My Darling Clementine

Starring:Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature, Cathy Downs, Walter Brennan, Tim Holt, Ward Bond, Alan Mowbray, John Ireland, Roy Roberts, Jane Darwell, Grant Withers, J. Farrell MacDonald, Russell Simpson, Robert Adler, Duke R. Lee, Danny Borzage, Arthur Walsh, Mickey Simpson, Ben Hall
Director: John Ford
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

The most famous and sublime treatment of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, John Ford's My Darling Clementine is by any measure one of the most classically perfect Westerns ever made. Henry Fonda plays a hard, serious Wyatt Earp leading a cattle drive west with his brothers when a stopover in the wild town of Tombstone ends in the murder of his youngest brother. Wyatt takes up the badge he had turned down earlier and tames the wide-open town with his brothers (Ward Bond and Tim Holt), all the while waiting for the wild Clantons (led by Walter Brennan's ruthless Old Man Clanton) to make a mistake. Victor Mature delivers perhaps his finest performance as the tubercular gambler Doc Holliday, an alcoholic Eastern doctor escaping civilization in the Wild West. Ford takes great liberties with history, bending the story to fit his ideal of the West, a balance of social law and pioneer spirit. Though the film reaches its climax in the legendary gunfight between the Earps (with Doc Holliday) and the Clantons, the most powerful moment is the moving Sunday morning church social played out on the floor of the unfinished church. As Earp dances with Clementine (Cathy Downs)--Fonda's stiff, self-conscious movements showing a man unaccustomed to such social interaction--Ford's camera frames them against the open sky: the town and the wilderness merge into the new Eden of the West for a brief moment. --Sean Axmaker

Description

Henry Fonda, Victor Mature and Walter Brennan star in John Ford's acclaimed film that climaxes with the famous gunfight at O.K. Corral. As Wyatt Earp (Fonda) and his brothers head for a peaceful life of ranching in 1880's California, tragedy moves Wyatt to pin on a badge once more. But when he becomes the law in Tombstone, home to Doc Holliday (Mature) and the Clanton boys, it's only a matter of time until the Earps and Doc face the Clantons in one of the most remembered battles of the Wild West. Featuring Linda Darnell and Ward Bond, My Darling Clementine is considered to be one of Ford's finest films.

Customer Reviews:

Studio classic that lives up to it's name.......2007-06-26

This is an excellent double sided disc with the studio cut and a pre release cut plus a documentary and a trailer. The quality of the film and transfer are excellent.

My Darling Clementine.......2007-06-25

The definitive version of the fabled gunfight at the OK Corral, "Clementine" is another near-perfect pairing of Fonda and Ford, following their collaboration on "The Grapes of Wrath." Shot in Monument Valley, the black and white photography is magnificent, fully worthy of the picture's engrossing and suspenseful story. The climactic scene where Earp and Holliday finally confront the Clantons (led by Walter Brennan) at the OK Corral is the stuff of movie legend.

Total malarkey as history, but wonderful as cinema........2007-06-09

John Ford's "My Darling Clementine" plays so fast and loose with the facts about Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the O.K. Corral that it can't even get the ages of Earp's brothers right. (Virgil and James were Earp's OLDER brothers, Morgan his YOUNGER brother, and there's another brother--Warren--who's never even mentioned in the movie.) But "My Darling Clementine" is a magnificent confirmation of Ford's dictum in a later movie, "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance": "When facts get in the way of the legend, print the legend." "Wyatt Earp" and "Tombstone" may be better as history, but "My Darling Clementine" is far and away the most artistic and entertaining movie about Wyatt, Doc and their war with the Clantons. As Earp, Henry Fonda is the archetypal courageous, sweet-hearted Western hero, a totally persuasive pillar of decency and rectitude. In this movie and "Twelve Angry Men," he reached the zenith of his screen persona (a persona he tore down gleefully in "Fort Apache" and "Once Upon a Time in the West'). As Doc Holliday, Victor Mature far exceeds any performance I've ever seen him give, even "Kiss of Death" (and certainly "The Robe" or "Demetrius and the Gladiators"). "My Darling Clementine" represents a sweeter, gentler era at the movies, long before "Little Big Man" or even "Cheyenne Autumn," when every little boy in America wanted to grow up to be a cowboy. Personally, I STILL want to grow up to be John Ford or Henry Fonda!

Fantastic Story Based upon the Earps.......2007-04-08

This is one of the great Western films. It cannot be stressed enough that the viewer should not attempt to compare the film though with the actual events. The phrase "loosely based upon" is fitting to describe this film and its portrayal of the famous gunfight.

As the Amazon summation says "Ford takes great liberties with history, bending the story to fit his ideal of the West, a balance of social law and pioneer spirit". Henry Fonda is excellent in his portrayal of Wyatt Earp and the supporting cast make this an enjoyable film.

One of the Great Westerns.......2007-03-28

This film has it all; a story, great acting, great camera work. When I saw Henry Fonda standing at the end of "Main Street", beginning his walk to the OK Corral, the choice of camera lens used by the cinematographer beats any "special effect" that we see today. This film is great from start to finish. I would give it 6 stars if I could.

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