Westerns were a stable of film studios during the golden age of Hollywood and while most of them are viewed as nothing more than Saturday matinee fun some of them, such as My Darling Clementine, still resonate deeply with audiences in these modern times.Wyatt Earp and his brothers are driving cattle to California. They stop at the town of Tombstone for a bit of relaxation but find it to be awash in lawlessness. Wyatt, a former sheriff, is offered the position by the town but does not want it. However after his youngest brother is murdered and their cattle rustled, he and the rest of his brothers become the law in Tombstone. With the help of Doc Holliday, Wyatt hopes to not only solve his brother’s murder, but clean up the town as well.
Directed by the master of the American western, John Ford, the film featured a seamless balance of action, humor, intelligence, romance, good and bad guys, and magnificent scenery. The performances in the film were exceptional as well, specifically those of Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp and Victor Mature as Doc Holliday. Fonda portrayed Earp as a man’s man, unable to forget about his brother’s murder or watch as Tombstone turned into a sinful city. Dignified, thoughtful, yet able to take action, Earp was the archetypal western hero. Mature’s Holliday, on the other hand, was a classic anti-hero. Haunted by his troubled past, he gave up on practicing medicine and fell into a bottle and the call of the West. Aside from the gun-slinging and fisticuffs, there were also lighter moments such as the romance between Earp and Doc’s former love Clementine (the scene of Earp and Clementine dancing made the movie). Those moments helped to humanize Earp and make his quest to clean up the town easier to swallow. My Darling Clementine was a quintessential western that everyone could enjoy.
Grade: A
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