Billy Bob Thornton improvised his role in 1993 western epic Tombstone. Wyatt Earp is an iconic real-life lawman best remembered for the gunfight at the O.K. Corral alongside his brothers and Doc Holliday. His story has been brought to the big screen many times, including My Darling Clementine and Gunfight At The O.K. Corral starring the late Kirk Douglas (Along The Great Divide). The early 1990s saw a battle between two big-budget takes on Earp’s life; 1993’s Tombstone and 1994’s Wyatt Earp.
Wyatt Earp starred Kevin Costner as the lawman while Dennis Quaid (Jaws 3D) played Doc Holliday. While the film featured a fantastic cast and production design, it was a dreary, overlong slog too. It also had the misfortune of following Tombstone, which was much more warmly received the previous year. Costner was actually attached to Tombstone before eventual leading man Kurt Russell (The Thing) came onboard. Costner left Tombstone following disagreements with writer/director Kevin Jarre and tried to use his clout to cut off potential sources of financing for the rival movie once it moved on without him.
Tombstone’s cast is an emb arrassment of riches, which includes Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Michael Biehn (The Terminator), Powers Boothe, Dana Delany, and many others. Tombstone suffered through production issues, with Kevin Jarre being fired and replaced by Rambo: First Blood Part II’s George P. Cosmatos; following Cosmatos’ passing in 2005, Russell would reveal he ghost directed the movie himself. Prior to his breakout role with Sling Blade, Billy Bob Thornton also appeared in Tombstone as Johnny Tyler, a card dealer with a nasty temper.
Kurt Russell’s Earp encounters Tyler when he walks into a Tombstone saloon and is surprised by how empty it is. He’s told by the owner the problem is Tyler, who scares off most customers. On Tombstone’s audio commentary, Cosmotos revealed Billy Bob Thornton made up his own dialogue for the scene, with his only direction being “be a bully.” Johnny Tyler is certainly that, but he’s quickly humbled when Earp approaches the table. His attempts to intimidate Wyatt fall flat, and when Tyler reaches for his gun an unarmed Earp walks right up to his face, daring him to draw.
Wyatt Earp slaps Johnny a few times and asks “Are you gonna do something or just stand there and bleed?” Needless to say, Tyler backs down and Earp disarms him, before kicking him out and asking for 25% of the saloon’s take for his services. It’s one of many great scenes in Tombstone and showed how the real-life Earp preferred to use intimidation over resorting to violence. In this case, he knew Tyler was a loud-mouth bully who would bow down once confronted.
He’s later disarmed again when attempting to shoot Wyatt in the back when Doc calls him out; he’s forced to hand over his shotgun too.This Tombstone scene was also a good showcase for Billy Bob Thornton, who in addition to being a great ad-libber also gets to show a wide range of emotions in one short scene.