Rating: 
Summary: Shakespeare in Tombstone
Review: Of the many movies that I love and own, this is one of the DVDs I would grab if the house was on fire. My Darling Clementine is fundamentally about the shootout at the OK Corral, arguably the most famous 30 seconds in American history. But in John Ford's loving hands, the story takes its time getting there and, in the process, becomes as graceful and easily beautiful a piece of film-making as you will ever see. In this age when movie goers prize realism, sheer violence, and de-mythology, Ford has become something of a whipping boy for those who point out the glaring historical inaccuracies present in Hollywood's traditional portrayal of the American West. These folks miss the larger picture and are the poorer for their narrow, fashionable view. In this archetypal story of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, and the Clanton family, Ford was not interested in historical detail. He was creating legends, not historical accounts for the archives. Ford was a film maker. When a movie lover approaches a Ford film, it becomes necessary to give oneself over to the power of film. Once one does that, tremendous pleasures await. Such as: the townspeople of Tombstone having a dance around the skeletal frame of a half-built church while the huge, flat buttes of Monument Valley tower in the background; or Henry Fonda as Earp watching with great sympathy as Victor Mature (Doc Holiday) recites Hamlet's suicide soliloquy in a barroom (as hokey as this sounds, it is Fonda's expression that will move you, I guarantee).
Other images worth mentioning: Fonda/Earp walking alone through the rain of Tombstone at night; or the final shot of Clementine (meaningless in the film other than as a perfect symbol of all the things men love but can never have) standing framed against the Arizona sky and a picket fence - or the way Walter Brennan as Old Man Clanton, flashes through his scenes like a rattler's hiss.
Loving a John Ford Western is a bit like believing in a religion: it requires a leap of faith - a belief in something that might not be tangible reality, but is instead an ideal no less worthy of love.
This DVD is an absolute must for Ford fans, Western fans, or movie lovers. As an extra bonus, the special feature commentary by Ford biographer, Scott Eyman, is absolutely superb. Mr. Eyman's concise and rich commentary is nearly as enjoyable as the film itself. All in all, a real treasure for John Ford fans. -Mykal Banta
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best American Westerns of All Time!
Review: One of John Ford's greatest films. It is exquisitely shot and has just the right atmosphere for the impact of the film. Ford wasn't up for historical accuracy, he changed lots of the facts to lift the emotional impact, besides, who wants to watch a documentary?, this is one of the best westerns of all time, enjoy it like it is. Henry Fonda is in top form, his Wyatt Earp is a quieter and wiser. Victor Mature gives probably his best performance as the sickly Doc Hollyday. The film takes place right in the middle of a transition between the Old Wild West and civilization, we get the feeling of a new era at the end as Wyatt says goodbye to Clementine, and somehow the west will never seem the same. It also has a gentle approach to its characters, as we see the relationship of Wyatt and Clementine, Fonda plays it beautifully bashful. Also great commanding direction by ford brings the legend to life, he was arguably the greatest American director. A truly great western that has everything, but also has everlasting appeal that will certainly thrill generations to come. Extras: John Ford actually met the real Wyatt Earp in the early 1900's. From a scale of 1-10 I give this film a 10!
Rating:
Summary: A classic and romantic western
Review: One particular scene sums up all that is powerful and great about MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, now finally released on DVD in a crystal sharp print that makes silvery black and white breathe with vivid color. John Ford's fictious film about the epic battle between evil (the savagery of the brutal Clanton clan)and good (the polite and civil Wyatt boys)portrays an America that never was but, in the hearts of romantics everywhere, should have been and-with a great dose of hope and work-could be and should be. In the middle of the film, the desperate-to-become-civilized citizens of Tombstone gleefully celebrate their blossoming civility by holding a square dance in a just-barely built church. The gallant Wyatt Earp (brilliantly underplayed by Henry Fonda)dances with soon-to-become school marm Clementine underneath both a cloudless sky and the flying colors of "old glory". Watching Fonda and Cathy Downs (Clementine)high step across the rough-hewn church floor to the tune of "Shoo-Fly"-played by a rag-tag bunch of musicians (the saloon plunker amoung them)- fills the viewer with a rush of hope and grace. Perhaps America is big enough for all of our possibilities. We are all works in progress- as is our very nation. At least that is what Ford wants us to think. MY DARLING CLEMENTINE is a jewel filled with many such scenes of folksy poetry. The performances are all solid- even "beefcake" Victor Mature delivers a passable portayal. Special mention must be made of Walter Brennan- one of America's finest actors ever- delivering a terrifying against type performance as the villianous "Old Man Clanton". It is as if Grendel's mother is re-incarnated as a renigade cattle baron. He literally drips with deceitful malice. The fact that he is so likable as an actor makes his performance all the more creepy. Now that this, one of America's finest films, is released on DVD-and at a most affordable price- it is time MY DARLING CLEMENTINE resides in your classic film library.
