My Darling Clementine

Plot synopsis:
In 1882 (in reality, the gunfight at the O.K. Corral happened on October 26, 1881), Wyatt, Morgan, Virgil, and James Earp are driving cattle to California when they cross Old Man Clanton. When they learn about the nearby boom town of Tombstone, the older brothers ride in, leaving the youngest brother James to watch over the cattle. The Earps soon learn that Tombstone is a lawless town without a marshal. Wyatt is the only man in the town willing to face the drunk Indian shooting at the townspeople. When they return to their camp, they find the cattle rustled and James murdered.
Seeking to avenge his brother's murder, Wyatt returns to Tombstone. To identify the perpetrator, he takes the open position of town marshal and meets with Doc Holliday and the Clanton gang several times. During this time, Clementine Carter, Doc's ex-love interest from his hometown of Boston, arrives in town on the stagecoach, having searched for him for some time, and is given a room at the same hotel where both Wyatt and Doc Holliday are residing.
Doc Holiday has a female friend, Chihuahua, who sings in the local saloon. Doc tells Clementine to return to Boston, or he will leave Tombstone. Clementine stays, and Doc leaves, much to the displeasure of Chihuahua. Chihuahua and Clementine have an argument. Wyatt walks in on the two and breaks up the women. Chihuahua then reveals a silver cross that belonged to James Earp. She claims Doc gave it to her. Wyatt then chases down Doc, who is headed for Tucson. Wyatt catches Doc and shoots a pistol out of Doc's hands. The two return to Tombstone, where Doc asks Chihuahua why she claimed he gave her the silver cross. After being questioned, she reveals that the silver cross was actually given to her by Billy Clanton. Billy hears this and shoots Chihuahua thru a window. Billy takes off on horse back, but is shot by Wyatt. Billy keeps riding and Wyatt tells Virgil to chase him down. Virgil chases Billy to the Clanton's homestead, where Billy dies of his wounds. Old Man Clanton then kills Virgil. Back in Tombstone, Doc operates on Chihuahua, but she dies afterwards. The Clantons arrive in Tombstone, toss Virgil's body on the street, and announce they will be waiting at the O.K. Corral for Wyatt. Wyatt, Morgan, and Doc arrive at the O.K. Corral at sun up. The Clantons and Doc are all killed.
Wyatt and Morgan then resign as law enforcers. Morgan heads out in a horse and buggy. Wyatt confronts Clementine telling her, if he is ever this way again, he will look her up at the school house. Mounting his horse, Wyatt says, "Ma'am, I sure like that name..........Clementine." and rides off after his brother.

Tags: cult

Review:
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.
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.
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.
Set amid the sweeping vistas and the towering sandstone buttes and spires of Monument Valley, this John Ford film, about Wyatt Earp (Henry Fonda) and his encounters with the Clanton gang in rowdy Tombstone, Arizona, fulfills our need to experience the Old West as mythic romanticism.
It's a broad-brush character study of historical figures like Doc Holliday (Victor Mature), Old Man Clanton (Walter Brennan), the Clanton sons, and of course Wyatt Earp and his sons.
If you're looking for a straight-forward, fairly factual presentation of the events leading up to the 'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral', watch 'Wyatt Earp', or 'Tombstone'...But if you prefer your history more spiritual, and want to see a master storyteller paint a visual canvas of a West that may never have existed, but SHOULD have, then this film should be a treasured part of your video collection!John Ford knew Wyatt Earp personally, and was familiar with the events surrounding the Tombstone shootout, but one of his greatest assets as a director was his ability to look beyond simple facts, and focus on what 'made' a legend.
It's a classic theme of most great westerns, particularly in Ford's work (he would return to it in 'The Searchers', and 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'), as well as other directors ('Shane', 'A Fistful of Dollars', 'Unforgiven', and 'Open Range' are a few examples).Wyatt Earp (wonderfully portrayed by Henry Fonda) and his brothers have an aloofness that makes their characters both deceptively simple, yet enigmatic at the same time.
