Rating: 
Summary: Simply outstanding
Review: Here is one of the great Westerns, certainly one to stand alongside such giants in the genre as "Shane" and "Once Upon a Time in the West.""My Darling Clementine" is a beautiful, concise, taut little gem that features one of Henry Fonda's best performances. As tough, taciturn Wyatt Earp, Fonda shines in the role. And he's more than matched by Victor Mature as Doc Holliday. Look at the first scene together, where Earp confronts Holliday over throwing out the tinhorn. It's a classic. And later, when Earp and Holliday save the Shakespearean actor from Clanton's men, and Holliday finishes Hamlet's "to be or not to be" soliloquy. This is great acting. John Ford photographs the landscape with his usual flair; many shots inspire nothing short of awe. Fortunately, the DVD features his "director's cut," which I prefer over the original release version prepared by the studio. Both versions of the film are available, pointing up another value of the DVD format. The gunfight at the O.K. Corral has been re-enacted several times in several films, recently in "Tombstone" (1993) and "Wyatt Earp" (1994). Ford builds "Clementine" to the confrontation, but the fight isn't as violent or operatic as one would expect. It's restrained, but gets the job done. In its own way, it's as taut and exciting as any of the louder, bloodier incarnations of late. But, for me, Henry Fonda makes this movie a keeper. His every movement is a study in control. He may not make Wyatt Earp seem like a compassionate individual, but this is a sturdy portrait of heroism that has lasted through the decades. Though I'm excited to see Kevin Costner's version of events again on a future DVD release, for now, "Clementine" does an excellent job of telling the Earp/Holliday story.
Rating:
Summary: Simply outstanding
Review: Here is one of the great Westerns, certainly one to stand alongside such giants in the genre as "Shane" and "Once Upon a Time in the West." "My Darling Clementine" is a beautiful, concise, taut little gem that features one of Henry Fonda's best performances. As tough, taciturn Wyatt Earp, Fonda shines in the role. And he's more than matched by Victor Mature as Doc Holliday. Look at the first scene together, where Earp confronts Holliday over throwing out the tinhorn. It's a classic. And later, when Earp and Holliday save the Shakespearean actor from Clanton's men, and Holliday finishes Hamlet's "to be or not to be" soliloquy. This is great acting. John Ford photographs the landscape with his usual flair; many shots inspire nothing short of awe. Fortunately, the DVD features his "director's cut," which I prefer over the original release version prepared by the studio. Both versions of the film are available, pointing up another value of the DVD format. The gunfight at the O.K. Corral has been re-enacted several times in several films, recently in "Tombstone" (1993) and "Wyatt Earp" (1994). Ford builds "Clementine" to the confrontation, but the fight isn't as violent or operatic as one would expect. It's restrained, but gets the job done. In its own way, it's as taut and exciting as any of the louder, bloodier incarnations of late. But, for me, Henry Fonda makes this movie a keeper. His every movement is a study in control. He may not make Wyatt Earp seem like a compassionate individual, but this is a sturdy portrait of heroism that has lasted through the decades. Though I'm excited to see Kevin Costner's version of events again on a future DVD release, for now, "Clementine" does an excellent job of telling the Earp/Holliday story.
Rating: 
Summary: A first rate movie!
Review: Historical only in that the Earps and Clantons indeed had a gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone. Everything else is pure fantasy... fantastic fantasy. Henry Fonda plays a laid-back Wyatt Earp who doesn't mind allowing others their space, but stands firm when they cross the line. Well scripted, well acted, a western that should appeal even to those who normally wouldn't watch a western. The good guys are well developed, multi-dimensional and likable.
The bad guys, especially usually lovable Walter Brennan, are obviously evil. Enough action, enough intrigue, enough romance.
Rating:
Summary: A dark but extraordinary John Ford Western
Review: I am a very big fan of John Ford, but of his many great films, MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, along with THE SEARCHERS, is my favorite. Many of the elements that help create the film's effect are common to other Ford films: the extraordinary photography (veteran Joseph MacDonald, though Ford's eye was so good that he functioned as a second cinematographer), the sparse, spartan sets, the rituals that individuals wittingly or unwittingly follow in the concourse with one another, the use of music to create especially powerful moments (in this case, the title of the film as well), the themes of individual responsibilty and compassion, and the stellar cast of Ford regulars. But in this film, many of the great moments derive from Ford irregulars, actors who do not feature in many of his other films. Although much maligned as an actor during the course of his career, Victor Mature in his greatest role is magnificent as Doc Holiday. He teams up with another For irregular, Alan Mowbray, in one of the finest moments in the film, when Mowbray, playing a drunken Shakespearean actor, is unable to complete Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy. Mature takes over and movingly completes it. The beauty of the black and white photography has to be seen to be appreciated. In addition to Mature and Mowbray, the cast is magnificently rounded out by Western veteran Walter Brennan, who despite having starred in a host of great Westerns, had not worked in any of Ford's great classics. He stands out as Old Man Clanton, the utterly vicious and crude but oddly principled nemesis of Wyatt Earp at the OK Corral. As fine as Mature, Mowbray, and Brennan are, what truly holds the film together is Ford semi-regular Henry Fonda, who undertakes one of the greatest performances of his career. It is a remarkable undertaking. Of all the actors of the 1930s and 1940s, Fonda was perhaps the actor most comfortable with silences, and Ford makes maximum use of this by filming scene after scene in which he surrounds Fonda with no dialog at all. The patient and deliberate manner in which Ford and Fonda allow scenes to unfold with a minimum of dialog gives this film a quality unique among films of the era, which tended to be filled with vastly more talking than today's films. Indeed, his attitude towards speech is what sets Ford apart from his only other serious rival for title of the Greatest American Born Director, Howard Hawks. Only Preston Sturges could rival Hawks for the sheer number of words he could pack into a film, while Ford was by contrast quite at ease with long stretches of near or complete silence. Indeed, some of the great scenes in this film are not truly dependent upon speech at all. Look at the long Sunday afternoon dance scene, in which Fonda awkwardly but charmingly courts Kathy Downs. Although there is music and some talk, the scene would have worked just as well in a silent film. A great movie, this not only one of the finest Westerns ever made, but one of the finest films ever made in America.
