My Darling Clementine (1946)

Dir: JOHN FORD
Country: USA

The gunfight at the OK Corral and the events surrounding it have become one of the most enduring of Hollywood myths. The traditional Hollywood western is particularly suited to the propagation of myths and legends, the efficiency of the genre lies in its attitude too its own mythology and symbolism, so recognisably iconographic, it is no surprise that film theorists most often turn to the western when discussing genre. It now seems an entirely logical step for the filmmaker most associated with the western to tackle the story of Wyatt Earp. Although John Ford went on to make a number of revisionist westerns in his later career - most notably Sergeant Rutledge (1960) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964), his treatment of the Earp legend is very different to what we might expect. The screenplay by Samuel G. Engel, Winston Miller and Sam Hellman was based on the book Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal by Stuart N. Lake. A book which was allegedly written with the collaboration of Earp himself. So we might expect some historical verisimilitude, but the screenplay takes a number of liberties with the real events as Ford indulges in the themes for which he has become well known. In dramatic terms this is a peculiar film. The film does not build to the predictable showdown. It meanders along and concerns itself with very small and intimate details. The gunfight itself is farcically downplayed, and totally lacks any sense of tension or catharsis.



In addition to indulging his love of character, Ford also indulges in his favourite filming location of Monument Valley. But seeing it shot in black and white somehow divests the image of its symbolic magnitude. However the salient point of the location which is to show man dwarfed by the awesome and sublime spectacle of the natural landscape remains undiminished. Ford uses this landscape sparingly on this occasion, the majority of the action taking place in the frontier town of Tombstone. The Earp’s initially at least are peaceable cattle owners, but the death of their youngest sibling at the hand of cattle rustlers (the discovery of the body comes with a torrential downpour of rain) leads Wyatt to take on the role of Sheriff in a town which is ruled not by law, but by anarchy. The motivation of Earp is entirely vengeful, but we see him softening to the forces of civilisation that come his way. In the films early moments we are struck by the Earp’s wildness, unkempt and unshaved, they care not for their appearance. But throughout their stay in Tombstone Wyatt dresses immaculately, and even accepts the barbers perfume. This becomes an amusing running joke, but one which illustrates efficiently the extent to which Wyatt has become civilised. Of course this is partly in order to attract Doc Holliday’s ex Clementine, who brings her own brand of civility to the wild town by virtue of being a school teacher.



The casting of Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp might well have raised eyebrows at the time. The role seems custom made for Ford's other on screen muse John Wayne. But as Fonda illustrated in Young Mr Lincoln (1939) he brings a casual laconic brand of heroism, one which in this case works excellently as a counterpoint to the lawlessness and chaos of Tombstone. Perhaps more controversial is the depiction of Doc Holliday as interpreted by Victor Mature. Mature effectively conveys the tortured nature of Holliday, but the macho sparring between he and Earp seems ill at ease with the rest of the film. Mature should be the charismatic centre of the movie, and although the film lavishes a great deal of attention on Doc’s story and his interaction with Clementine (Cathy Downs) and Chihuahua (Linda Darnell) it remains rather uninteresting. All the while tensions between the Earp’s (Wyatt’s brothers are not seen nearly enough) and The Clanton’s (who are also not visible enough) takes place largely off screen. It simmers, but the predictable encounters leading to the fateful gunfight do not occur. A long episode involving a Shakespearean theatrical type adds another layer of civilisation to Tombstone, and almost as an afterthought brings about a brief encounter between Wyatt and the Clanton’s.



This sense of the Earp/Clanton feud being an afterthought to Ford’s principal themes continues throughout the movie. In many ways the narrative of Doc Holliday is also used as a distraction from what the audience might expect. In places My Darling Clementine has the feel of a soap opera, but one which is more interested in anti-climaxes. The death of Chihuahua for example occurs off screen and the fabled gunfight is over before we know it. This final sequence is especially problematic, but at least the film doesn’t build to it and then disappoint. It just doesn’t built toward anything at all. In essence this is a remarkably good natured, quiet and unobtrusive film. It is a romanticised and elegiac interpretation of the Earp narrative more concerned with the ever closing relationship between wilderness and civilisation.

Other films dealing with the narrative of Wyatt Earp include;
Law and Order (1932), Frontier Marshal (1934), Frontier Marshal (1939), Tombstone: The Town too Tough to Die (1942), Wichita (1955), Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957), Hour of the Gun (1967), Doc (1971), Tombstone (1993), Wyatt Earp (1994).

© Shaun Anderson 2011