ABSTRACT
Focus films: Gunfight at the OK Corral (John Sturges, 1957, Paramount) and
Bad Day at Black Rock (Sturges, 1955, MGM).
At this point, we will return to the concept of genre discussed in the
Introduction and attempt to apply aspects of genre theory to two films
directed by John Sturges. One aspect of genre theory is the suggestion that
each film type has its own iconography: characteristic props, costumes and
settings, for example, that act as visual signifiers alerting the audience to the
genre of the film they are watching.1 This visual context is very obvious in
Gunfight at the OK Corral wherein the men ride horses, wear classic Western-
film-style cowboy boots and hats, and carry handguns. Just a couple of
minutes into the film as three strangers enter the saloon, the camera focuses
in ominous close-up on the gun and holster on the hip of one of the men.