Search - My Darling Clementine on DVD

Content Advisory: Western Violence Movie Release: 1946 DVD Release: 01/06/2004 Format: DVD - Black and White Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 36 mins Studio: 20th Century Fox Members Wishing: 9 Genres: Western, Traditional Western See Also: My Darling Clementine

One of the greatest movie Westerns, John Ford's My Darling Clementine is hardly the most accurate film version of the Wyatt Earp legend, but it is still one of the most entertaining. Henry Fonda stars as former lawman Wyatt Earp, who, after cleaning up Dodge City, arrives in the outskirts of Tombstone with his brothers Morgan (Ward Bond), Virgil (Tim Holt), and James (Don Garner), planning to sell their cattle and settle down as gentlemen farmers. Yet Wyatt, disgusted by crime and cattle rustling, eventually agrees to take the marshalling job until he can gather enough evidence to bring to justice the scurrilous Clanton clan, headed by smooth-talking but shifty-eyed Old Man Clanton (Walter Brennan). Almost immediately, Wyatt runs afoul of consumptive, self-hating gambling boss Doc Holliday (Victor Mature, in perhaps his best performance). When Doc's erstwhile sweetheart, Clementine (Cathy Downs) comes to town, Earp is immediately smitten. However, Doc himself is now involved with saloon gal Chihauhua (Linda Darnell). The tensions among Wyatt, Doc, Clementine, and Chihauhua wax and wane throughout most of the film, leading to the legendary gunfight at the OK Corral, with Wyatt and Doc fighting side-by-side against the despicable Clantons. Its powerful storyline and full-blooded characterizations aside, My Darling Clementine is most entertaining during those little "humanizing" moments common to Ford's films, notably Wyatt's impromptu "balancing act" while seated on the porch of the Tombstone hotel, and Wyatt's and Clementine's dance on the occasion of the town's church-raising. Based on Stuart N. Lake's novel -Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshall (previously filmed twice by Fox), the screenplay is full of wonderful dialogue, the best of which is the brief, philosophical exchange about women between Earp and Mac the bartender (J. Farrell MacDonald). The movie also features crisp, evocative black-and-white photography by Joseph MacDonald. Producer (Daryl F. Zanuck) was displeased with Ford's original cut and the film went through several re-shoots and re-edits before its general release in November of 1946. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Henry Fonda - Wyatt Earp
Linda Darnell - Chihuahua
Victor Mature - Doc John Holliday
Jane Darwell - Kate Nelson
Walter Brennan - Old Man Clanton
Cathy Downs - Clementine Carter
Ward Bond - Morgan Earp

John Ford's 1946 Western My Darling Clementine, starring Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp, comes to DVD from 20th Century Fox as part of the Studio Classics series. Presented with a standard full-frame transfer in the original black-and-white. The English-language soundtrack is offered in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. A mono soundtrack is available in English, Spanish, and French. Optional subtitles are accessible in English and Spanish. Wyatt Earp III contributes a feature-length audio commentary track. Other special features include an alternate pre-release version of the movie and a behind-the-scenes featurette about the alternate version. This is a fine DVD release of a historically recognized film. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide