My Darling Clementine
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Movie Reviews of My Darling Clementine
Movie Review: A DVD for Ford Fans
Summary: 5 Stars
Although My Darling Clementine involves the story of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday and their gunfight with the Clantons at the O.K. Corral, John Ford's focus is at least as much on mood and relationships as it is on gunplay. He is less interested in retelling the historical events accurately, than in evoking the times in an emotionally involving way. Ford's film, as is shown by the title, is as much a love story as it is a story about a gunfight. The fictional relationship between Wyatt Earp and Clementine Carter is the real centre of the film. The gunfights and the action are exciting, but it is the developing love between these two which finally makes the film moving. Their relationship is subtle, tentative and unspoken. It is uncertain whether anything will come from it, but Ford leaves the viewer hoping. He turns what could have been a standard romance into something much more powerful. The acting in My Darling Clementine is generally very good. Henry Fonda plays Wyatt in his quiet authoritative way using minimal gestures and facial expressions to show the character of the man. Cathy Downs as Clementine shows why Wyatt would prefer her to the more gaudy women of the saloons. Her understated performance matches Fonda's. Victor Mature is pretty good as Doc Holliday showing the character's smouldering temper. He even reads part of Hamlet's "To be or not to be" speech and reads it well. Mature was never a great actor, but he makes his character interesting and complex. Less good is Linda Darnell as dance hall girl Chihuahua. She seems out of her depth in this film. Finally Walter Brennan makes a good villain as Pa Clanton.
The Fox DVD is wonderful. It includes two cuts of the film, the release version and a preview version. This preview version runs about 10 minutes longer than the release version, which was edited by studio head Darryl Zanuck. A well-made documentary illustrates the differences between the two versions showing that the changes involved not merely deleting footage, but also adding music and most importantly slightly changing the ending. The Zanuck cut is still a very fine film, but it is great to have the opportunity to see an earlier version of the film which may be closer to John Ford's original vision. The picture quality of both versions of the film is very good, with only one or two signs of damage. The beautiful black and white photography is clear and sharp and often stunning, especially in the views of Monument Valley. The sound is likewise fine, with clear dialogue and hardly any hiss. In addition the DVD includes an informative and interesting commentary by Scott Eyman and Wyatt Earp III, a trailer and a gallery of stills. John Ford fans should be grateful to Fox for bringing out such a fine DVD of one of his very best films.
Movie Review: Shakespeare in Tombstone
Summary: 5 Stars
Of the many movies that I love and own, this is one of the DVDs I would grab if the house was on fire. My Darling Clementine is fundamentally about the shootout at the OK Corral, arguably the most famous 30 seconds in American history. But in John Ford's loving hands, the story takes its time getting there and, in the process, becomes as graceful and easily beautiful a piece of film-making as you will ever see.
In this age when movie goers prize realism, sheer violence, and de-mythology, Ford has become something of a whipping boy for those who point out the glaring historical inaccuracies present in Hollywood's traditional portrayal of the American West. These folks miss the larger picture and are the poorer for their narrow, fashionable view. In this archetypal story of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, and the Clanton family, Ford was not interested in historical detail. He was creating legends, not historical accounts for the archives.
Ford was a film maker. When a movie lover approaches a Ford film, it becomes necessary to give oneself over to the power of film. Once one does that, tremendous pleasures await. Such as: the townspeople of Tombstone having a dance around the skeletal frame of a half-built church while the huge, flat buttes of Monument Valley tower in the background; or Henry Fonda as Earp watching with great sympathy as Victor Mature (Doc Holiday) recites Hamlet's suicide soliloquy in a barroom (as hokey as this sounds, it is Fonda's expression that will move you, I guarantee).
Other images worth mentioning: Fonda/Earp walking alone through the rain of Tombstone at night; or the final shot of Clementine (meaningless in the film other than as a perfect symbol of all the things men love but can never have) standing framed against the Arizona sky and a picket fence - or the way Walter Brennan as Old Man Clanton, flashes through his scenes like a rattler's hiss.
Loving a John Ford Western is a bit like believing in a religion: it requires a leap of faith - a belief in something that might not be tangible reality, but is instead an ideal no less worthy of love.
This DVD is an absolute must for Ford fans, Western fans, or movie lovers. As an extra bonus, the special feature commentary by Ford biographer, Scott Eyman, is absolutely superb. Mr. Eyman's concise and rich commentary is nearly as enjoyable as the film itself. All in all, a real treasure for John Ford fans. -Mykal Banta
Movie Review: Fine collaboration of Ford and Fonda
Summary: 5 Stars
My Darling Clementine is a classic western that finally received the DVD release it deserved. Wyatt Earp and his brothers, Virgil, Morgan, and James, are driving a herd of cattle to California. The three eldest brothers go into the town of Tombstone one night and return to find their brother James murdered and the herd run off. Wyatt decides to take the Marshal job in Tombstone so he can find out who murdered his brother and stole their herd. At the same time, Wyatt takes an interest in Clementine Carter, a young woman from the East who has a past with Wyatt's new friend Doc Holliday. This is obviously not the most historically accurate version of the story, but it is definitely the most fun. Director John Ford takes his time developing the story until the exciting showdown at the OK Corral. Because of this, the viewer gets to know the characters that much better. This western is sometimes overshadowed by Ford's Cavalry trilogy, but it is as good or better than all three movies.
