|
Hot Picks
| |
|
|
My Darling Clementine
Faustrecht der Prärie
USA 1946
produced by
Samuel G. Engel for 20th Century Fox
directed by John Ford
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, J. Farrell MacDonald, Russell Simpson, Don Garner, Fred Libby, Don Barclay, Jack Curtis, William B. Davidson, Jimmy Dime, Ben Hall, Mickey Simpson, Charles Stevens, Harry Woods
story by Sam Hellman, screenplay by Samuel G. Engel, Winston Miller, based on a book by Stuart N. Lake, music by Cyril J. Mockridge
Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday
review by
Mike Haberfelner
|
 |
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
|
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
 |
|
On their way to Mexico to sell their cattle, ex lawman Wyatt Earp
(Henry Fonda) and his brothers Virgil (Tim Holt), Morgan (Ward Bond) and
James (Don Garner) cross paths with old man Clanton (Walter Brennan) and
his sons just outside of Tombstone, and Clanton is just a bit too eager to
buy the cattle without offering a fair price. The Earps decide to make
camp, and while Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan ride into town, they leave James
with the lifestock - and when they return, James is dead and the cattle is
gone. Tombstone is without a marshall, so Wyatt, who has already proven
his courage and prowess to the locals and who also has a reputation as
lawman, takes the job and makes his brothers his deputies. Soon enough,
Wyatt makes the acquaintance of Doc Holliday (Victure Mature), a notorious
gambler who has the reputation of being the tough man in town - and after
the two of them measure each other up, they become unlikely friends, and
when Holliday helps Wyatt to free a Shakespearean actor (Alan Morbray)
from the clutches of the Clanton boys who kept him for their own
amusement, Wyatt also sees Holliday's gentle side. However, Holliday also
suffers from tuberculosis that just gets worse and worse. Holliday has a
sweetheart in town, bar singer Chihuahua (Linda Darnell), whom he seems to
enjoy keeping at arm's length, but then his nurse Clementine (Cathy Downs)
arrives from the East, someone he shows great affection for even though he
knows he's not right for her, and thus constantly tries to send her back
where he came from. Wyatt on the other hand falls head over heels in love
with Clementine, even though she doesn't share his feelings. Eventually,
Holliday decides to skip town, just to make Clementine return to the East,
but then Wyatt finds a trinket around Chihuahua's neck that was stolen
from dead James Earp, and she claims it was given to her by Holliday.
Wyatt rushes to intercept the stage Holliday has left in and hauls him
back to town. Not believing Holliday to be James' killer, he puts the
pressure on Chihuahua, and she admits the Clanton's made her do it, to
immediately be shot by Billy Clanton (John Ireland). While Holliday, a
certified surgeon, tries to save Chihuahua's life, Virgil Earp goes after
Billy Clanton and manages to shoot him, but is shot dead himself by old
man Clanton. Old man Clanton and his sons ride into town to drop
Virgil's body right outside the Marshall's Office and challenge Wyatt and
company to what would become to be known as the gunfight at O.K. Corral
... Now if you're looking for accuracy in regards to what is
very probably the most famous gunfight of the Old West, you better look
elsewhere, as this movie takes enormous amounts of artistic license. If on
the other hand you want to see John Ford, old school western cinema, and
old Hollywood as such at their best, then this film is pretty much it, as
it's a film that not only hits high on the excitement scale (as any
western should), it's also directed with great care, puts an emphasis on
atmosphere, features interesting characters, warts and all, manages to
work romance into its main plot that doesn't stand in the way of things
but works as a catalyst, and of course it carried by a first rate cast.
Old school western cinema really rarely got any better than this.
|
|
|
eThaiCD.com
find My Darling Clementine at adultvideouniverse.com
