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My Darling Clementine: John Ford's Greatest Film

© David Macdonald

I must be growing more accustomed to films like these. I never used to watch westerns of any kind, and when I finally rented one of the old "classics" (The Searchers, to be precise) I wasn't completely satisfied. The film's outlook of the world seemed so cornball, so old-fashioned. And John Wayne was an acquired taste for me at the time. But lately I've viewed a number of Western titles, and each one gets improves on the previous. And I'm certainly starting to believe the critics who say that John Ford was the best in his field. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance had the once-in-a-lifetime teaming of John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart, and, now, we have My Darling Clementine, with Henry Fonda, Victor Mature and Walter Brennan, and it is arguably Ford's best.

My Darling Clementine is one in a long line of films about the legendary showdown at the O.K. Corral, with Marshall Earp and Doc Holliday on one end, and the Claytons on the other. Knowing little about this actual story, I can't exactly verify the accuracy of this movie (although it's probably safe to say that the facts are played with rather loosely). Nor, not having seen other films like Tombstone (Val Kilmer) and Wyatt Earp (Kevin Costner), can I really compare this version to the others, although I can bet that those other film versions are nowhere nearly as rich in character, gentle humour and charm as Ford's.

As the film begins, the Earp brothers are on a cattle run across the county, and run into Old Man Clayton (Brennan), who, upon meeting Wyatt (Fonda), offers him a good price for the cattle. Refused, Clayton keeps up his friendly charade and tells Wyatt about a nearby town called Tombstone. Wyatt and the others go to town, while one brother stays behind to watch the cattle. The next morning, however, they return to find no cattle and a dead brother. And it is clear that the Clayton family committed this crime. Wyatt takes on the job of Marshall as a result, attempting to find legal means to mete out revenge.

It would not be cheating to say that there will be a shootout at film's end, and that tensions flare throughout, but what makes My Darling Clementine different from a standard genre piece is that this is closer to a human comedy than to an action film. As in most other Ford films, its real intent is to show us the life of the Old West as it might have been. One of the funniest things about the actual shootout is how people, untroubled, go about their business; one shot contains a moment where Brennan thinks he's got a chance against Fonda, until a chuckwagon leisurely passes between them, kicking up dust, allowing Fonda to move about while Brennan shoots blindly. The whole movie is like that, as many colourful characters and situations step up to the forefront. There are lots of cute scenes, goofy, cornball scenes, and gentle moments as well.

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