Predominantly, the movie Tombstone was filmed at the Old Tucson Studios in Mescal, Arizona. This is a really famous and popular filming location for western films as there is a ready-made 1800's era saloon town already there in the middle of the desert.
Although Tombstone is a real town, most of the actual movie was shot at the historically significant Mescal movie set, a purpose-built facility in Arizona made up to look like a real Old West town.
All the mustaches in the movie were real except Jon Tenney's (Sheriff Behan) who had to be clean shaven for his prior project, and was thus the only fake mustache in the movie.
"Tombstone" is based on real events, specifically the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and the events leading up to it. However, like many historical movies, it takes creative liberties for dramatic effect.
The reason why Doc Holliday was sweating so much in Tombstone was that, at the time the film was set, he was suffering from tuberculosis. When Earp first reunites with his long-time friend Holliday, Holliday is seeking refuge in the dry climate of Arizona to combat his worsening tuberculosis.
Tombstone (1933) Hollywood Movie HD | Val Kilmer | Tombstone Full Movie Fact & Some Details
How many confirmed kills does Doc Holliday have?
The only men he is known to have killed are Mike Gordon in 1879; probably Frank McLaury and Tom McLaury in Tombstone; possibly Frank Stilwell in Tucson; and William Allen in Colorado. Some scholars argue that Holliday may have encouraged the stories about his reputation, although there is no evidence he did.
When Doc declares that he should "hate" Johnny Ringo because he reminds him too much of himself, Wyatt Earp tries to assuage the younger gunsel by explaining that Doc's drunk and not in command of his faculties.
John Peters Ringo (May 3, 1850 – July 13, 1882), known as Johnny Ringo, was an American Old West outlaw loosely associated with the Cochise County Cowboys in frontier boomtown Tombstone, Arizona Territory. He took part in the Mason County War in Texas during which he committed his first murder.
Blaylock suffered from severe headaches and while in Tombstone, Arizona she became addicted to laudanum, a then-common opiate and pain killer. It is not known exactly when Earp and Blaylock ended their relationship.
Doc Holliday—gunslinger, gambler, and occasional dentist—dies from tuberculosis. Though he was perhaps most famous for his participation in the shootout at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, John Henry “Doc” Holliday earned his bad reputation well before that famous feud.
A coroner's jury ruled Ringo's death a suicide, but many believed Wyatt and Doc had returned to Arizona and killed Ringo. This story gained some credibility when, in 1977, a book was published by the respected University of Arizona Press entitled “I Married Wyatt Earp”.
Tombstone had a tangled journey to the big screen, with Costner himself originally signed up to play Earp. The late screenwriter Kevin Jarre's script was acclaimed but Costner later dropped out, as he felt the movie should cover Earp's life and not just his time in Tombstone.
Val Kilmer practiced for a long time on his quick-draw speed, and gave his character a Southern Aristocrat accent. The southern accent is an authentic touch, as Holliday was a cousin (several generations removed) of Margaret Mitchell, author of "Gone With the Wind".
Jon Tenney, who played the local sheriff, Johnny Behan in the film, was the only guy who needed a fake, but it wasn't really his fault. Biehn went on: "There was one guy, Jon Tenney. He didn't get to grow his own mustache because he had a job right before that.
A controversial school of thought suggests they never actually met. The public wanted to believe the romantic notion of the famous lawman meeting the young Western actor, but it was also claimed Wayne learned about Earp's life second-hand from Ford and not in person.
Earp, who had no children, was the last surviving participant of the OK Corral gunfight. In his later years, he'd consulted on Hollywood westerns and gotten to know various actors and directors. His funeral was attended by such celebrities as Western film star Tom Mix, who served as a pallbearer.
Wyatt's good friend “Doc” Holliday called Wyatt the “Jewish Boy.” Wyatt's Hollywood friends conducted a funeral for him at the Congregational Church in Los Angeles, California, but Sadie did not attend and later gave him a Jewish funeral.
In the film Tombstone, starring Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer, during the closing credits reference is made to the fact that "Tom Mix wept" at Wyatt Earp's funeral. A passing reference is made about Mix in Season 3, Episode 2 of Downton Abbey.
Sadly, Johnny Ringo (born John Briganti) passed away Aug. 31 after a three-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Boehner wasn't the only famous out-of-towner who bounced around in Ringo's truck, his daughter said.
Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn) and his gunspinning duel with Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) in the 1993 film Tombstone. (Doc parodies Ringo's gunspinning moves by duplicating them with a metal stirrup cup for comic effect.)
Doc Holliday finds it humorous that after a violent life, he is dying in a bed without his boots on. "This is funny" were supposedly Doc Holliday's real last words, expressing a wry irony about dying barefoot and overheard by a nurse.
In truth, Ringo was not a formally educated man, and he came from a struggling working-class Indiana family that gave him few advantages. Yet, he does appear to have been better read than most of his associates, and he clearly cultivated an image as a refined gentleman.
Sir Ringo is usually seen in dark glasses (or “sunglasses”) because his eyes have an acute sensitivity to light — 'and he has occasionally cited that reason himself when asked about it.
