My Darling Clementine (1946)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Samuel G. Engel (screen play) and
Winston Miller (screen play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

3 December 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Tagline:

The Roaring West At Its Reckless Best!

Plot:

A Western retelling the tale of the Shoot-out at the OK Corral.

Plot Keywords:

Marshal | Doc Holliday | OK Corral | Wyatt Earp | Revenge

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Henry Fonda	...	Wyatt Earp
Linda Darnell	...	Chihuahua
Victor Mature	...	Dr. John 'Doc' Holliday
Cathy Downs	...	Clementine Carter
Walter Brennan	...	Old Man Clanton
Tim Holt	...	Virgil Earp
Ward Bond	...	Morgan Earp
Alan Mowbray	...	Granville Thorndyke
John Ireland	...	Billy Clanton
Roy Roberts	...	Mayor
Jane Darwell	...	Kate Nelson
Grant Withers	...	Ike Clanton
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	Mac the Barman
Russell Simpson	...	John Simpson
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Adler	...	Stagecoach Driver (uncredited)
C.E. Anderson	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Don Barclay	...	Opera House Owner (uncredited)
Hank Bell	...	Opera House Patron (uncredited)
Danny Borzage	...	Accordionist (uncredited)
Frank Conlan	...	Pianist (uncredited)
Tex Cooper	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Jack Curtis	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Francis Ford	...	Dad - Old Soldier (uncredited)
Earle Foxe	...	Gambler (uncredited)
Don Garner	...	James Earp (uncredited)
Ben Hall	...	Barber (uncredited)
Aleth Hansen	...	Guitarist (uncredited)
Duke R. Lee	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Fred Libby	...	Phin Clanton (uncredited)
Mae Marsh	...	Simpson's Sister (uncredited)
Margaret Martin	...	Woman (uncredited)
Kermit Maynard	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Louis Mercier	...	François - the Chef (uncredited)
Jack Pennick	...	Stagecoach Driver (uncredited)
Frances Rey	...	Woman (uncredited)
Mickey Simpson	...	Sam Clanton (uncredited)
Charles Stevens	...	Indian Joe (uncredited)
Arthur Walsh	...	Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Harry Woods	...	Luke (uncredited)

Directed by
John Ford

Writing credits
Samuel G. Engel		(screen play) and
Winston Miller		(screen play)
Sam Hellman		(from a story by)
Stuart N. Lake		(based on a book by)

Produced by
Samuel G. Engel	....	producer

Original Music by
Cyril J. Mockridge		(music) (as Cyril Mockridge)

Cinematography by
Joseph MacDonald		(director of photography) (as Joe MacDonald)

Film Editing by
Dorothy Spencer		(film editor)

Art Direction by
James Basevi		(art direction)
Lyle R. Wheeler		(art direction) (as Lyle Wheeler)

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little		(set decorations)

Makeup Department
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Raymond A. Klune	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Eckhardt	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Edward O'Fearna	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Jack Sonntag	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Fred J. Rode	....	associate set decorations

Sound Department
Eugene Grossman	....	sound
Roger Heman Sr.	....	sound (as Roger Heman)

Special Effects by
Fred Sersen	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
Jack Montgomery	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gil Perkins	....	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
René Hubert	....	costumes (as Rene Hubert)
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Lyman Hallowell	....	apprentice editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Alfred Newman	....	musical direction
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestral arrangements (as Edward Powell)

Other crew
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	presents
Ray C. Moore	....	location manager (uncredited)
Barlow Simpson	....	double: Russell Simpson (uncredited)

Thanks
Blake Lucas	....	special thanks (pre-release version print)
James Pepper	....	special thanks (pre-release version print)
Bill Prud'homme	....	special thanks (pre-release version print)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1946) (USA) (theatrical) (released through) (as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation)
• 20th Century Fox (1947) (France) (theatrical)
• Centfox (1949) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• M.P.E.A. (1949) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1953) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Allianz Filmverleih (1964) (West Germany) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Key Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2003) (Canada) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox (194?) (Belgium) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• 20th Century Fox  in cooperation with (pre-release version print)
• American Movie Classics (AMC)  funding provided by (pre-release version print)
• Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art  in cooperation with (pre-release version print) (as The Museum of Modern Art, Department of Film)
• Film Foundation, The  funding provided by (pre-release version print)
• Todd-AO/Glen Glenn Studios  sound services by (pre-release version print) (as Todd-AO/Glen Glenn)
• UCLA Film and Television Archive  preserved by (pre-release version print)
• YCM Laboratories  sound services by (pre-release version print)

Also Known As:

