My Darling Clementine

John Ford's classic 1946 Western My Darling Clementine, opens with Wyatt Earp (Henry Fonda) and his brothers camped outside Tombstone, Arizona, circa 1882, with their cattle, which they intend to sell. When old man Clanton (Walter Brennan) and his sons make Wyatt an offer for the cattle, he refuses--but the Clantons return later while the youngest Earp has been left in charge, kill the boy, and steal the cattle. Wyatt takes the sheriff's job opening in Tombstone, begins to amass evidence against the Clanton clan, and strikes up a friendship with the sickly, but still capable, Doc Holliday (Victor Mature), who's having women problems--caught between barroom singer Chihuahua (Linda Darnell) and arriving ex-gal Clementine (Cathy Downs). Earp takes a shine to Clementine, and one of the most charming sequences in the film finds the pair cutting a fine figure on the dance floor. As tensions between Earp and the Clantons escalate, the film moves into its final, climactic reel, detailing the infamous gunfight at the O.K. Corral (which is not exactly accurately portrayed, but does make for darn good drama). Boasting a sharp and nicely contrasted digital transfer, My Darling Clementine debuts on DVD in a double-sided disc (with both the theatrical version and a half-hour-longer alternate pre-release version before changes ordered by studio head Darryl F. Zanuck), and a handful of extras: an audio commentary by Wyatt Earp III (who says little) and film historian Scott Eyman (who's not even credited), and a 42-minute documentary about the differences between the two versions of the film. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray/DVD Review—Oct. 7, 2014—Criterion, 97 min., not rated, DVD: 2 discs, $29.95; Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1946's My Darling Clementine sports a great transfer and an uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition. Extras include both the theatrical version and the 103-minute pre-release cut of the film, audio commentary with John Ford biographer Joseph McBride, a 1947 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation with Henry Fonda and Cathy Downs (59 min.), a comparison of the two film versions by film preservationist Robert Gitt (42 min.), a “Lost and Gone Forever” video essay by Ford scholar Tad Gallagher (19 min.), an interview with Western historian Andrew C. Isenberg (15 min.), the 1916 silent Western short “Bandit's Wager” costarring Ford and directed by his brother Francis Ford (14 min.), two NBC TV reports from 1963 and 1975 on the history of Tombstone and Monument Valley (14 min.), a trailer, and an essay by critic David Jenkins. Bottom line: a Western classic makes a wonderful debut on Blu-ray.]