The scene of the outdoor church dance, where the stiffly formal Earp dances against the vista of a West being 'boarded in' is symbolic of what his own life, and the West, itself, was becoming, and is classic Ford!The climactic shootout at the O.K. Corral is both powerful and raw, ultimately fulfilling the Earps' commitment to a world that needed their aid, and ending the downward spiral of Holliday's life, in a heroic and theatrical gesture.It's often asked why Wyatt leaves, afterward, when Clementine and Tombstone are so attractive...The answer is simple, really; his work is finished, and his participation was no longer necessary.
John Ford's exquisite film about marshall of Tombstone, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday and their incredible gunfight against the Clantons at the O.K.Corral.
This is not the first potential classic that Mature ruined with his performance (other one is "The Egyptian", though he got a lot of help there from Edmund Purdom in the main role).And also, how could a smart director like Ford include a scene where Fonda faces Mature in a gun duel and shoots "Doc's" gun right off his hand in the most pure "Lone Ranger" style?
Director John Ford, working without John Wayne this time, instead casts Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp who, in this version, arrives in Tombstone Arizona on a cattle drive with his brothers Morgan(Ward Bond),& Virgil(Tim Holt).
Along the way, he finds himself romancing the local schoolteacher Clementine...Strangely dull film has some good direction but moves like molasses and takes far too many liberties with history to even resemble the truth; they may as well have told a whole new(and entirely fictional) story for all the difference it makes.
The stories of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the town of Tombstone are always interesting and have always been told just a little differently through the years on film.I've read where this movie was supposed to be based more on fact than some of the other versions, but I've heard that before, so I have my doubts.
Henry Fonda and the usually underrated Victor Mature give memorable portrayals as Wyatt Earp and Doc. Exciting classy Western with plenty of tension , thrills , shoot'em up , high body-count and it has now become accepted as a classic of the genre .This is a vigorous recounting of a familiar tale , dealing with the legendary lawman from Dodge City who moves to Tombstone , Arizona , aiming to begin a new life along with his brothers , Virgil (Tim Holt) and Morgan (Ward Bond) .
The film focuses Tombstone , 1881 , with stimulating scenes about OK Corral gunfight between Morgan , Virgil , Wyatt Earp , Doc against the nefarious old Clanton , Ike , Billy Clanton ,and other brothers .
This main character is a historical figure , in this case the sheriff Wyatt Earp who participated the most famous duel occurred in the western town of Tombstone in 1881 that has been brought to the big screen many times as in this classic "My Darling Clementine" in 1946 directed by John Ford , in "Gunfight at O.K. Corral" (1957) with Burt Lancaster , Kirk Douglas directed by specialist John Sturges who would resume the same story in "The Hour of the Gun" (1967) ; the demystifying "Doc" (Frank Perry, 1971) with Harris Yulin and Stacy Keach or the more modern ¨Wyatt Earp¨ (Lawrence Kasdan, 1994) with Kevin Costner and Dennis Quaid and Tombstone: Wyatt Earp 's legend (1993) by George P.
Suspecting the Clantons of rustling his cattle and killing his younger brother he bides his time until he can bring the family to justice.In telling the story of Wyatt Earp's tenure at Tombstone the film takes many liberties.
My Darling Clementine (1946) is a western film, 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.
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.SUMMARY: In 1882 (the wrong year is marked on the tombstone of James, since Oct 26th, 1881 was the date of the Gunfight at the OK 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".
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 two months before the O.K. Corral confrontation), and personal details about Doc Holliday (who was a dentist, not a surgeon, and actually died years later of tuberculosis), are inaccurately portrayed.MY THOUGHTS: I didn't care for this movie because there wasn't any drama to it.
Just a couple of points in the interest of historical accuracy: first, the author of "Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal" ultimately confessed that he had fabricated the whole thing and had in fact never even met Wyatt Earp (who himself, it is said, made his own legend because he outlived his detractors): second (and this fits nicely with the earlier comment from Steven Mears on the physical realism of the gunfight), Ford is reported to have gone to Tombstone and interviewed a few old-timers who had been around back in Earp's day - he asked them how the fight played out and they supposedly told him (for example, the Earp group's sending a wagon across the area to raise dust for their cover).
