My Darling Clementine (1946)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Samuel G. Engel (screenplay) and
Winston Miller (screenplay) ...

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:

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

Awards:

2 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

Also Known As:

John Ford's My Darling Clementine (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)
Faustrecht der Prärie (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Pasión de los fuertes (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Tombstone (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
A Paixão dos Fortes (Portugal) [pt]
Aavikon laki (Finland) (reissue title) [fi]
Erämaan laki (Finland) [fi]
I zoi axizei mia sfaira (Greece) (reissue title) [el]
Katahthonios dioxis (Greece) [el]
La meva estimada Clementine (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
La poursuite infernale (France) [fr]
Laglöst land (Sweden) [sv]
Mein Liebling Clementine (Austria) [de]
Miasto bezprawia (Poland) [pl]
My Darling Clementine (Denmark) [da]
O lytrotis (Greece) (reissue title) [el]
Paixão dos Fortes (Brazil) [pt]
Sfida infernale (Italy) [it]

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) | 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:

This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1991.

Goofs:

Factual errors: No mention is made of Tom and Frank McLaury (both of whom were killed in the gunfight), Billy Claiborne (who was at the gunfight, but ran out), and Curly Bill Brocius and Johnny Ringo (neither were in the gunfight, but were Clanton Gang members).

Quotes:

[after the shoot-out at the O.K. Corral, Wyatt refuses to shoot Old Man Clanton]
Old Man Clanton: My boys... Ike! Sam! Phin! Billy!
Wyatt Earp: They're dead. I ain't gonna kill you. I hope you live a hundred years... so you'll feel just a little what my pa's gonna feel. Now get out of town - start wandering!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in How the West Was Lost (2008) (TV)

Wyatt Earp cleans up Tombstone

MY DARLING CLEMENTINE ( rating, * * * * ½ out of 5 )

Adapted from the book 'Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshal' by Stuart N. Lake, writers Samuel G. Engel, Winston Miller and Sam Hellman, and the great director himself John Ford, offer this most atmospheric depiction of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the most famous of shootouts in Western folk-lore.

The story basically covers the period when Wyatt Earp cleaned up Tombstone and wiped out the Clanton gang at the OK Coral. This is time-honored stuff. Nostalgic dramatizations that romanticized the Wild West while creating unforgettable heroes and notorious villains.

John Ford's handling of this motion picture is done with great care and obvious affection. Significant endeavor and attention to detail has gone into the period's reconstruction and the result is what can only be described as lyrical. A synchronous composition of sight and sound that produces a mesmerizing effect which in turn forces any viewer to fall instantly in love with this film.

Henry Fonda's portrayal of Wyatt Earp is without doubt the best that has ever been attempted and Victor Mature's Doc Holliday has him in rare form. Add cast members Walter Brennan, Linda Darnell, Ward Bond and John Ireland, and this film just crackles along.

There is one interesting irony I have noted. In John Ford's celebrated history as a director, particularly in the days when he was making silent films, the real Wyatt Earp acted as Ford's technical adviser bringing a new level of authenticity to gun play that Hollywood in the past had only guessed at. But in 'My Darling Clementine', the final shootout although well done, has a fantasy-like quality about it that avoids a sense of violent realism and adopts a surreal quality - as if seen through a dream.

Because John Ford knew all too well how to make a gunfight look believable, maybe this film allowed him to go beyond what was expected and to produce something a little special, and maybe it was shot in the way that Wyatt Earp wished it could have really happened. To successfully bend the rules, it really helps to have written them in the first place.

'My Darling Clementine' is a joy to behold. Sure, there are a few moments when minor cracks appear, but for pure entertainment value, it is unsurpassed. This movie is what going to the pictures on a Saturday afternoon was all about - those delightful matinee sessions when you'd load your arms up with confectionery, scramble for the best seats in the back row and experience the escapism that made growing up in the suburbs almost tolerable.