MovieChat Forums > Purgatory (1999) Discussion > Hickok and Holliday were not outlaws

Hickok and Holliday were not outlaws

posted 11 years ago by mcfaddensflats
4 replies | jump to latest

I saw this film today and really enjoyed it. A few brief points -

1) It never actually says he is in the film, but some people reviewing the movie are counting Wild Bill Hickok as an outlaw. He wasn't an outlaw - in fact he was on the side of the law, he served as both a US Marshall and a sheriff. He did do a number of, let's say questionable things to possibly merit a spell in purgatory.

2) Doc Holliday was a dentist, not the MD he is seen as here. Doc wasn't really an "outlaw" either, but a travelling dentist and gambler, though his tendency to have an explosive temper and become violent got him into trouble with the law a number of times.He was chronically sick most of his adult life and took to the bottle for escape/medicine - which may well explain his bad disposition. Purgatory was fair enough for Doc, I guess. One of the outlaws says Hickok had been dead "10 years"; Bill died in 1876, making the events in "Refuge" taking place in 1886 - but Holliday was still alive "for real" in 1886, he died the following year from tuberculosis.

3) Billy the Kid - most of his crimes were against the assassins and their minions who had murdered his mentor; there were also 2 killings during his jailbreak after he was betrayed by the authorities over an amnesty and was waiting to be hanged. Billy might have merited a second chance( but I doubt Jesse James would have).

4)I think it's unlikely that you could "recognize" the real people from the sort of inaccurate illustrations seen in in nineteenth century dime novels. I very much doubt there would have been a dime novel about a celebrated harlot "with a heart of gold" in the 1880s, certainly not one which used "harlot" in its title.

[–] montrossboc-1 10 years ago

You realize you were watching a movie that takes place in Purgatory, right?

What time do you think it is in Purgatory right now?

If you dint want him dead, why yall leave him with me?-Mouse

[–] mtlddrms 9 years ago

I think Refuge wasn't just for outlaws. It was for people who lived questionable lives.

[–] BlueeyedSara 8 years ago

It is mentioned that the townsfolk were marginally good or plucked from the evil ones.

[–] Wuchak (8077) 6 years ago

The OP misunderstood the premise of the movie. The town of Refuge isn't just for outlaws; it's the "last chance" for the "marginally good," as phrased in the movie (it evens says something like they were plucked from the incorrigibly wicked). As such, the inhabitants (not visitors) have different identities and occupations than in their former lives. For instance, Billy the Kid is now Deputy Glen, not a gunfighter; and Dolly Sloan is now Ivy, not a prostitute or suffragette.

1.) The very fact that Hickok was generally on the side of the law, but also did "questionable things" is why he's in Refuge.

2.) Holliday was now Doc Woods in Refuge, an M.D., who wasn't skinny because he no longer had tuberculosis. Just the same, Jesses James was now a shop owner named Brooks and was no longer robbing trains.

As for the dubious chronology, Holliday might have been a relatively recent arrival and therefore the reference to "10 years" in regards to Hickok's death actually meant "about 10 years." So the events could be taking place in 1888 or even 1889.

Another possibility is that Refuge exists outside the bounds of normal time.

3.) Yes, Jesse James was a notorious bank/train robber, but he is given a "last chance" in Refuge because the movie implies that he was corrupted by the Civil War during his developing years and the bloody guerrilla warfare in Missouri/Kansas.

4.) The movie suggests that Sonny was read-up on these famous figures and so recognized clues to their real identities. He only suspected who they really were. And this was eventually verified as he increasingly discovered the supernatural nature of Refuge. In other words, it wasn't like he instantly recognized these individuals and was 100% sure of their semi-infamous identities.