"Star Trek" Spectre of the Gun (1968)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Vincent McEveety

Writers:

Gene L. Coon (written by)
Gene Roddenberry (creator)

TV Series:

"Star Trek" (1966)

Original Air Date:

25 October 1968 (Season 3, Episode 6)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

As punishment for trespassing on their planet, the inhabitants condemn Capt. Kirk and his landing party as the losing side of a surreal recreation of the Gunfight at the OK corral.

Plot Keywords:

Doc Holliday | Federation | Space | Starship | Computer

Cast

William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
Ron Soble	...	Wyatt Earp
Bonnie Beecher	...	Sylvia
James Doohan	...	Scott
Walter Koenig	...	Chekov
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura
Charles Maxwell	...	Virgil Earp
Rex Holman	...	Morgan Earp
Sam Gilman	...	Doc Holliday
Charles Seel	...	Ed
Bill Zuckert	...	Johnny Behan
Ed McCready	...	Barber
Abraham Sofaer	...	Melkotian Voice (voice)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Television

Trivia:

Bit-player Rex Holman got his first break when the actor who was originally cast as Morgan Earp proved difficult to work with and was fired. Director Vincent McEveety elevated Holman from being an extra to a supporting part. Two decades later he returned to the Trek universe playing a supporting part in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

Goofs:

Factual errors: Doc Holliday did not practice dentistry in Tombstone.

Quotes:

Ed: [laughs] You Clantons are always big with your jokes, that's why we like you.
Capt. Kirk: I'm not joking!
Ed: Only difference between you and the Earps is that they never joke.
Capt. Kirk: I'm not joking! I'm not Ike Clanton!
Ed: It's okay with me Ike, anything you say.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Futurama: Where No Fan Has Gone Before (#4.12)" (2002)

It's got some redeeming qualities.

It seems like a lot of people pan this episode for its bare bones approach in terms of production values. To me that's part of its charm. It's looks like an offbeat play that's character focused, with the threads of a story to tie it together.

There's an existential quality to this episode that, for me at least, brings out an ethereal plane for Kirk and crew. It's surreal. It's a puzzle within an enigma that pits the mettle of the bridge crew against an alien race that is trying to evaluate Star Fleet's finest.

I have to admit, the whole Western thing seems pretty cliché, particularly for the time when this show was being made. Westerns were all the rage in the 50s and 60s, and I suppose Star Trek had to pay homage to the genre in some form or fashion. "Spectre of the Gun" offers that, just as other episodes touched on medical and courtroom drama formulas.

Another positive about this episode is that the creative team really had to be inventive to make this Alien Western feel both Alien and Western. The cinematography is yet again a little more daring and inventive than in the previous two seasons. Shatner is challenged to carry this episode with his thesping, as he was called upon quite a few times for the third season.

In my personal opinion this episode might have really shined had the whole Western thing been dropped, and replaced with some strange alien culture. But, as others have mentioned, the Western theme was brought in to save dollars.

In spite of the low budget feel of this episode, I still find it intriguing in much the same lines as "The Empath", which as I pointed out was more of a theatre exercise where the camera was more focused on the actors than the actual story.

Take it for what it's worth. It's a little more dramatically inventive if somewhat on the cheap side. Give it a shot.