Synopsis
Trailers
Reviews (34)
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E
one of the best films, and yet just another stanza in Ford’s epic poem of American history. the “to be or not to be” scene is my favorite of them all; the traveling player has abandoned his stage to get drunk with some rowdy boys in a saloon who harass him. when Doc picks up the monologue where the stumbling actor leaves off, Earp’s entire perspective on him changes. Ford is using art as the great leveler here, bringing together any two types of people through the transcendence of poetry. he’s also equating the immortal work of WS with cowboy folklore, making high art in low places. Shakespeare, he’s in the alley. Victor Mature’s sadness stuck out to me on…
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B
“Mac, you ever been in love?” “No, I’ve been a bartender all me life.”
584 1 -
J
A bleak, post-war western that is so filled to the brim with the warmth of its character’s yearning that it feels passive, relaxed, and dreamy even as it waits for the inevitable doom. As with most Ford’s (though I was pleased to find this notably more shadowy than usual) there are individual scenes in this that contain more breathtaking compositions than most directors achieve in their entire careers. Full discussion on ep 233 of my podcast SLEAZOIDS.
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J
One of Ford’s most harrowing, depicting a land mired in the messy turmoil of civilizing, where gunfights interrupt shaves and Shakespeare is bewilderingly spoken aloud, albeit slowly, the way someone condescends to speak English to a foreigner, as if enunciating everything will make it clearer to these savages. The iconic image of Fonda in this film sees him pressing his foot against a patio beam, tilting his chair back as he relaxes against Tombstone’s outer rim. It depicts the hero, and his surroundings, on a precipice, having found an uneasy balance between lawlessness and order that is about to crash into the modern age. As is often the case in Ford’s films, that development can only occur through a violent…
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R
Purgatorial similitude in the town of Tombstone, everything slurred down as if of daydream. There is a knowing, sleepy awareness of its natural denouement once outside actors disturb the balance within, but hardly a rush to arrive there once everyone’s settled in. The history of violence will come, as it circuits the town, as it always does, but in the meantime why not pursue a new romance? Darkness encroaches from the edges of the image while the light shines through in the little moments of joy. Purgatory is made up of both, and so the resolution of these two occurs outside its borders. Tombstone goes back to what it once was, the actors then wake and leave this town.
315 7 -
P
More or less the fundamental Ford text, and as I argue here (as part of its Criterion debut), a cinematic representation containing the ethos of American poetry. “Mac, you ever been in love?” “Nope, I’ve been a bartender all my life.”
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S
96/100 “When ya pull a gun, kill a man.” So goddamned fresh. John Ford depicts an entire community – a town at the edge of the world, the skies of Monument Valley as encasement for the unknown – with spectral simplicity, unleashing a strong-willed presence of law and order into a population surrounded by death. And if residents are defined by their environment, then Tombstone is barren in every facet; a ghost town kept alive through alcohol, gambling, and the looming threat of savagery. Ford’s images are boundless in more ways than one, delivering direct, uncluttered information via human placement as well as evoking fluid, expansive landscapes with searing poetic flourish. In particular, the gunfights in My Darling Clementine end…
692 5 -
S
Regardless of how brilliant everything else is, the most striking component of this is the fucking sublime black and white photography, especially in the night-time sequences. Its use of lighting and visual contrasts accentuate every single second spent in the harsh desert vistas; it has to be one of the best-looking films ever. Henry Fonda is always such a joy to watch too.
283 1 -
W
Here it is folks: the one film that single-handedly justifies every single one of those stupid “One Perfect Shot” accounts. You have to watch this one to achieve Movie Mindset (TM) because there is no American film that has ever used light and shadow on black and white film more masterfully than what Ford does here. The shots of Henry Fonda sitting on a porch leaning back on a chair are probably the most artfully composed frames of film in movie history.
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T
Tombstone, Arizona lies on the celestial border between a fool’s heaven and a wise man’s hell in John Ford’s “My Darling Clementine.” Ford wove the legend of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral straight from the horse wrangler’s mouth. Lawman Wyatt Earp evidentially used to visit the sets of Ford’s early films, and would relate the story of the notorious shootout to the entertainment of all within earshot. Pedants might pick apart temporal inconsistencies, made-up characters, and fabricated grudges. But why would anyone busy themselves with trying to logic-test a creation myth? Because that’s just what Ford makes the tale of gunfight out to be. Tombstone is a fitting Eden for Ford’s frontier. It is all promise, all revelry. But…
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C
hard to put my thoughts into words. one of the most magnificent looking films ever made; henry fonda’s performance is stunning, quintessential. each moment feels like a microcosm for everything that the western was, is, and would become. echoes of longing and loves that couldn’t be; absolute melancholy. we’ve always been in this country, undiscovered, searching for something eternal. wyatt earp is marshall for just four days, and somehow, a century passes between them.
