My Darling Clementine (1946)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

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

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
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		(screenplay) and
Winston Miller		(screenplay)
Sam Hellman		(story)
Stuart N. Lake		(book "Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshal")

Produced by
Samuel G. Engel	....	producer

Original Music by
Cyril J. Mockridge		(as Cyril Mockridge)
David Buttolph		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Joseph MacDonald		(as Joe MacDonald)

Film Editing by
Dorothy Spencer

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

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little

Makeup Department
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist

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

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

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)

Music Department
Alfred Newman	....	musical director
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestrator (as Edward Powell)

Other crew
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	presenter
Barlow Simpson	....	double: Russell Simpson (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

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

Also Known As:

John Ford's My Darling Clementine (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete 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) | 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:

Director John Ford, who in his youth had known the real Wyatt Earp, claimed the way the OK Corral gunfight was staged in this film was the way it was explained to him by Earp himself, with a few exceptions.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The gunfight took place in the afternoon, not in the morning.

Quotes:

[as Wyatt is leaving the hotel after taking the marshall'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: Marshallin'.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults (1997) (TV)

John Ford's Most Poetic View of the West...

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. 'My Darling Clementine' is a story of icons, of Loners, accepting their own weaknesses and limitations, yet willing to risk their lives and abilities to aid others, then to walk away, allowing Civilization to grow. 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. At the film's start, Wyatt's a cowpuncher who had walked away from the responsibilities of being a lawman, finding satisfaction with his brothers in the hard work and solitary life of the range. When the Clantons (led by Walter Brennan, in one of his greatest, yet most vicious roles), first approach the brothers on the range, they accept the old man's invitation to get a taste of city life, but it's clear that it will only be a brief stay before they move on, and Wyatt brushes aside any overtures of friendship.

Wyatt's lack of desire to commit to a larger community is stressed when he subdues an armed, drunken Indian with his bare hands in a saloon (based on an actual event in Earp's life), then turns down the city council's plea to accept the Marshall's badge. Only after a brother is murdered do the Earp brothers decide to clean up the town, as it had become 'personal'.

In counterpoint to Earp is another 'loner', Doc Holliday (sensitively portrayed by Victor Mature), an intellectual who fled the South, and had found his solitude through his guns, his gambling, and his illness. While Wyatt is a true 'Man of the West', however, Holliday is simply a lonely man with no place to go, only comfortable at a poker table. He is doomed, more by his own shrinking world, than by the disease that forces him to cough into his handkerchief.

The scenes of Wyatt in Tombstone are wonderful, as Civilization grows up around the uncomfortable stranger. Yet he toys with the idea of settling into this world, through his polite yet obvious attraction to Doc's lost love, Clementine. 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. Civilization could now grow, unimpeded. The Loner would have no place there. Like Ethan, or Shane, or 'The Man With No Name', he must return to the solitary vistas that are his true home.

John Ford has truly created the 'Stuff of Legends' with this beloved classic!