My Darling Clementine

Released Dec 3, 1946

1h 37m

Western

List

100%

31 Reviews

Tomatometer

86%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

In the middle of a long cattle drive, Wyatt Earp (Henry Fonda) and his brothers stop off for a night in the town of Tombstone. The next morning they find their cattle stolen, and one of the brothers is dead. Earp suspects the Clanton family, owners of the O.K. Corral, but wants his revenge to be legal. He becomes sheriff of Tombstone and forges a rough peace with an alcoholic gambler, Doc Holiday (Victor Mature). Earp also takes a liking to Holiday's former girlfriend, Clementine (Cathy Downs).

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Critics Consensus

Canny and coolly confident, My Darling Clementine is a definitive dramatization of the Wyatt Earp legend that shoots from the hip and hits its target in breezy style.

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Alec B

The western as morality play. Typical to the best of Ford's work the movie has a quiet melancholy from start to finish even as the "good guys" win.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/24

Full Review

Steve D

I know the story too well to not be appalled by the liberties.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

06/02/23

Full Review

ed m

Another John Ford classic. Ward Bond! Walter Brennan! Tim Holt!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/10/23

Full Review

Mary V

An excellent western from 1946. Great cast great script and just all-around fun western to watch.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The charm of "My Darling Clementine" derives from its sweetness; its atmosphere bustles with the kind of archetypal Western activity that is never threatening, only exciting. When characters die, as they seldom do in this predominantly atmospheric film, a quiet, transient sadness sets in but is quickly followed by a stoic and accepting resilience. The troubles of Tombstone recede back into the buoyant milieu of the town just as readily as they emerge. The film is certainly a romanticized and highly fictional take on the Earp story and feels a little bit like a faerie tale version of the West. Victor Mature strikes a memorable portrait as an outwardly tough version of Doc Holliday whose strong exterior conceals a truly convincing core of self-loathing. It is perhaps unfortunate that the robust exterior which so befits the character fails to convey a believable impression of an individual dying from consumption, but no matter. "My Darling Clementine" will leave you humming its eponymous tune over many pleasant moments while contemplating Earp's scent of bon son tonsorial desert flowers.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The western as morality play. Typical to the best of Ford's work the movie has a quiet melancholy from start to finish even as the "good guys" win.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

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John Ford

Director

Henry Fonda

Wyatt Earp

Linda Darnell

Chihuahua

Victor Mature

Dr. John 'Doc' Holliday

Walter Brennan

Old Man Clanton

Cathy Downs

Clementine Carter

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Scott Tobias

The Dissolve

Ford the mythmaker was at the height of his powers in 1946's My Darling Clementine, but it's a remarkably relaxed and assured piece of work.

Rated: 4.5/5

Oct 13, 2014

Full Review

Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out

If ever there was a gateway drug to the happy addiction of Hollywood oaters, this is it.

Rated: 5/5

Jan 21, 2014

Full Review

Matthew Connolly

Slant Magazine

The film subtly complicates viewer expectations early on, eschewing clear-cut character rivalries in favor of more complex emotional and social configurations.

Rated: 4/4

Jan 21, 2014

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

My Darling Clementines beauty settles in the emotional profundity of the action, how every bullet has meaning, and violence is paltry next to the fates of our heroes.

Rated: 4/4

Mar 21, 2022

Full Review

Diego Galán

El Pais (Spain)

My Darling Clementine continues to be a solid movie where the Western acquires a curious perspective of the ordinary. [Full Review in Spanish]

Sep 4, 2019

Full Review

Barbara Shulgasser

Common Sense Media

Slow-paced tale of Old West shootout has violence.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 14, 2017

Full Review

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Synopsis

In the middle of a long cattle drive, Wyatt Earp (Henry Fonda) and his brothers stop off for a night in the town of Tombstone. The next morning they find their cattle stolen, and one of the brothers is dead. Earp suspects the Clanton family, owners of the O.K. Corral, but wants his revenge to be legal. He becomes sheriff of Tombstone and forges a rough peace with an alcoholic gambler, Doc Holiday (Victor Mature). Earp also takes a liking to Holiday's former girlfriend, Clementine (Cathy Downs).

Director: John Ford
Producer: Darryl F Zanuck
Screenwriter: Samuel G. Engel, Sam Hellman, Stuart N. Lake, Winston Miller
Distributor: Key Video, 20th Century Fox
Production Co: 20th Century Fox
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 3, 1946, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 8, 2015
Runtime: 1h 37m
Sound Mix: Mono

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