My Darling Clementine

This article is about the John Ford Western. For the song see Oh My Darling, Clementine.

My Darling Clementine
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Ford
Produced by	Samuel G. Engel
Written by	Book: Stuart N. Lake Story: Sam Hellman Screenplay: Samuel G. Engel Winston Miller
Starring	Henry Fonda Victor Mature Linda Darnell Walter Brennan
Music by	Musical Direction: Alfred Newman Music: Cyril Mockridge David Buttolph (uncredited)
Cinematography	Joseph MacDonald
Editing by	Dorothy Spencer
Studio	Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Distributed by	Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Release date(s)	December 3, 1946
Running time	97 Minutes 103 Minutes Director's Cut
Country	United States
Language	English

My Darling Clementine is a 1946 western movie.^[1][2] It was directed by John Ford, and based on the story of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral between the Earp brothers and the Clanton gang. It features an ensemble cast including Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Ward Bond, Walter Brennan, and others.

The movie was adapted by Samuel G. Engel, Sam Hellman, and Winston Miller from the book Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal by Stuart N. Lake. The title derives from the folk song "Oh My Darling, Clementine", which is the theme song of the movie (sung in parts over the opening and closing credits). Whole scenes from an earlier version, 1939's Frontier Marshal, directed by Alan Dwan, produced by Sol M. Wurtzel, were reshot by Ford for this remake.

In 1991, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Plot

In 1882 (the wrong year is marked on the tombstone of James, since Oct 26th, 1881 was the date of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral), the Earp brothers (Wyatt, Morgan, Virgil and James) are driving cattle to California when they cross the Clanton family led by the "Old Man". Told of a nearby town, Tombstone, the older brothers ride in, leaving the youngest brother James to watch over the cattle. The Earps quickly find Tombstone a lawless town. When they return to their camp, they find the cattle rustled and James dead.

Seeking vengeance, Wyatt returns to Tombstone and takes the open job of town marshall, meeting with the local powers, Doc Holliday and the Clantons, again and again in order to find out who was responsible. In the meantime, a young woman from Boston named Clementine Carter arrives in town...

Plot devices

Although the characters and setting of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral are presented, a great deal of the plot of the film significantly deviates from the actual history. The actual Earps were many things, but never cowboys or drovers or cattle owners. Important plot devices in the film, such as the death of James Earp (who actually died in 1926), the death of Old Man Clanton (who actually died in New Mexico two months before the O.K. Corral confrontation and probably never met the Earps or Holliday), and personal details about Doc Holliday (who was a dentist, not a surgeon, and actually died 6 years later of tuberculosis in Glenwood Springs, Colorado), are all very liberally and fictionally portrayed.

Production notes

Much of the film was shot in Monument Valley, a scenic desert region straddling the Arizona-Utah border used in other John Ford movies. After holding a preview screening of the film, 20th Century Fox studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck felt Ford's original cut was too long and had some weak spots, so he had Lloyd Bacon shoot new footage and then heavily edited the film. While Ford's original cut of the film has not survived, a "pre-release" cut - dating from a few months after the preview screening - survives with some of Ford's additional footage and alternative score intact.

Cast

• Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp
• Victor Mature as Dr. John Henry "Doc" Holliday
• Cathy Downs as Clementine Carter, Doc's ex-lover
• Linda Darnell as Chihuahua
• Walter Brennan as Newman Haynes Clanton, cattleman
• Tim Holt as Virgil Earp
• Ward Bond as Morgan Earp
• Don Garner as James Earp
• Grant Withers as Ike Clanton
• John Ireland as Billy Clanton
• Alan Mowbray as Granville Thorndyke, stage actor
• Roy Roberts as Mayor
• Jane Darwell as Kate Nelson
• J. Farrell MacDonald as Mac the barman

Critical reception

Film critic Bosley Crowther lauded the film and wrote, "The eminent director, John Ford, is a man who has a way with a Western like nobody in the picture trade. Seven years ago his classic Stagecoach snuggled very close to fine art in this genre. And now, by George, he's almost matched it with My Darling Clementine...But even with standard Western fiction—and that's what the script has enjoined—Mr. Ford can evoke fine sensations and curiously-captivating moods. From the moment that Wyatt and his brothers are discovered on the wide and dusty range, trailing a herd of cattle to a far-off promised land, a tone of pictorial authority is struck—and it is held. Every scene, every shot is the product of a keen and sensitive eye—an eye which has deep comprehension of the beauty of rugged people and a rugged world".^[3]

The staff at Variety magazine wrote of the film, "Trademark of John Ford's direction is clearly stamped on the film with its shadowy lights, softly contrasted moods and measured pace, but a tendency is discernible towards stylization for stylization's sake. At several points, the pic comes to a dead stop to let Ford go gunning for some arty effect".^[4]

Director Sam Peckinpah considered My Darling Clementine his favorite Western, and paid homage to it in several of his Westerns, including Major Dundee (1965) and The Wild Bunch (1969).

In the popular TV series, M*A*S*H, Colonel Potter's favourite film is My Darling Clementine. Clips from the film are shown in the season 5 episode, "Movie Tonight".

The film currently holds a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

References

1. ^ Variety film review; October 9, 1946, page 14.
2. ^ Harrison's Reports film review; October 12, 1946, page 163.
3. ^ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, "Darling Clementine, With Henry Fonda as Marshal of Tombstone, a Stirring Film of West", December 4, 1946. Last accessed: January 28, 2008.
4. ^ Variety. Film review, 1946. Last accessed: January 28, 2008.

External links

• My Darling Clementine at the Internet Movie Database
• My Darling Clementine at the TCM Movie Database
• My Darling Clementine at AllRovi
• My Darling Clementine literature