John,
Re your question below:
> According to my notes, Burnett also wrote a film
script as Saint
> Johnson. Does anyone know anything about
this?
Although there was much talk about the various film versions
of SAINT JOHNSON, I'm not sure it was ever made clear that
all these film versions were based on a novel by Burnett
which, in turn, was a fictionalization of the Earp/Clanton
conflict in Tombstone, AZ. This was perhaps the first
fictionalized version (at least the first that made no bones
about being fiction) of the OK Corral shootout ever written.
Since then dozens of novelists, including crime writers like
Loren D. Estleman and Robert B. Parker, have tried their
hands at novels about the incident. One of the most recent,
and one of the best, is Richard Wheeler's TROUBLE IN
TOMBSTONE.
The hero, whom Burnett admitted in a foreword was directly
based on Wyatt Earp, was named Wayt Johnson, a deputy US
marshal for the area whose two brothers are town marshals.
The characters based on the Clanton faction all refer to Wayt
as "Saint" Johnson because of his "rectitudinal"
demeanor.
In the first and last film versions of the novel, the name
"Wayt" is, for some reason, changed to "Frame." The most
recent film version, entitled, like the first, LAW &
ORDER, and starring Ronald Reagan as Johnson, is really more
of a sequel than a direct adaptation.
Hope that helps.
JIM DOHERTY
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