Perhaps the best orchestrated western of all time, courtesy of the modest Mr. Ford. No western figure inspired more cinematic lore than the indomitable Wyatt Earp, and Fonda, back from WW II, gives a definitive portrayal of the famous frontier lawman. Dramatic and brooding, with shadows at night and blinding sunlight at day under a sky that never ends, MY DARLING CLEMENTINE doesn't exactly follow history, but Ford is much more concerned with the myth of the west. The scene where Wyatt brings harmony to Tombstone by removing the disruptive element, notably an Native American, is almost a prototypical expression of the genres obsession with the formation of community. The most famous scene in this regard, however, is the dance at the church-founding social, where Wyatt and Clementine walk down the street like it was a wedding aisle. Fonda was rarely better, his Midwest accent and measured delivery perfect for the part. The script is lean and tight and MacDonald's startling photography provides graphics so sweeping, that the whole of the West seems bound by the frame. Many films have been made borrowing this famous story, FRONTEIR MARSHALL, GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL and TOMESTONE to name a few, however, this is the definitive rendering.
