:
Henry Fonda,
Henry Fonda,
Linda Darnell,
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:
John Ford,
John Ford
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: 20th Century Fox
: Classics, Westerns
: 96 min.
: English
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Recently Rented By kevynknox
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One of the greatest movie Westerns, John Ford's My Darling Clementine is hardly the most accurate film version of the Wyatt Earp legend, but it is still one of the most entertaining. Henry Fonda stars as former lawman Wyatt Earp, who, after cleaning up Dodge City, arrives in the outskirts of Tombstone with his brothers Morgan (Ward Bond), Virgil (Tim Holt), and James (Don Garner), planning to sell their cattle and settle down as gentlemen farmers. Yet Wyatt, disgusted by crime and cattle rustling, eventually agrees to take the marshalling job until he can gather enough evidence to bring to justice the scurrilous Clanton clan, headed by smooth-talking but shifty-eyed Old Man Clanton (Walter Brennan). Almost immediately, Wyatt runs afoul of consumptive, self-hating gambling boss Doc Holliday (Victor Mature, in perhaps his best performance). When Doc's erstwhile sweetheart, Clementine (Cathy Downs) comes to town, Earp is immediately smitten. However, Doc himself is now involved with saloon gal Chihauhua (Linda Darnell). The tensions among Wyatt, Doc, Clementine, and Chihauhua wax and wane throughout most of the film, leading to the legendary gunfight at the OK Corral, with Wyatt and Doc fighting side-by-side against the despicable Clantons. Its powerful storyline and full-blooded characterizations aside, My Darling Clementine is most entertaining during those little "humanizing" moments common to Ford's films, notably Wyatt's impromptu "balancing act" while seated on the porch of the Tombstone hotel, and Wyatt's and Clementine's dance on the occasion of the town's church-raising. Based on Stuart N. Lake's novel Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshall (previously filmed twice by Fox), the screenplay is full of wonderful dialogue, the best of which is the brief, philosophical exchange about women between Earp and Mac the bartender (J. Farrell MacDonald). The movie also features crisp, evocative black-and-white photography by Joseph MacDonald. Producer (Daryl F. Zanuck) was displeased with Ford's original cut and the film went through several re-shoots and re-edits before its general release in November of 1946. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
GreenCine Staff Pick: One of my all-time favorite episodes of M*A*S*H is the one in which they get a print of John Ford's My Darling Clementine, only to suffer through a series of projector breakdowns and other delays. To pass the time, they do impressions of the indellible cast. That includes favorite, unimitable character actor Walter Brennan, Victor Mature - arguably his best performance - as Doc Holliday and of course, Henry Fonda in one of his most beloved roles as Wyatt Earp, who arrives in Tombstone ("Sure is a hard town to play a quiet game o' poker in") to raise cattle, only to find himself, and his brothers, grappling with cattle rustlers and fighting with Doc over the eponymous girl. After seeing Clementine, you can understand why the 4077th might have been so excited to get the film and why it remains one of the finest Westerns ever. It's Ford's telltale "asides" - the dance in the church, the colorful locals, Earp's haircut - that make the film such a delight, but even the asides have a greater purpose, and well before the famous end, in the unforgettable shootout at the OK Corral, you'll likely have been moved once or twice. The film was gently satirized itself, or at least referenced, in Burt Kennedy's comparably enjoyable Support Your Local Sheriff. The two would make a swell double-feature. -- Craig Phillips
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.94) 72 Votes
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