"John Ford's My Darling Clementine" - UK (complete title), USA (complete title)
"Faustrecht der Prärie" - Austria, West Germany
"La poursuite infernale" - Belgium (French title) (imdb display title), France
"Pasión de los fuertes" - Argentina, Spain
"Tombstone" - Austria, West Germany
"A Paixão dos Fortes" - Portugal
"Aavikon laki" - Finland (reissue title)
"De wilde jacht" - Belgium (Flemish title) (imdb display title)
"Erämaan laki" - Finland
"Hevnerne i Tombstone" - Norway (imdb display title)
"I zoi axizei mia sfaira" - Greece (reissue title)
"Katahthonios dioxis" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"La meva estimada Clementine" - Spain (Catalan title)
"Laglöst land" - Sweden
"Mein Liebling Clementine" - Austria
"Miasto bezprawia" - Poland
"My Darling Clementine" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"My Darling Clementine" - Denmark
"O lytrotis" - Greece (reissue title)
"Paixão de Fortes" - Brazil (DVD title)
"Paixão dos Fortes" - Brazil
"Sfida infernale" - Italy
"Zonder genade" - Netherlands (imdb display title)

Runtime:

97 min | Spain:102 min | 103 min (pre-release version) | West Germany:92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Norway:16 | West Germany:12 (f) | USA:Approved (certificate #11591) | Canada:PG (video rating) | South Korea:12 (2003) | USA:Not Rated | Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (re-rating) (1995) | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

An alternate "preview" version of this film exists. In the 1970s, 20th Century Fox donated some film to the UCLA Film Archives. In 1994, it was discovered that the UCLA print was different from the one being shown on TV. It was about 8 minutes longer with minor variations throughout and a slightly different ending. Both this archival 103 or 104 minute version and the 97 minute release version are included on the Fox DVD released on January 6, 2004.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Just about every detail of the gun battle at the OK Corral is unhistorical. The positioning of the corral (not in the midst of the wilderness but in the middle of town), the time, the positioning of the participants, the identities of the survivors and the killed, etc. Additionally, Holliday was not a "Boston surgeon" but a Georgia dentist whose tubercular cough was so bad that nobody would be his patient.

Quotes:

[as Wyatt is leaving the hotel after taking the marshal's job, he meets Clanton and his sons]
Wyatt Earp:I'm the fella with the trail herd, remember?
Old Man Clanton:Oh, sure, I remember you.
Wyatt Earp:You was right. I didn't get very far with 'em. They was rustled this evening.
Old Man Clanton:That so? Well, that's too bad.
[Wyatt starts out the door]
Old Man Clanton:I guess you'll be headin' for California, huh?
Wyatt Earp:No, I figured on stickin' around awhile. Got myself a job.
Old Man Clanton:Cowpunching?
Wyatt Earp:Marshalin'.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Wyatt Earp: Walk with a Legend (1994) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Ten Thousand Cattle

Classic western

Wyatt Earp and his brothers are driving cattle to California. They stop off at Tombstone and go into town, leaving the youngest brother behind to mind the cattle. On their return they find their brother murdered and their cattle stolen. Wyatt decides to stay in town with his brother as the town's marshal to bring law and order and catch the murderer. In the town he not only comes up against the hard-drinking Doc Holliday but also the Clanton's.

Easily the best film that tells the story of Wyatt Earp and the gunfight at the OK Coral. There have been more action packed versions or more ponderous versions but this is still the best. The shootout itself is supposedly the most accurate, as director Ford said `I talked to Wyatt Earp, he told me how it was and that's how we did it' (I'm paraphrasing cause I can't remember the direct quote). However the shootout is not as dramatic as a result – in fact it is very short and straightforward. The strength in the film is the wider story. The story is well told with attention to character and has a good comic feel running right through it.

The script allows for good dialogue and the actors bring it to life well. Fonda was always at his strongest in these type of roles and is morally strong. His easy screen toughness really holds the attention. Mature has a good role in Doc, but is not the best doc ever I think. The Clantons are all underused and don't really make a big impact until the final section. Darnell makes a big impact and Downs is good despite being more subtle.

The film is as much Ford's as Fonda's. His black and white film is as lush as many colour films you see. His use of shadow is powerful – witness his death shroud on Holliday's face as he talks to Chihuahua who is literally and metaphorically entering into the light. The old west looks as sparse as I imagine it was. Ford's only weakness is that he doesn't bring much tension to the actual gunfight, but his warming, comic telling at other points means that his strengths vastly outweigh the odd weakness.

Overall this film is rightly a classic that appears in many critics top 100 lists. I was surprised to see it not in the top 250 of imdb (at time of writing). I guess that when modern films are `good' hundreds of thousands of people see it and it moves quickly up the internet polls, however older classics like this can tend to be forgotten as those same users slowly discover it. However, regardless of on line polls this is a very good film that is easily the best telling of the Wyatt Earp story.