, Morg.” Then Doc leaned back in his chair, took a long drag from his cigarette. "But that son-of-a-gun finally stumbled into the truth. He said the nickel-plated pistol got off the first round.”
Morg grinned and looked knowingly at Doc.
“Something else, this afternoon, a Mrs. King took the stand and told of a remark you supposedly made to me, in front of Bauer's Butcher Shop, just before the fight.”
"What was it?" Morg asked.
"I don't remember you saying it, but here's the way she put it. ”Doc referred to his notes and then did a pretty good imitation of the lady. 'I heard the gentleman on the outside say to Mr. Holliday, 'Let them have it.' And Mr. Holliday said, 'All right."'
Morg hooted, "Quit that, Doc, it hurts too much to laugh."
Doc chuckled. "Do you remember that?"
Morg shook his head. "Don't remember nothin' like that. But I do remember when we got to Bauer's place we were all jawin' with the sheriff. Seems to me, you had dropped back a ways by then."
"I don't figure Mrs. King to be a liar,” Doc said, “but she could be mistaken. Another thing, she's probably been coached by the prosecution."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Lawyer's sometimes tell witnesses how to say things. Now this might sound picky, but at the inquest she gave two different versions of what you were supposed to have said. I read that inquest transcript. In one place she said, 'Let them have it,' and in another she changed it to, 'Give it to them.' Nobody questioned her about it."
"Comes down to pretty near the same thing don't it, " Morg remarked.
"Maybe, but she never said the second version in Spicer's court.” Doc twirled the end of his mustache. "I think the prosecution made sure the lady used the phrase that pictured us in the worst possible light. Yep, 'Let ’em have it,' sure makes it sound like we were spoiling for a fight.”
"Think the judge saw it that way?"
"Don't know." Then Doc shook his head and grinned, "I'll tell you something, Morg -- of all the poker faces I've read in my life -- that old man's got one of the best. I swear I never know what he's thinking."
Spicer Hearing Excerpts: (To be continued)

Let's Go to the The Movies
Hollywood Silents 1914-1929 Part 3
During 1914 Los Angeles looked like a boom town – film companies forming and location filming was going on all over the city. Local citizens decried the invasion of the movie makers and Frances Marion describes the situation in her autobiography, 'Off With Their Heads.'
'How could anyone resent the lively fun they had brought into this dull environment? You encounter the gyps

Let's Go to the Movies
Hollywood Silents 1914-1929 Part 2
During the early days of 1914 Hollywood and the general public were anticipating great comedies with Mack Sennett leading the way. The nickelodeon days had set the public up for comedy and Hollywood for the most part aimed to fulfill their wishes.
But no one could have ever guessed that back in 1914 two giants of the movie industry were working and growing along with Hollywood. D.W. Griffith was a journeyman producer director and C.B. Demille was a neophyte producer, both men were ambitious and hard working.
Griffith worked for Biograph Films writing, producing and directing. His first feature length film, Judith of Bethulia, (1914) had cost overruns that brought the total production cost to thirty thousand dollars. Biograph paid the bill, but let Griffith know that they would not give him authority to make any more long films.
Griffith left Biograph and eventually hooked up with the Triangle Film Corporation and Keystone Studios -- Mack Sennett.
DeMille's background in the theater working under Charles Froman and later David Belasco gave him a wide range of knowledge dealing with theater production, story lines, sets and lighting but he had no motion picture experience. However, the Lasky Featuree Play Company, which he became a part of gave him the chance to develop in that area. His close association with film director Oscar Apfel during the making of the 'Squaw Man' gave him a good foundation in film making. DeMille worked with Apfel on 'Brewsters Millions' and the 'The Master Mind.' On the next two films 'The Only Son' and 'The Man on the Box' he was named Co Director along with Apfel. On the sixth film, 'The Call of the North' C.B. DeMille wrote the screenplay and directed the film. He got screen credit for both and from that time forward DeMille directed and produced all of his own films, which included five more during the year 1914: The Virginian, What's His Name, The Man From Home, Rose of Rancho and The Ghost Breaker.
D.W. Griffith followed up his first feature film with Waits, The Massacre, The Battle of the Sexes, Brute Force, Home Sweer Home, The Escape and the Avenging Consience.
And while C.B. DeMille was going with stock actors, Griffith was assembling a group that were soon to become stars or well known feature players. Blanche Sweet, Henry Walthll, Lionel Barrymore, Harry Carey,. Mae Marsh, Lilian Gish and Dorothy Gish.
It was during that same year that D.W. Griffith began adapting a book for the screen called The Clansman – later called The Birth of a Nation.
(To be continued)


'Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone.' Excerpt:

Shootout at the OK Corral.