Rating:
Summary: Additional Info About Edition Needed
Review: The film is indeed in SP mode (it is a major studio releaseafterall), however, the film was not made in wide-screen format, soletterboxing is not required. The film made it's theatrical run in the 1940's and was shown on television in a version that the studio cut down from John Ford's original cut of the film. They also substituted some music in their cut. A few years ago, Ford's original version was found and restored by UCLA and makes the classic even better -- some great scenes are included in his version and other scenes run longer to more fully develop the story and characters. This restored version has been shown on cable television. So, which version is it?
Rating:
Summary: Great story, great direction, great movie!
Review: This classic movie tells the tale of the Gunfight at the OK Corral. Director John Ford, who knew Wyatt Earp, paints the classic stuggle of good vs. evil in a way that contrasts the land-grabbing Clantons against the none-too-pure-but-still-good Wyatt Earp and his brothers, united with a Shakespeare-quoting Doc Holladay. This movie is *not* to be viewed as historical fact. It *must* be viewed as the great classic that it is. Ford highlights the landscape in Monument Valley, Utah/Arizona in a way that is unsurpassed in his other films. Henry Fonda, Ward Bond, Victor Mature, Walter Brennan, and Linda Darnell, all turn in impressive performances, making "My Darling Clementine" a film that every movie-lover should have. In my opinion, no other retelling of the OK Corral showdown has ever come close to this amazing piece of cinematic beauty. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: I liked this even though I don't like Westerns
Review: This is a great classic for its own sake, regardless of the genre. I'm not really a Western fan, but I wanted to watch this because it is the movie that the M*A*S*H folks are watching (or trying to watch -- their film keeps breaking) in the fifth-season episode, "Movie Tonight." It's use in the M*A*S*H series, plus the rather soppy lovebird title, had led me to believe this was some awful B movie dredged up for the comedy effect. NOT SO! This is a well-acted, well directed film. Others have fone into detail here, so I'll just say this: Try it, you'll like it!
Rating:
Summary: Ford Prints the Legend - Sublimely
Review: This is arguably the best Western by the best director of Westerns in the history of the genre. Ostensibly the story of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, the legendary John Ford gives us a vision of the Old West that is violent yet idealized, frightening yet warm, grim yet majestic. Ford has often been called a visual poet, and the sublime "My Darling Clementine" is perhaps the best example of visual poetry that anyone has ever put to celluloid. Forget about comparing this film to actual historical events. While Ford knew Wyatt Earp from his early Hollywood days when Ford was a prop boy, and he claimed that Earp told him how the gunfight really happened, he also said he wasn't trying to make a documentary when he directed "Clementine". The "facts", whatever they may be, don't matter here. As the newspaperman tells Senator Ransom Stoddard in Ford's "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Henry Fonda's Earp is the classic Ford hero, somewhat distant and removed from society, quietly confident and basically nonviolent, but nevertheless commanding the utter respect of others (partly because of his reputation which has preceded him, and its inherent threat of violence). And, most importantly, he is ultimately unable to share in the peace and security that he makes possible for others. Next to his portrayal of Tom Joad in Ford's "The Grapes Of Wrath", this is perhaps Fonda's finest performance. He has never appeared more cool and comfortable in a role, as he laconically and assuredly inhabits the lawless frontier town of Tombstone. Contrasting Wyatt's sanguine pragmatism, Doc Holliday (Victor Mature) is a haunted, tragic outcast who has uprooted himself from civilization and drifted West. We learn that Doc was once a surgeon (the real Doc Holliday was a dentist, another negligible historical discrepancy), a valuable, functioning member of society, his career presumably cut short by alcoholism, consumption and undisclosed ghosts, which apparently still haunt him. The Clanton family provides the reason for Wyatt's accepting the job as marshal of Tombstone, by murdering his youngest brother, James, and making off with the Earp brothers' cattle. The miscreant Clantons, like the Cleggs family in Ford's "Wagonmaster", are the personification of evil, demented and motherless. The leader of their clan, known only as "Pa" (ominously played by Walter Brennan), would like nothing better than for Tombstone to remain open and lawless and free for the taking. Clementine Carter (Cathy Downs) appears as a civilizing angel from the East, who has come to rescue Doc from himself and bring him back to Boston (Ford's eternal bastion of Civilization in the worst sense, invariably inhabited by bigoted grotesques - though