Though by no means acclaimed in its day, John Ford's Western about Wyatt Earp and the gunfight at the OK Corral has now become accepted as a classic of the genre.

'This is not a film to rave about,' muttered the British Monthly Film Bulletin rebelliously. 'The story is not particularly good.'

It's a true one, however, and good enough to form the axis of several other sturdy Westerns down the years.

Decorated by the twin themes of camaraderie and action that were to dominate Ford films of the first post-war decade as never before, the film has black-and-white photography of amazing depth by Joe MacDonald and memorable portrayals by Henry Fonda (as Earp), the underrated Victor Mature, coming up trumps as Doc Holliday, and Walter Brennan, the epitome of evil (even when not saying anything) as Old Man Clanton.

John Ireland is on the side of the Clantons, just as he was to be 10 years later in Gunfight at the OK Corral.

Despite further recent efforts in Tombstone and Wyatt Earp, Ford's movie, studded with memorable individual scenes and shots, remains the definitive version of the story.

Ford himself met the real Earp in silent movie days. 'He told me about the OK Corral fight - so I shot it the way it was, like a smart military manoeuvre.'