My Darling Clementine
Encyclopedia
My Darling Clementine is a 1946
western movie. 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
.
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...
, 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.
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".
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".
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
.
1946 in film
The year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
western movie. It was directed by John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
, and based on the story of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a roughly 30-second gunfight that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona Territory, of the United States. Outlaw Cowboys Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the fight, unharmed, but Ike's brother...
between the Earp brothers and the Clanton gang. It features an ensemble cast including Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
, Victor Mature
Victor Mature
Victor John Mature was an American stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Mature was born in Louisville, Kentucky to an Italian-speaking father from the town Pinzolo, in the Italian part of the former County of Tyrol , Marcello Gelindo Maturi, later Marcellus George Mature, a cutler,...
, Ward Bond
Ward Bond
Wardell Edwin "Ward" Bond was an American film actor whose rugged appearance and easygoing charm were featured in over 200 movies and the television series Wagon Train.-Early life:...
, Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
, and others.
The movie was adapted by Samuel G. Engel
Samuel G. Engel
Samuel G. Engel was a screenwriter and film producer from the 1930s through the 1960s. He wrote and produced such films as My Darling Clementine , Sitting Pretty , The Frogmen , Night and the City , and Daddy Long Legs .Born in Woodridge, New York , Engel earned a degree in...
, Sam Hellman, and Winston Miller from the book Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal
Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal
Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal is a book authored by Stuart N. Lake and published by Houghton Mifflin Company. The book was supposedly written with Wyatt Earp's collaboration and portrays Earp as a fearless lawman...
by Stuart N. Lake
Stuart N. Lake
Stuart N. Lake was a writer whose material dealt largely with the American Old West...
. The title derives from the folk song "Oh My Darling, Clementine
Oh My Darling, Clementine
Oh My Darling, Clementine is an American western folk ballad usually credited to Percy Montrose , although it is sometimes credited to Barker Bradford. The song is believed to have been based on another song called Down by the River Liv'd a Maiden by H. S...
", 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
Frontier Marshal (1939 film)
Frontier Marshal is a 1939 western film starring Randolph Scott as Wyatt Earp. It is the second film produced by Sol M. Wurtzel based on Stuart N. Lake's highly fictionalized account of Earp, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal. An earlier version was Wurtzel's Frontier Marshal, filmed in 1934...
, directed by Alan Dwan, produced by Sol M. Wurtzel
Sol M. Wurtzel
Sol M. Wurtzel was an American motion picture producer.Born in New York City, New York, Sol M. Wurtzel worked as an executive assistant to William Fox, founding owner of the Fox Film Corporation. In 1917, Fox sent him to California to oversee the studio's West Coast productions...
, were reshot by Ford for this remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
.
In 1991, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
.
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 CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
when they cross the Clanton
Old Man Clanton
Newman Haynes Clanton was a successful cattle rancher and the father of the four sons. "Old Man" Clanton was believed to be involved with stealing cattle from Mexican ranchers and re-selling them in the United States. He was reported to have participated in the Skeleton Canyon Massacre of Mexican...
family led by the "Old Man". Told of a nearby town, Tombstone
Tombstone, Arizona
Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...
, the older brothers ride in, leaving the youngest brother James
James Earp
James Cooksey Earp was the little known older brother to old west lawman Virgil Earp and lawman/gambler Wyatt Earp. Unlike his lawmen brothers, he was a saloon-keeper and was not present at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral....
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
Doc Holliday
John Henry "Doc" Holliday was an American gambler, gunfighter and dentist of the American Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral...
and the Clantons, again and again in order to find out who was responsible. In the meantime, a young woman from Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
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 ValleyMonument Valley
Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching above the valley floor. It is located on the northern border of Arizona with southern Utah , near the Four Corners area...
, a scenic desert region straddling the Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
-Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
border used in other John Ford movies. After holding a preview screening of the film, 20th Century Fox studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
felt Ford's original cut was too long and had some weak spots, so he had Lloyd Bacon
Lloyd Bacon
Lloyd Francis Bacon was a screen, stage, and vaudeville actor and film director.-Life:Bacon was born in San Jose California, the son of actor Frank Bacon, later the co-author and star of the long running Broadway show 'Lightnin' , and Jennie Bacon. He was not related to actor Irving Bacon whom he...
