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)
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

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:

Henry Fonda's first production after returning from U.S. Navy service in World War II.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Doc Holliday was supposed to be a surgeon in the movie. In fact, he was a dentist. On March 1, 1872, the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in Philadelphia, conferred the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery upon twenty-six men, one of whom was John Henry Holliday.

Quotes:

Wyatt Earp: I've heard a lot about you, too, Doc. You left your mark around in Deadwood, Denver and places. In fact, a man could almost follow your trail goin' from graveyard to graveyard.
Doc Holliday: There's one here, too... the biggest graveyard west of the Rockies. Marshals and I usually get along much better when we understand that right away.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Before Sunrise (1995)

Shakespeare In Tombstone

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. The visuals are striking. El Greco skies oppress a majestic and lonesome landscape of rock, dirt, dust, and cattle. Ghostly human figures confront death in heavy rain. Indoors, small, overhead lanterns emit soft light in tough barrooms. The B&W cinematography conveys a somber, moody, idealized vision of the nineteenth century American frontier.

But the film's romanticism is not just the product of adroit cinematography. The relaxed narrative weaves multiple, seemingly insignificant plot lines into a unified whole, and thus depicts the Old West as a place and time of humor, wit, religious faith, amiable conflict, even poetry and philosophy.

And so, in his heartfelt soliloquy of "the undiscovered country", Granville Thorndyke (Alan Mowbray), that congenial thespian rogue who quotes Shakespeare and who seems so out of place, adds texture and soul to the script, as a precursor to violence and death. This is after all ... Tombstone.

Inspired by the real life gunfight at the OK Corral, the story is less factual than suggestive. It's not just the film's fanciful portrayal of the shootout that abets credulity. It's the setting ... Tombstone is nowhere near Monument Valley.

But this is not a textbook. It is a romanticized cinematic interpretation of a long-ago culture, using a textbook incident as a premise. The film's theme centers on the nobility of outcasts and the basic goodness and humanism of frontier people. 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. Although one could argue that Fonda lacks the tough guy strength and roughness that we would expect for a frontier legend, the casting and the acting are overall quite good. Editing, costumes, and production design also enhance the film's credibility.

Understated and meditative in tone, "My Darling Clementine" is a different kind of Hollywood western, one that conveys a humanistic theme with emotional depth. Characters are multi-dimensional, unvarnished, and as striking and memorable as the stately buttes and spires of Monument Valley.