But the approach of maverick filmmaker John Ford is unique: Doc Holliday is shown as a tormented man, both in mind and soul, and Earp is not a hero fighting the evil, but a honest man doing the job he is paid for- and Ford done the right thing calling not the movie-star-like John Wayne, but the more "fellow next door" Henry Fonda, which gives one of his best, if not the best, performances ever.
He takes his own past as a friend of Wyatt Earp himself (Earp used to hang around the sets of Ford silents such as The Iron Horse) and opens out the old story of that old gunfight at the OK Corral.Although the film is called 'My Darling Clementine', and Wyatt Earp is nominally the lead character, there are two others in the cast you will remember - beautiful, tragic Linda Darnell as Chihuahua; and (surprisingly) Victor Mature, not a great actor but here acquitting himself fairly well, as the consumptive cynic Doc Holliday.
As Earp, Henry Fonda is solidly reliable in the heroic tradition of the Old West, but Cathy Downs is forgettable as Clementine.I mustn't forget a quartet of scene-stealers further down the last - the wonderful Walter Brennan, that young cowboy Tim Holt, the ever watchable Ward Bond, and the reliable Jane Darwell.In look and feel this film is as sumptuous as any colour-flooded Ford drama, and it packs a mighty punch in many of its scenes whether action-based, or quiet talks between Earp and Holliday.
I never warmed up to this version of the Wyatt Earp legend for a number of reasons--mainly, because it's told in a style that is bleak and barren of any real emotional involvement and several of the cast members are severely underused--LINDA DARNELL and TIM HOLT are two examples.Furthermore, not being a staunch HENRY FONDA fan, I find his performance pales beside that of VICTOR MATURE as Doc Holliday.
Yes, John Ford is one of the great American directors; yes, Henry Fonda and Victor Mature were wonderful actors in their day...but this movie is simply awful.Where to begin?
I suppose she matches well with the cold, emotionless Fonda, but the point still remains that her character really serves no purpose to the movie as a whole...I could go on about other parts of the film that I found lacking, including the awful, cliched dialogue, the stereotyped personalities, unrealistic and highly inaccurate scenery (the surrounding areas of Tombstone are _not_ like the lush, mountainous scenes of the film), but instead I'll just focus on one more point:  Of all the "O.K. Corral" films I've seen (three of them) this is not only by far the worst of the bunch, but it is also the most historically inaccurate.I was shocked that someone above mentioned that Wyatt Earp was a friend of John Ford's, and even helped to consult with him in earlier projects, because this movie basically takes the facts of the historical event and lynches them.
But, despite the claims of such classics as "The Searchers", "Red River", "Shane", and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" it remains both my favourite western and the film which to me personifies the best features of the Western film.While it is a John Ford film, and peak period John Ford, it may seem to be at a disadvantage in that it doesn't feature John Wayne, nor indeed most of his key repertory players (Victor McLaglen, Ben Johnson).And its key players are actors more famous for either noir thrillers (Mature) or folksy Americana (Fonda).But these are only minor quibbles and its advantages far outweigh them.The story of the Gunfight at the OK Corral has been told many times although other films concentrate more on the killings leading up to and occurring at the legendary showdown.
Mature often derided his own ability as an actor and it certainly often seemed in other performances that his eyebrows were the only features that were overworked, but, in the tragic Doc Holliday role which has tended to be the most sought after in the telling of the tale, he gives the most moving and arguably the finest of all interpretations.Another eye-opener for me, although it may be because it seems so out of character, was Walter Brennan's dark and vengeful Ike Clanton.John Ford eventually had to spell it out for those revisionists who wanted to tell it as it really was.
In almost every way that matters, this movie is a masterpiece: photography, editing, script, direction, and casting, especially Walter Brennan, who is grim, gaunt, and sadistic as Old Man Clanton, and Henry Fonda, who brings a solemn deliberation, physical grace, and quiet dignity to Wyatt Earp.But the movie should—and easily could-- have been even more powerful if it had been more authentic.
