‘Tombstone’ Changed Doc Holliday’s Actual Quote and Made Val Kilmer’s Scene Even Better
The 1993 film *Tombstone* alters a line attributed to Doc Holliday during the 1881 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and the article argues the change made Val Kilmer’s scene more effective. In the film, Holliday responds to Frank McLaury with “You’re a daisy if you do,” a line presented as cooler and more threatening than the historical version.
An 1881 newspaper account reportedly records Holliday saying, “Blaze away! You’re a daisy if you have,” after McLaury told him, “I’ve got you now.” The article says the film otherwise follows the reported exchange’s outcome: Holliday and Morgan Earp shoot McLaury. Kilmer’s confident delivery, despite one of Holliday’s guns being out of bullets, helps make the rewritten line memorable.
- *Tombstone* changed Doc Holliday’s reported words.
- Kilmer says, “You’re a daisy if you do.”
- The article says the shorter line makes the scene more effective.