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 FondaHenry FondaHenry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
as Wyatt EarpWyatt EarpWyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known... - Victor MatureVictor MatureVictor John Mature was an American stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Mature was born in Louisville, Kentucky to an Italian-speaking father from the town Pinzolo, in the Italian part of the former County of Tyrol , Marcello Gelindo Maturi, later Marcellus George Mature, a cutler,...
as Dr. John Henry "Doc" Holliday - Cathy DownsCathy DownsCathy Downs was an American film actress.Born in Port Jefferson, New York, Downs began her film career with a small role in The Dolly Sisters and the following year played the title role in My Darling Clementine...
as Clementine Carter, Doc's ex-lover - Linda DarnellLinda DarnellLinda Darnell was an American film actress.Darnell was a model as a child, and progressed to theater and film acting as an adolescent. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in 1939, and appeared in supporting roles in big budget films for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s...
as Chihuahua - Walter BrennanWalter BrennanWalter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
as Newman Haynes Clanton, cattleman - Tim HoltTim HoltTim Holt was an American film actor perhaps best known for co-starring in the 1948 film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.-Early life:...
as Virgil EarpVirgil EarpVirgil Walter Earp fought in the Civil War. He was U.S. Deputy Marshal for south-eastern Arizona and Tombstone City Marshal at the time of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in the Arizona Territory. Two months after the shootout in Tombstone, outlaw Cowboys ambushed Virgil on the streets of... - Ward BondWard BondWardell Edwin "Ward" Bond was an American film actor whose rugged appearance and easygoing charm were featured in over 200 movies and the television series Wagon Train.-Early life:...
as Morgan EarpMorgan EarpMorgan Seth Earp was the younger brother of Deputy U.S. Marshals Virgil and Wyatt Earp. Morgan was a deputy of Virgil's and all three men were the target of repeated death threats made by outlaw Cowboys who were upset by the Earps' interference in their illegal activities. This conflict eventually... - Don Garner as James EarpJames EarpJames Cooksey Earp was the little known older brother to old west lawman Virgil Earp and lawman/gambler Wyatt Earp. Unlike his lawmen brothers, he was a saloon-keeper and was not present at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral....
- Grant WithersGrant WithersGrant Withers was an American film actor. With early beginnings in the silent era, Withers moved into talkies establishing himself with a list of headlined features as a young and handsome male lead...
as Ike ClantonIke ClantonJoseph Isaac Clanton was born in Callaway County, Missouri. He is best known for being a member of group of outlaw Cowboys that had ongoing conflicts with lawmen Wyatt, Virgil, Morgan Earp and Wyatt's friend Doc Holliday. The Clantons repeatedly threatened the Earps because they interfered with... - John IrelandJohn Ireland (actor)John Benjamin Ireland was an actor and film director.-Biography:Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he was raised in New York City from the age of 18. He started out in minor stage roles on Broadway...
as Billy Clanton - Alan MowbrayAlan MowbrayAlan Mowbray MM, , was an English stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood.Born Alfred Ernest Allen in London, England, he served with distinction the British Army in World War I, being awarded the Military Medal for bravery...
as Granville Thorndyke, stage actor - Roy RobertsRoy RobertsRoy Roberts was an American character actor. Over his more than 40-year career, he appeared in more than nine hundred productions on stage and screen.-Biography:...
as Mayor - Jane Darwell as Kate Nelson
- J. Farrell MacDonaldJ. Farrell MacDonaldJoseph Farrell MacDonald was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. MacDonald, who was sometimes billed as "John Farrell Macdonald", "J.F...
as Mac the barman
Critical reception
Film critic Bosley CrowtherBosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
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".
The staff at Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
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".
Director Sam Peckinpah
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
considered My Darling Clementine his favorite Western, and paid homage to it in several of his Westerns, including Major Dundee
Major Dundee
Major Dundee is a 1965 Western film written by Harry Julian Fink and directed by Sam Peckinpah. It starred Charlton Heston and Richard Harris as officers from opposing sides in the American Civil War who band together to hunt down a band of Apaches....
(1965) and The Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch is a 1969 American Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah about an aging outlaw gang on the Texas-Mexico border, trying to exist in the changing "modern" world of 1913...
(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
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
External links
- My Darling Clementine literature