Henry Fonda is perfect as Wyatt Earp, the easy-going yet very capable marshal of Tombstone trying to avenge his brother's death. The image of Fonda's Earp leaning back in his chair at the stagecoach station is easily one of the most recognizable images from any of John Ford's westerns. Linda Darnell plays Chihuahua, Doc Holliday's girl who has instant conflict with Earp. Victor Mature is also excellent as Doc Holliday, the gambler dying of tuberculosis who becomes Wyatt Earp's friend. Cathy Downs plays the title role of Clementine, the woman with feelings for two men, Wyatt and Doc. Walter Brennan is an excellent villain as Old Man Clanton. The movie also stars Tim Holt as Virgil Earp, Ward Bond as Morgan Earp, John Ireland as Billy Clanton, and also Jane Darwell, Grant Withers, J. Farrell MacDonald, and Russell Simpson. The excellent DVD from Fox Studio Classics includes the full screen version of the movie originally released in theaters, the alternate pre-release version of the movie originally intended by John Ford, a 40-minute documentary explaining the differences between the two movies, a decent commentary, a theatrical trailer, and a still gallery. It's too bad more older movies couldn't receive DVD releases like this one. For a classic western beautifully filmed in Monument Valley with a great story and even better cast, check out My Darling Clementine!
Movie Review: A classic and romantic western
Summary: 5 Stars
One particular scene sums up all that is powerful and great about MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, now finally released on DVD in a crystal sharp print that makes silvery black and white breathe with vivid color. John Ford's fictious film about the epic battle between evil (the savagery of the brutal Clanton clan)and good (the polite and civil Wyatt boys)portrays an America that never was but, in the hearts of romantics everywhere, should have been and-with a great dose of hope and work-could be and should be.In the middle of the film, the desperate-to-become-civilized citizens of Tombstone gleefully celebrate their blossoming civility by holding a square dance in a just-barely built church. The gallant Wyatt Earp (brilliantly underplayed by Henry Fonda)dances with soon-to-become school marm Clementine underneath both a cloudless sky and the flying colors of "old glory". Watching Fonda and Cathy Downs (Clementine)high step across the rough-hewn church floor to the tune of "Shoo-Fly"-played by a rag-tag bunch of musicians (the saloon plunker amoung them)- fills the viewer with a rush of hope and grace. Perhaps America is big enough for all of our possibilities. We are all works in progress- as is our very nation. At least that is what Ford wants us to think.
MY DARLING CLEMENTINE is a jewel filled with many such scenes of folksy poetry. The performances are all solid- even "beefcake" Victor Mature delivers a passable portayal.
Special mention must be made of Walter Brennan- one of America's finest actors ever- delivering a terrifying against type performance as the villianous "Old Man Clanton". It is as if Grendel's mother is re-incarnated as a renigade cattle baron. He literally drips with deceitful malice. The fact that he is so likable as an actor makes his performance all the more creepy.
Now that this, one of America's finest films, is released on DVD-and at a most affordable price- it is time MY DARLING CLEMENTINE resides in your classic film library.
Movie Review: A Legendary Western...
Summary: 5 Stars
"My Darling Clementine" is renowned director John Ford's 1946 superb dramatization of the legendary gunfight at the OK Corral in 1880's Tombstone, Arizona. It is a masterpiece of the filmmaker's art, with an austere script and crisp black and white photography that emphasizes the stark Arizona landscape and the rough and ready nature of Tombstone. Henry Fonda is a subtle, surprisingly effective choice as Wyatt Earp, while Victor Mature is nicely menacing as Doc Holiday and a crusty Walter Brennan leads the outlaw Clanton family.
As the story begins, the Earp brothers Wyatt, Morgan, Virgil, and James are driving a cattle herd across southern Arizona. When the three older brothers take a break in Tombstone, youngest brother James is murdered and the cattle herd rustled, likely by the Clanton clan. The Earps move into town as lawmen and wait their opportunity for revenge. Wyatt strikes up a odd friendship with the feared Doc Holiday, a tubercular and alcoholic gambler and gunfighter. He also gets to know Doc's old flame Clementine, a pretty and proper school marm from back East.
The movie paints the conflict between the Earps and the Clantons in broad, black and white strokes, leading rapidly to the climactic violent gunfight at the OK Corral. Along the way, Ford sustains a touching parallel love story between the shy Wyatt and the hopeful Clementine, whose own defining moment is an open air dance at an unfinished church.
"My Darling Clementine" has little to do with actual history and a great deal to do with telling a good story in a polished and entertaining way. This DVD edition contains some excellent additional features, including an alternate version of the movie that reveals the post-production editing done to Ford's first draft. "My Darling Clementine" is very highly recommended as a classic example of the Western genre.