Is That A Buntline Special In Your Holster Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

 August 6, 2021

   We are furiously doing corrections and last minute changes on our massive 140th Anniversary of the Gunfight at The O.K. Corral issue and this morning I thought I spotted a mistake in the following paragraph:

   In a snide 1959 article on the western TV boom Time magazine noted that the real Earp was “a hardheaded businessman, less interested in law and order than he was in a fast buck.” The success of the show Time attributed less to history than to O’Brian’s muscles and square jaw. “Actor O’Brian (real name Hugh Krampe) looks like an Oklahoma Olivier. In his flowered vest, ruffled shirt, string tie and side-burns, and with two 16 in. Buntline Specials strapped to his thighs, he really cuts the mustard with the teenage cow bunnies.”

O'Brian Sporting Two 16 inch Buntlines?

   I distinctly remember that O'Brian carried a Buntline Special in one holster and his other pistol was a normal length Colt. Hmmmm. So I sent this query to Hutton and here is his reply:

BBB: Of course you and I know that he only carried one--but the Time magazine reporter that I am quoting in my essay obviously did not know it. It is nice that we are both so knowledgeable about the incorrect props in a 1950s TV show—or is it just so sad? 

—Paul Andrew Hutton

Hugh Was A Friend of True West

     I met Hugh after I did the above painting for an event at End of Trail in New Mexico in 2006. While we were on stage unveiling the painting, Hugh took a look at it and said very loudly, "Where's my cut!" He was quite brash and might I add, bold, in that way. In spite of the dust up (I gave him my proceeds for the painting) we became friends. Hugh used to call me here at the magazine about once a week and regale me with stories about Hollywood, Wyatt Earp, all the while bending my ear about doing a story on him.  He could be very persuasive, and I must admit we obliged him more than once. Hugh even invited us to his annual birthday bash at his Benedict Canyon mansion and in 2011 I took my daughter and her fiance along for the thrill of seeing his wonderful home and his legendary neighbors (Debbie Reynolds dropped by and charmed everyone present) and his gracious wife, Virginia, who held it all together.

My blog post on the bash

 Most people don't know, but Hugh lost millions of dollars from an embezzling accountant and had to essentially start over in his sixties. He survived and thrived because it was hard to keep him down.

My Current Take On Wyatt Earp After Four Decades of Research and Rumination

    From my perspective today, I see Wyatt Earp trying to get his story told in the later 1920s to vindicate his felonious actions in the Tombstone part of his life. He didn't want to necessarily become a heroic do-gooder, but that was what was ultimately in the cards. Stuart Lake took care of that.

   From there, a crooked town (Hollywood) spun out a crooked fable that has spanned the globe. Equal parts hype, nostalgia and human longing, the old lawman stands tall and, at least on film, he vanquishes all his enemies, the facts be damned.

October Cover Whip Out:

"Dan The Man's Groovy Layout"

"I will not say that all of the people in the motion picture industry are crooks, but I will say that all the crooks in Hollywood are in the motion picture industry."
—Zane Grey

   

In a snide 1959 article on the Western TV

boom, Time magazine noted that the real

Earp was “a hardheaded businessman, less

interested in law and order than he was in a

fast buck.” The success of the show Time

attributed less to history than to O’Brian’s

muscles and square jaw. “Actor O’Brian (real

name Hugh Krampe) looks like an Oklahoma

Olivier. In his flowered vest, ruffled shirt,

string tie and sideburns, and with two

16-inch Buntline Specials strapped to his

thighs, he really cuts the mustard with the

teenage cow bunnies.v

Actor O’Brian (real

name Hugh Krampe) looks like an Oklahoma

Olivier. In his flowered vest, ruffled shirt,

string tie and sideburns, and with two

16-inch Buntline Specials strapped to his

thighs, he really cuts the mustard with the

teenage cow bunnies.”

Actor O’Brian (real

name Hugh Krampe) looks like an Oklahoma

Olivier. In his flowered vest, ruffled shirt,

string tie and sideburns, and with two

16-inch Buntline Specials strapped to his

thighs, he really cuts the mustard with the

teenage cow bunnies.”Actor O’Brian (real

name Hugh Krampe) looks like an Oklahoma

Olivier. In his flowered vest, ruffled shirt,

string tie and sideburns, and with two

16-inch Buntline Specials strapped to his

thighs, he really cuts the mustard with the

teenage cow bunnies.”