544 1 -
WWillow Maclay 8 月 24, 2026
Writing any sort of film criticism about a film like this one is essentially impossible, because you cannot build upon what history has already done for the film. The roots of its greatness are planted so firmly in its poetry of the skyline and the simple things that are greater because they are simple. It is a perfect movie. It is what the movies are made for and what they should aspire to become. Ford’s images are sublime, obviously, but I am struck by the earliest death of the Earp brother who puts this story in motion. Three shots. A horse stranded in the rain, then the dead rider on the ground, followed by the men who are there to…
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J
Whole town nosy asf I can feel the heat even in bnw
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Z
“ma’am, i sure like that name… Clementine.” “my darling clementine” what a beautiful classic movie. this is my first time watching a black and white movie and its feeling actually makes me love every part of this. i love the cinematography, i love the acting, i love the music, the voice of them, and i like the way this black and white tone feels so contrast especially at night. not a single wasted gesture and acting!🖤
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U
What are the greatest movies I’ve ever seen the cinematography was incredible black-and-white contrast especially at night
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J
John Ford understood that sometimes the most romantic thing a cowboy can do is awkwardly dance at a church social.
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C
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B
this shit is gorgeous
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Definitely prefer this over stagecoach, though both aren’t bad films, the character dynamics, writing, action and musical score are more interesting to say the least.
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B
A whole lot of nothing story seemed rushed at times
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I
Tal vez nunca un western ha estado tan atrapado en el pasado y en el futuro que nunca fue
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I
the whole town nosy 😭
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T
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L
movie magic is convincing people that tombstone is close to the monument valley
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F
8/10
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I
Having already seen Rio Bravo prior to this, it was surprising seeing Walter Brennan in much different role with this one that he was almost unrecognizable to me.
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A
John Ford, one of the best to ever do it. I really enjoyed Henry Fonda here, a role where you’d expect John Wayne but this movie was going for something a bit different – trying to tell a classic western tale, with Tombstone and the battle at the OK Corral, but also have some great character work and have this new marshal not just on a simple revenge quest but a man of family and morality and represent a real…
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C
such a vibe tombstone is so brilliantly fleshed out and it was built up masterfully. not perfect, but certainly brilliant.
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L
Everyone seems to love it, unfortunatelly I don’t Pretty simple and honestly kinda boring movie, rewarded with the last 30 minutes of some good shootin. Henry Fonda good as always. I also like the lighting combined with shadows, but nothing really memorable besides that
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C
1/4⭐ for Ford’s direction. 1/4⭐ for the song 1/4⭐ for Fonda actually looking very much like Earp as a skinny ugly dude instead of a chiseled masculine man. 1/4⭐ for everything else combined. And that’s more than it deserves. -4⭐s for butchering the shit out of everything!!! . I was talking with LB quality reviewer, and I’ll say better friend then me, @Kaishakunin. I’ve been pretty harsh on many recent movies the last 16 years and especially these last few…
9 23 -
D
Despite its quiet and downbeat demeanor, this movie just so totally rocks. It’s one of Ford’s most beautifully stylized, lushly evocative frontier operas, with blocking and lighting that is breathtakingly gorgeous, and certain shots that stand out as among the finest of all time. It’s got lovely moments of comedy and levity and predictably solid, unembellished character work from all involved. But what perhaps makes it so special above all else is the exceptionally spare, compressed, lyrical nature of everything:…
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T
Solid bromance (Wyatt and Doc) and doomed romance (Doc and Chihuahua), but I just wasn’t feeling it for Clementine or the legendary showdown.
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N
Back on my western shit, I will be watching more of these by the end of the year I swear. this one was so good but also weirdly disappointing. Its one of the most beautiful, visually-striking black and white movies Ive ever seen, like my god does the desert look beautiful in this. wyatt earp and doc holloway are such fascinating characters in this and they’re portrayed with so much depth and development that I really cared about them immediately.…
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A
John Ford’s Western My Darling Clementine is one of the definitive pillars of American myth-making. Released in the immediate wake of World War II, the film transcends its historical foundation, the legendary gunfight at the O.K. Corral, to deliver a poetic allegory about a society recovering from trauma and choosing the path of order over chaos. Ford constructs this narrative through a deeply layered framework of visual and character symbolism. By examining key motifs such as the wilderness versus the…
- Synopsis
- Three brothers stop off for a night in the town of Tombstone. The next morning they find one of their brothers dead and their cattle stolen. They decide to take revenge on the culprits.
- Director
- John Ford
- Writer
- Samuel G. Engel, Winston Miller
- Studio
- 20th Century Fox
- Country
- USA
- Language
- English, French, Spanish
- Year
- 1946
- Runtime
- 97 mins
- USA16 Oct 1946
- UK09 Oct 2014
- Japan25 Oct 2016
- USA17 Oct 1946
- USA03 Dec 1946
- UK19 Dec 1946
- Sweden03 Feb 1947
- France30 Apr 1947
- Japan12 Aug 1947
- Netherlands31 Mar 1948
- Portugal27 Apr 1948
- South Korea10 Sep 1948
- UK01 Dec 1995
- Netherlands09 Mar 2012
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