Kurt Russell's tombstone had to follow a strict mustache rule

If you've seen the 1993 movie Tombstone, you know it has one of the greatest visual effects ever seen in a western. No, these aren't the explosive gunfights of the movie, nor are they shots of teams of horses riding over unstable terrain. Instead, it's the fabulously unusual, heartwarming and downright masculine mustache that almost every male actor sports in film. “Tombstone” is a movie about big D Dudes, and the actor's mustache acting is so powerful that it has the power to change lives. Take me for example; For many years, I was mostly a beard guy, but when I revisited Tombstone during the 2023 holiday season, I made the decision to become a mustache guy, and I haven't looked back.

It so happened that the power and influence of the mustache in “Tombstone” was 100% deliberate. There was no haphazard or empty hair and makeup on this set, as the film's cast is truly stacked — including star (and ersatz director) Kurt RussellVal Kilmer, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, and Charlton Heston – tried to improve their facial hair to look not only accurate, but also as strong as possible. According to a 2010 interview with Michael Biehnwho plays the educated psychopath gunslinger Johnny Ringo in the film, the actors had to follow a strict mustache maintenance rule to preserve their 'staches. This rule not only encouraged actors to grow their own moustaches, but also allowed their real facial hair to double as a status symbol, leaving at least one actor who was forced to use a fake one feeling left out. .

As Beane explained to Movieweb in 2010, the authority to maintain the mustache came from Tombstone's original director (and still credited writer) Kevin Jarr. According to Bean, Jarr did not so much insist that all men grow mustaches, but rather that if they chose to do so, they had to follow his specific rule:

“Everybody just grew a mustache. When it comes down to it, it's down to Kevin Gerrard, the original director of the movie. He was very specific about how he wanted the mustache. He wanted it to curl at the end. That means if you grow a mustache and it grows enough long ones, you have to use wax on the end of them.”

Bean was quick to point out that the atmosphere on set “wasn't like a mustache contest,” but seemed to imply that Jarr's rule merely encouraged the actors to grow their own mustaches as big and as long as possible. try to follow the director's wishes. While this may not have led to actual competition between the actors, it did make one actor feel inadequate enough to have to put on fake thongs, as Bean explains:

“Everyone was quite proud to grow their own moustaches. There was one guy, John Tenney. He didn't get to grow his own moustache, because he had a job right before that. They had to put on a fake moustache. I. think he always felt like the little dog of the group, because it wasn't his real moustache.

Tenney's character, Sheriff Johnny Behan, ends up being one of the film's villains, so at least he was able to sublimate that “little dog” feeling in his character, giving the sheriff added menace and resentment towards Wyatt Earp (Russell) and his proud brothers.

Of course, most discussions of “Tombstone” have to refer to the film's angst, as Bean pointed out in his comments. It turns out that the mustache mandate wasn't the only rule Jarr had on set while he was still directing the film, causing tension between himself, the main cast, crew and producers, all of which led to his firing. Bean tried to explain the problems that arose from Jarr being too rigid in his creative choices:

“I was sad. I really liked Kevin. He was the one who wrote the script. He really wanted the script to be the way he wanted it to be. He wanted to deliver it the way he wanted it. He wanted the mustache should be in a certain way he wanted everything is exactly as he wanted it.

The controversy doesn't end there, of course, as Jarr's replacement George P. Kosmatos has long been believed to have been hired to essentially cover star Russell's takeover of the directing reins, despite Kosmatos producing the director's cut of the film (completed). with commentary track) in 2002. Whatever the ownership of Tombstone, there's no denying that Gerr's influence remains, a film that fits right in with the screenwriter's penchant for stories about men who have to confront and/or show their machismo when challenged by extreme circumstances.

In fact, thanks to Jarr's work, the film survives how popular and indelible. His signature themes of men struggling with their egos, their responsibilities and their pride are infused throughout Tombstone. When it is connected to the film oh-so-quotable tough guy dialogue and, yes, that magical mustache, Tombstone is just the kind of movie that, oh, can really grow on you.