Miss Carter seems to have been spared this characterization). The tempestuous Chihuahua (Linda Darnell), who wants to run away with Doc to Mexico, embodies the wild, open frontier. While the climax naturally takes place at the O.K. Corral, the centerpiece of the film, as in many Ford films, is a dance. Its prelude unfolds majestically as Wyatt and Clementine meet in the lobby of the hotel and begin a stately walk toward the framework of the unfinished "first church of Tombstone", the sound of a tolling church bell and the strains of one of Ford's old favorite hymns, "Shall We Gather at the River" growing louder as the couple approaches the assembled congregation. Like many great moments in great films, the beauty of several elements melding flawlessly to create this sequence defies verbal description. The church, to Ford, helps legitimize the existence of a community, not only for religious reasons, but as a place where people can come together in fellowship, providing a foundation for that community's future existence. The dance, which takes place on the physical foundation of the unfinished church, is the turning point of the film, and provides possibly the most transcendent moment in all of Ford's work. It is the embodiment of the spiritual establishment of a real and lasting community, which, until the arrival of Wyatt and Clementine, and all that they stand for, had no solid foundation. Ford's use of comedy, often criticized for its broadness (but of which he was nevertheless proud), is sparing and deft in "Clementine". It is gentler and more restrained than his usual comedic fare, as in the humorous references to the aroma of the eau de toilette which the enthusiastic proprietor of the Bon Ton Tonsorial Parlor has applied to Wyatt's freshly shaven and coiffed person: "I love your town in the morning, Marshal", says Clementine, as she and Wyatt step out onto the front porch of the hotel; "the scent of the desert flower . . ." "That's me," corrects Wyatt, adding, explanatorily, "Barber." There is also the justly praised bit of business of Wyatt doing his seated "dance" on the front porch of the hotel, as he, somewhat passive aggressively, ignores the shrewish admonishments of Chihuahua. This casual, reportedly spontaneous creation of Fonda's (or Ford's, depending on the source) succinctly captures the essence of the relationship between the two characters. Ford's innately masterful sense of composition and lighting, which he displayed throughout his career, is magnificently displayed in "Clementine". The sweeping diagonal of the bar in the saloon as Wyatt walks to the door after Chihuahua's operation; the expressionistic shadows which constantly envelop the doomed Holliday's face; the somber, monumental tableau of Wyatt and Morgan, bending over the dead body of their brother Virgil in the street at night; all of these images resonate indefinitely in the viewer's memory, and all reveal a visual master in his prime. Many of the reassuringly familiar faces of Ford's legendary "stock company" are faithfully present, as was nearly always the case - with slight variations - over the years. Ward Bond, Jane Darwell, Russell Simpson, Mae Marsh, J. Farrell MacDonald and the ever-present, ever-endearing Francis Ford, John's older brother and former mentor (and a veteran of Hollywood from its infancy), all add their warm, familial qualities, counterbalancing the darker aspects of the film. Of all the Westerns I've seen, "My Darling Clementine" is the most eloquent, the most understatedly awe-inspiring - the most poetic. John Ford printed the legend. Sublimely.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: This is definitely a classic and what really makes it great for me is that John Ford interviewed Wyatt Earp before making this film so it is the closest version to the real thing we are going to get. The one downer is that it is black and white.
Rating:
Summary: One of the 3 best westerns
Review: This is Ford and Fonda at their best. No, it's not history - it's not supposed to be. Your 1st clue is Monument Valley is 450 miles from Tombstone! As Scott Eyman says in Print the Legend, if you want a P.C. history lesson rent Little Big Man. Everything falls in place. Every location shot looks like Ansel Adams set it up. So much gets said in so few words - about family honor, missed dreams and soul-deep conflict. Mature isn't miscast, he's cast against his usual type and it works. Everything works here.
Rating: 
Summary: A great western, among John Ford's finest films
Review: This is not the first film to tell of the fight at the OK Corral but it is probably the most poetic. Superb photography and a master director at his peak, fine performances and a deep feeling for a segment of time now vanished distinguish this superb western. In fact I wish it had made the AFI list of 100 best films rather than The Searchers but this is a personal choice. Recommended: Law and Order (1932) (Walter Huston) which is starkly realistic and darker in mood than Ford's film but very compelling. Unfortunately it is not on home video.
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