My Darling Clementine

A pure Western depicting the gunfight at the O.K. corral. Directed By:  John Ford Starring:  Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature, Walter Brennan, and Ward Bond Length:  1 hour, 37 minutes Content Filters:  None

John Ford’s classic account of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral is a pure-west, real-west western. Joe MacDonald’s hard-edged cinematography, and the spare, folksy script by Samuel Engman and William Miller make their contributions, but it was the personal memories of the crew and technicians that make the film truly believable. After all, the showdown between the Earps and the Clantons occurred less than fifty years before Ford’s film was released--about the same as the time from WWII to the present. More than that, years earlier Ford had managed to locate Wyatt Earp in a Los Angeles rest home. His conversations with the septuagenarian ex-marshal helped Ford fix in his mind who stood where and who fell first in the 30-second shootout. Not that Ford was ever slavishly faithful to fact. In reality, the Earps shot first, Wyatt’s brother Morgan was only wounded, and Doc Holliday didn’t die until six years later, in a TB sanitarium in Colorado.

Still, Ford does present a real and credible, if fictional, picture of the historic event, and the reality is in the details. The cut of the cowboys’ clothes, the way they wear their chaps, and the pleasure they get from a barber’s shave after a month on the trail all say something true about life on the western frontier. They also lend credibility to the scenes of community pride as Tombstone builds its first church, and to the fierce loyalty of both the Earps and the Clantons in settling their bloody feud. Ultimately, it’s the accuracy of detail in costume, set, and manners that help us accept the values Ford portrays. Community pride, courage, loyalty, and the final victory of order over lawlessness are themes that run through the body of John Ford’s work. And it’s worthwhile to see the Western myth presented through Ford’s lens, because while My Darling Clementine may not be historically accurate, it rings true as a new church bell.

Screenplay Writer:  Samuel G. Engel, Sam Hellman, Winston Miller
Author of Book:  Stuart N. Lake
Production Studio:  20th Century Fox
Musical Score:  Cyril J. Mockridge, David Buttolph