Review: My Darling Clementine
DVD: My Darling Clementine (1946)
Wyatt Earp (Henry Fonda) and his brothers are moving cattle across Country, after riding into Tombstone leaving their young brother James in charge of their cattle they return to find the cattle stolen and James dead. Wyatt takes on the job of town marshal and makes his brothers deputies. Wyatt vows to stay in Tombstone until James’ killers are found. He soon becomes friends with the consumptive, hard-drinking Doc Holliday (Victor Mature) as well as the murderous Clanton clan. Wyatt discovers the owner of a trinket stolen from James’ dead body and the stage is set for the Earps’ long-awaited revenge; The Gunfight at the OK Corral.
The problem is, with these ‘old, black and white’ films, is that a much younger (than me) modern audience, brought up on Mission Impossible and Avengers, think Predator is old, so wouldn’t dream in a million years of giving a John Ford western a chance. I could even suggest that the title alone ‘My Darling Clementine‘ would make the viewer think this would be some sort of B&W 1940’s romance. When this review disc plopped through the door, no one else offered to review it, but I… well I have this ‘thing’ for Cowboy films, and what’s more I know that nobody, except perhaps Leone, can make a cowboy film as great at John Ford. So trying to persuade anyone to buy Arrow’s amazing My Darling Clementine set is a hard job. It’s an old film (1946), and shot in black and white, but wow this 4K version positively ZINGS off the screen making Monument Valley look as epic as it really is. Also the tendency for the Ford-face-close-up just makes it a thing of beauty. These REAL old school film stars faces fill the screen.
The story is another take on the OK Corral shoot out, and although it has some romance in it in the shape of the lovely Linda Darnell as the poisonous Chihuahua, the acting here is fantastic. The much maligned Victor Mature is brooding and broken, a man dying, and trying to do right. He’s famous for always making light of his acting talents, but here he proves himself to be not just an incredibly handsome face. Fonda’s stoic Earp gives us more than a hint of the early menace we see 20 years later in Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West; all-American and hard as nails.
Then there are the comprehensive extras, from the restoration to the very interesting commentary by Wyatt Earp’s own grandson. This is a real gem of a film, now go out and buy it!
Review by Tina (co-host of 60 Minutes With) from a disc kindly supplied by Arrow Films.