Doc Holliday, Wyatt, Morgan and Virgil Earp face off with the cowboy's.

Ike Clanton, Billy Clanton, Tom McLowry, Frank McLowry and Billy Claiburn.. Tom McLowry stood nearly hidden behind Frank's horse.
Doc calmly looked over the opposition lineup. With the exception of the two men in front of Virgil, they were all even man for man.
Billy Claiborne turned pale and cowered behind Ike Clanton.
Virgil knew he was bucking the odds for a peaceful settlement, but holding Doc's cane out like an olive branch, he said, "Throw up your hands boy’s! I've come to disarm you."
Frank McLowry and Billy Clanton answered by drawing their six-guns.
"Hold on now. I don't mean that," Virgil said calmly, "I've come to disarm you."
Billy Claiborne grabbed Ike's coattails for a moment, then lost his nerve and bolted toward Fly's Photograph Gallery.
Virgil saw a glimmer of hope as cold sweat broke over Ike Clanton's face and he threw up his hands.
Hope was short lived though -- Frank McLowry and Billy Clanton leveled their pistols and commenced to cock the hammers.
Wyatt and Morgan responded to the outlaws by drawing their own six-guns.
Tom McLowry struggled to steady Frank's horse by holding onto the saddle girth and at the same time reaching for the Winchester in the scabbard. When

Let's Go to the Movies

Hollywood Silents 1914-1929 Part 1
The year of 1913 was a turning point for the fledgling American motion picture industry.
There were two major factors in play, one was production and it had to do with light, the second was the Motion Picture Trust. For the most part early American movies were shot outdoors on location in Manhattan, Astoria, Long Island and Fort Lee New Jersey.
During those early days of nickelodeons the format was very short films and the weather and sunlight was not so much a factor. But for longer feature films it could be a nightmare. Long weather delays could be a problem just holding a cast and crew together.
The other problem was even larger in the short term and it was the Motion Picture Patents Company a monopoly referred to as The Trust. This organization controlled production by holding onto Thomas Edison's Patents. The monopoly either owned or had control of most of the film theaters, and nickelodeons. Their scheme was to limit the size of a picture to one reel in order to get the nickel and dime customer in and out in a hurry, then do it again. Quality didn't mean a thing.
The men with true vision wanted to tell the big story, expand theater to the great
outdoors, widen the horizon with scope, color and background.

The year was 1913 when Sam Goldwyn, Cecil B. De Mille, Jesse L. Lasky and Arthur Friend, under the banner of Lasky's Feature Play Company set out to make an end run around the big guns of the Trust and produce a feature film. They chose to base their film on the Broadway hit titled 'The Squaw Man.' The decision was made to do this western out among the cactus in it's natural setting.
They put a group of five key people together with baggage, camera, and Cecil B. De Mille with his fancy title of director-general heading the group. Dustin Farnum, a good actor and Broadway star, would be the picture’s leading man. Oscar Apfel, a well-established film director, would do the directing with DeMille looking over his shoulder, and learning some of the techniques that would eventually make him famous.
Alfred Gandolfi cameraman and Fred Kley, Farnum's dresser, rounded out the group. Their destination was Flagstaff, Arizona and as it turned out Flagstaff didn't work for several reasons, days of rain being one and lack of extra cast talent in such a small town was another -- so they proceeded to Los Angeles.
Los Angeles was sprawling and gaudy but it was dry and the beautiful sun was a welcomed sight. They found a nice hotel, the Alexandria, and recognized a number of film people from the east.
DeMille's first job was to find the best location and rent some kind of studio space.
They rented a yellow barn located on the outskirts of Los Angeles in a place called Hollywood.
DeMille was busy with interviewing and hiring as well as working with Oscar Apfel on their shooting script. Perhaps a feeling of being behind schedule, the director-general was determined to begin filming before the year played out. As it happened, all the pieces fell into place and director Oscar Apfel yelled, "Action" as cameraman Alfred Gandolfi viewed through the camera and hand cranked film past the lens. The first scene of ‘The Squaw Man’ was shot on the morning of December 29, 1913. The Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company was in business and its first production was in the works. The Hollywood movie industry was stretching and yawning it's way to life. It only took the ‘Squawman’ crew three weeks to complete major photography, and that was quite an accomplishment, considering the fact that the monopoly trust had spotted their operation and tried to ruin their undeveloped film.
The making of that first movie took on the tone of a western melodrama when rifle shots rang out in the Cahuenga Pass, just missing DeMille and the horse he was riding home from work. The director-general improved his chances of survival by adding a gun and holster to his everyday wa