Sunday, February 4, 2018

My Darling Clementine (1946)

Director: John Ford

Writers: Samuel G. Engel, Winston Miller, Sam Hellman, Stuart N. Lake

Composer: Cyril J. Mockridge

Starring: Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature, Cathy Downs, Walter Brennan, Tim Holt, Ward Bond, Alan Mowbray, John Ireland, Roy Roberts, Jane Darwell, Grant Withers

More info: IMDb

Tagline:  Into the West came Clementine...Out of the West it comes!

Plot:  The Earps battle the Clantons at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.



My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

Well that was a lifetime of buildup for not such a great film.  Geez.  All my life (nearly 50 years) I've heard nothing but amazing things about this picture and, even though I'm shocked that it took this long to see it, it doesn't live up to its reputation.  It's a good movie but not what I've heard since I was a kid that it was one of the greatest Westerns ever.  The scenery is magnificent (I've been to Tombstone a couple of times and it looks nothing like the movie).  It's drop dead gorgeous.  Fonda is great.  What I liked most about him is the little things he'd do when he was bored.  That stuff just tickled me to death and it made him more human.  The cast does a fine job but the problem I have is that this well-known and often told story is far from the truth which is more interesting than this fiction.  Aside from the names, there's not much resembling what happened.  Nevertheless, it's an enjoyable film and worth a look. That last kill minutes from the end is brutal.  Someday I'll revisit it and maybe I'll see then more than what I see now.  At that time I won't have a lifetime of buildup.  




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