Review of My Darling Clementine (1946) by Robbie H — 21 Aug 2010

Certainly not John Ford's best Western; it lacks the colorful characterization of "Drums Along the Mohawk" (a Western in all but locale),it doesn't have the refined genre-picture feel of "Stagecoach," nor does it contain the self-critiquing sensibility of later pictures like "The Searchers" and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." "My Darling Clementine" feels like a lesser effort, trading in Ford's usual memorable characters and confident direction for something much more humdrum.

In an effort to dramatize the story of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the infamous Clanton clan in the days prior to the gunfight at the OK corral, Ford manages to miss what made the story so dramatic in the first place. Rather than focusing on the gathering storm bringing law and lawlessness into a perfect storm of conflict, Ford tacks on a hoaky romantic angle involving Earp (Fonda), Doc (Victor Mature, making for an exceptionally unremarkable facsimile of the intriguing, flamboyant gunfighter), a schoolmarm new to Tombstone (Cathy Downs), and a feisty Mexican barmaid (Linda Darnell). Thus, much of the dramatic tension between Earp and Holliday vs. the Clantons is lost in a lame subplot that goes nowhere.