WYATT & THE DUKE

 

WYATT & THE DUKE

By Patrick Cirillo

A Story Killer Publication

298 pgs

 

There’s a story around Hollywood that one day a reporter asked actor John Wayne about how he learned his “hero” way of walking that was distinctive in all his western movies. The Duke supposed replied, “I learned it from Wyatt Earp.” It is with such oft told vignettes that Hollywood veteran Patrick Cirillo weaves this particular story.

 

The facts are these. Marion Morrison, a former football star, dropped out of college and went to work as a stunt man for Republic Pictures. It is said he was hired by the first big cowboy start of the Silver Screen, Tom Mix and then subsequently met the legendary lawman Wyatt Earp. Earp at the time was well into his 70s and occasionally asked to consult on western themed pictures. As whether Duke, Morrison’s nickname, and Earp became more then just acquaintances is the stuff from which grandiose “what if” yarns are woven.

In Carillo’s scenario, Duke is recruited by a popular Hollywood director to start in a bio-pic of Wyatt Earp. Earp is then hired to tutor the naïve, greenhorn actor on how to portray him in the film. At first their relationship is anything but affable. The senior Earp sees the college dropout as a wet-behind-the-ears wannabe whose only assets are his rugged good looks and ready fists when it comes to fight. While Duke, constantly berated by Earp, begins to see his hero as nothing but a cantankerous old man devoid any genuine kindness.

When a beautiful Hollywood actress with whom Duke is romantically involved, dies of a drug overdose, he suspects foul play. Soon, with Earp’s help, they discover the supplier was a former lover scorned the lady’s rejection. They also learn he’s one of several brothers all working under the guidance of their criminal father. To take on this crooked, brutal clan, the two will have to put aside their differences and learn to work as a team…or die trying.

“Wyatt & The Duke” is one of the books that comes along all too rarely and is a pure delight. So much so, this reader found himself wondering how such a real adventure might have gone.