However, the film was in general well done with outstanding acting of Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp, Victor Mature as John "Doc" Hollyday, beautiful Linda Darnell as Chihuahua and always-efficient Walter Brennan as Old Man Clanton.
A mostly entertaining take on the story of the Earps and the Clantons, that culminates of course in the famous gunfight at the OK Corral, the greatest strengths of "My Darling Clementine" are undoubtedly the direction of John Ford, who certainly knew how to put out a good western, and the performances of a strong cast, led by Henry Fonda, Victor Mature and Walter Brennan.
while this western was certainly inspired by the 1939 western Frontier Marshal,it does have some differences.for one,the the story is more fleshed out,and some of the particulars are different.The character of Wyatt Earp has more of a back story.Earp's reasoning for taking the Marshal's job in Tombstone is a much more personal one.Wyatt Earp is portrayed by Henry Fonda here,and Doc Holliday(in Frontier marshal,he was called Doc Halliday)is portrayed by Victor Mature.this movie seemed a bit darker in tone to me.it was a bit too drawn out for my tastes,although i can understand why.Ford wanted to expand the story.i still liked this movie.i just think Frontier Marshal,although over 30 minutes shorter,told the viewer all he or she needed to know.having said that,i think My darling Clementine is worth watching.by the way,after watching this movie,i think it's fairly obvious that Kevin Costner's 2003 epic,Open Range(which i loved)borrows some scenes,or parts of scenes from Clementine.
The great director John Ford out did himself with this film, the characters Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday were two of the most famous of shootouts in Western folk-lore.
We get Wyatt Earp, played in an often subtle and usually uncomplicated manner by Henry Fonda (occassionally he also smells flowery thanks to the barber), and we get Doc Holliday, played in maybe his second best performance by Victor Mature (you know, the Kiss of Death guy) as a hot-head drunk who somehow overcomes his own problems to confront the Clanton clan (led by a chilling Walter Brennan) along with Earp in the quintessential showdown at the OK corral.
The opening sets the standard as we are in the stunning Monument Valley, lush hills and sky that never ends, Ford using the vista as some sort of poetic force.Over the course of cinema history, the telling of the Wyatt Earp story would take on many forms, and although this one may not be quite accurate enough for the historians amongst us, it certainly makes a good case for one of the best tellings purely on character development alone.
Fonda is as good as always as Wyatt Earp, as is the usually avuncular Walter Brennen as the murderous "Old Man" Clanton, but I didn't find Victor Mature to make a particularly convincing 'Doc' Holiday.
And if you're a movie buff, the reputation of John Ford's classic Western certainly preceded your viewing like Wyatt Earp's own when he set his foot in Tombstone.And like Earp, the film deserves such reputation, seven years after "Stagecoach", it marks the director's return to the setting that overarched his body of work: Monument Valley.
Yes, Fonda as Wyatt Earp, Victor Mature as Doc Holliday, Linda Darnell as Clementine, and Walter Brennan as Old Man Clanton bring life to their characters.
Story leads to the famous battle at The O.K. Corral, with Victor Mature as Doc Holliday giving Henry Fonda's Earp a helping hand.
Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday are two of the biggest names from the old western days.Seems quite amazing to me that Henry Fonda had always been cast as the good guy and hero of the movie.
If you were to ask me who was my favorite pick out of all of the actors who have played Wyatt Earp over the past century (Burt Lancaster, Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, James Garner, etc) I would have to pick Henry Fonda and the favorite film about Earp and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral would probably be the one he's tied to: John Ford's poetic Western "My Darling Clementine." Now if one is looking for historical accuracy, one will be vastly disappointed.
But if one is looking for artistic, allegorical, and poetic film-making at its very best, from one of the greatest directors who ever lived, then, well you get the idea.Unlike a great many other films of the same tale, "My Darling Clementine" may be in plot about Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday and the plot may lead up to the inevitable gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
John Ford directed two great westerns - "The Searchers" and this film about the famous gunfight between the Earps and the Clantons.