Rating:
Summary: "Fact" and "Truth" are Different Things
Review: I find it a little amusing that some reviews of "My Darling Clementine" here make a great fuss about how much Ford diverges from the facts about the Earps and the O.K. Corral gunfight. Who cares? I watch this film (and all of Ford's other films) time and again not to gather information for trivia contests, but instead to envelope myself in the feel and spirit, the "truth," of certain periods in American history. Ford captured the "truth" better than any director before or since.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully Paced Western
Review: I have always put"My Darling Clementine" in my top-ten westerns as do some critics,and after viewing it recently on the excellent DVD version I am considering it to be the best! The alternative version on the disc might not be to everyones taste but westerns should be slow paced(check out the excellent "Open Range")not just shoot-ups added for padding every 20 minutes or so. One of the best scenes in this movie or any other western is the excellent dance scene,especially the moment when Henry Fonda asks Kathy Downes to dance. Definetely Ford at his best and Victor Mature,s best hour as well. Kudos to all for a well produced DVD package
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully Paced Western
Review: I have always put"My Darling Clementine" in my top-ten westerns as do some critics,and after viewing it recently on the excellent DVD version I am considering it to be the best! The alternative version on the disc might not be to everyones taste but westerns should be slow paced(check out the excellent "Open Range")not just shoot-ups added for padding every 20 minutes or so. One of the best scenes in this movie or any other western is the excellent dance scene,especially the moment when Henry Fonda asks Kathy Downes to dance. Definetely Ford at his best and Victor Mature,s best hour as well. Kudos to all for a well produced DVD package
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully Paced Western
Review: I have always put"My Darling Clementine" in my top-ten westerns as do some critics,and after viewing it recently on the excellent DVD version I am considering it to be the best! The alternative version on the disc might not be to everyones taste but westerns should be slow paced(check out the excellent "Open Range")not just shoot-ups added for padding every 20 minutes or so. One of the best scenes in this movie or any other western is the excellent dance scene,especially the moment when Henry Fonda asks Kathy Downes to dance. Definetely Ford at his best and Victor Mature,s best hour as well. Kudos to all for a well produced DVD package
Rating: 
Summary: EXTREMELY Boring by modern standards
Review: I just cannot believe how many others have rated this DVD so highly. I don't like westerns; but I am a sucker for really good movies- and if they happen to be westerns I don't hold that against them. The Westerns I really like are: Unforgiven - Open Range - and the two Wyatt Earp films: Tombstone & "Wyatt Earp". {I sure hope Kevin Costner makes the DVD of Wyatt Earp as Good as the Open Range DVD.}
I got into this film because I'm a lazy history buff and wanted to see more treatments of the Wyatt Earp story - somewhere along the line somebody referenced this film. So I checked it out.
This movie is EXTREMELY BORING, by modern standards - but judged against the movies & entertainment of it's time I guess it was OK. ALSO- this film has almost nothing to do with the actual events at Tombstone and the OK Coral. The minor similarities are just 'props'. It is really curious why the title of the film doesn't attempt to capitalize on that weak association with a well-known and popular historical legend. FIRST THE GOOD STUFF- There are actually 2 different versions of the film on this DVD.
The version that was released and shown in public - and then another version that is kind of a "Director's Cut".
There is a wonderful little mini-documentary that explains exactly what the: "Pre-Release-Version" is, it's interesting history; and explains that it's not actually a "Director's Cut" The product details for this DVD say that it includes a commentary by Wyatt Earp III. That is very misleading - the commentary is given by 2 people. 95% of the commentary is from some film-school type; and you only hear from Wyatt Earp III on short, rare occasions. The primary commentator's remarks are very repetitious, and generally boring (although not always boring). The primary commentator's input is mostly a long, repetitive, string of compliments about the director and the star of the film. The one compliment that you hear about every 5 minutes is that: `John Ford was so good at camera placement - that he almost didn't need dialog`. My real problem here is that the commentary is seldom insightful, it's usually just a long string of compliments and assertions restated over-and-over.
However sprinkled into the commentary are some really great insights into this film, the director, and the real story of Wyatt Earp, and Tombstone(past & present). MY ONLY PROBLEM IS THAT THESE GEMs ARE FEW, AND FAR BETWEEN.
Dennis Quaid really set a high bar for the portrayal of Doc Holiday; but the Doc Holiday we see in this version is very wooden and unentertaining. The commentary at the end tells us that the studio-guy who made the final cut of the film insisted in putting a 'kiss' in at the end of the film, against the directory's wishes. I had to go back and re-watch the film because I didn't remember there being a kiss in there. There is indeed a kiss there, but modern audiences may not even notice it. When you look at the director's original version without the kiss, you see one of the most lifeless endings imaginable.
In actual fact, the primary commentator gives almost as much historical insight into Wyatt Earp/Tombstone as Wyatt Earp III. And these few, little tidbits are quite good, I just wish that they would have yanked them out of the commentary and put them into a mini-documnetary or something.
Rating:
Summary: Amazon does not say what mode was used to record this film.
Review: If this film is recorded in SP mode and letterbox format, it's great. If not, Amazon should say so. Providing less information than the customer needs to make an intelligent decision is shoddy business practice.
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