Just perfect...

From my favorite movies..

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Much has been written about the significance of the near total disregard for historical facts in this John Ford movie about the stay of the Earps and Doc Holiday in Tombstone, AZ. Some think it a very significant negative in the overall judgement of the film, while others think historical accuracy is a minor consideration in the making of an entertaining film. I say, if you're going to falsify many historical facts, you should also falsify the names and locations of the historical personages and location. "Powder River" and "Dawn at Socorro" are good examples(see my reviews). An alternative would be to title the film as "The legend of ........", as I did in my review title, to indicate that the screenplay may sometimes deviate strongly from history. In this case, I believe this would have been the best choice. I had previously reviewed the semi-western "Rage at Dawn". In the beginning, we see the message that "This is the true story of the Reno Brothers". Well, checking out the facts, I learned that they got most major details wrong! So, I downgraded the film for that reason. In the present film, there is no such claim of authenticity. Nonetheless, the audience should demand a reasonable degree of authenticity be presented, unless the title or a written message at the beginning indicates that this is not true by saying "The legend of ........" .......This film, as are most westerns, is about the conflict of good and evil, both for men and women. The Earps represent the coming of law and order to a Wild West town. Clementine Carter is the formulistic 'good' girl, while Linda, Darnell, as Chihuahua, is the 'bad' girl. In her ambition to become a schoolteacher, Clementine represents a potential civilizing force. Chihuahua, as the epitome of the saloon girl, represents the corrupting female version of the Wild West. Yet another indication of the creep of civilization into this town is the building of a church. Of course, the Clayton family represents the lawlessness of the Wild West. So, where does Doc Holiday fit into this scheme of things. He's an educated Easterner: a doctor. He can sometimes quote Shakespeare. He fought with the Earps against the Claytons. But he is also part of the wildness of this town: a gambler, a bully, a gunslinger, a sometimes enemy of the Earps' law and order philosophy. He probably fought the Claytons only because one had killed his current girl friend : Chihuahua. He demanded that Clementine leave town, because she represented his civilized past. The main characters who represent the Wild West all die by the last scene. This includes Doc and Chihuahua, and symbolizes the gradual dying of the Wild West. Most of the civilizing characters survive, with the exception of 2 of the Earp brothers, who remind us that stamping out evil often requires the sacrifice of some good people.......Most of the actors were well chosen for their role. This includes Henry Fonda as laconic Wyatt, Victor Mature as ailing Doc, Walter Brennan, as crusty Old Man Clayton, Linda Darnell, as a fetching saloon girl, and Cathy Downs as the appropriately bland, prim, Clementine. Clementine and Wyatt had developed somewhat of a romantic attachment by film's end, but he clearly wasn't ready to settle down to family life, just yet, and perhaps felt intimidated by her Eastern pedigree. See it at YouTube.

We live in a time where the artistic, marketing, and financial forces behind Hollywood are all dominated by children of the suburbs. These products of safe and homogenized communities have all the angst of a chick-let.Nothing in this movie is redundant...clichéd...or driven by on screen or directorial ego. It took Me many many years to finally appreciate the genius of sparsity conveyed by Ford and Fonda. Less is truly more.Today, Michael Bay would turn it into a special effects epic where the best line would be "Never mess with an Earp"....likely uttered by Marky Mark.It took Me many years to appreciate this film. I am thankful that I lived long enough to do so.

. . . almost manages to bamboozle movie-goers that Evil is Good in MY DARLING CLEMENTINE. And this is without so much as a cameo appearance by Ford's personal Frankenstein Monster, John Wayne. Unlike Wayne's nemesis director, Frank Capra of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, Ford's vision of the America he's promoting is more aptly titled IT'S A FASCIST'S PARADISE. Therefore, MY DARLING CLEMENTINE predicates ALL of its events upon the opening 1882 murder of poor Jimmy Earp, at the tender age of 18, by Evil Pops Clanton (Walter Brennan). Trouble is, as Western historian Andrew C. Isenberg documents in the definitive Criterion CLEMENTINE, James Earp was Wyatt's OLDER brother, and this Jimmy expired superannuated in 1926! The Earps were NOT cattlemen, either, as Ford would have it, and only dabbled occasionally in "law enforcement" TO PROTECT THE E^RP FAMILY PROSTITUTION AND CARD-CHEATING BUSINESSES. Like one of today's Chicago cops, it was Wyatt Earp himself who EXECUTED unarmed business rivals as a crooked "lawman." Anyone acquainted with the rest of John Ford's films (or even the Wayne flicks directed by someone else) is familiar with the pattern this mendacious pair of so-called "Hollywood Icons" used in doing their Devil's Work to tear down American Core Values and our Constitution. They were the Fox "News" of the 1900s: Unfair and Unbalanced. Though Wayne somehow missed 20th Century Fox's CLEMENTINE, one of Ford and Wayne's main henchmen--Ward Bond--plays a key Earp role here. Naturally.

OUR FIRST CONTACT with the name of Wyatt Earp was with "THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF Wyatt Earp" TV Series, with Mr. Hugh Obrian. Like most first impressions, it was strong, persistent and seemingly everlasting. We found several other versions of this Wyatt Earp tale in the ensuing years and gradually our perception and interpretation of the story was superseded.FIRST OF ALL came GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORAL, with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. This we saw at our neighborhood theatre. It was very impressive, indeed; featuring a supporting cast that included John Ireland. Full Color, big screen and that great theme song! Being on a double bill, it nearly made us forget the other movie, a FRANCIS THE TALKING MULE movie, no small feat to a 10 year old! SOME YEARS LATER, it was on one of our regular channels that we first saw MY DARLING CLEMENTINE. This was not the last time; nor do we think it will be our last.IN ITS GLORIOUS black & white, narrow screen process, it drew us into the story in a most memorable manner. Its fine cast, headed up by Henry Fonda and Walter Brennan deliver a most satisfactory ensemble performance; all in the usual manner of its Director, John Ford.WHEREAS GUNPLAY, KILLINGS and other violent acts are, by the very nature of the Western, present and numerous; the storyline and characterization are the all important. Relkationships of the characteristics, be they that of the Earps, with Clementine or with the hostile Clantons, make up the bulk of the scenario.AND, BECAUSE THERE is no real surprise concerning the ultimate shoot out, Director Ford shifts the suspense on what happens post hostilities. UIsing a great dramatic tool, there is an uncertainty at the conclusion. Seemingly, this is one 'Horse Opera' where the hero doesn't get the girl!WE DELIGHTED IN the fine performances turned in by Walter Brennan, Linda Darnell and (especially) Victor Mature; once again showing his worth and proving himself to be a most overlooked dramatic player.