This paper is an analysis of John FordÆs classic 1946 film, My Darling Clementine. The story climaxes in the fateful showdown at the O.K. Corral between the vicious Ike Clanton gang and the heroic Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. FordÆs organization of images, sound, and pacing creates a striking picture of the Old West and of Tombstone, Arizona, in particular.
The film opens with a Monument Valley panorama, as a herd of cattle is urged across the scrublands by three of the Earp brothers. The music turns ominous as a buckboard appears in the foreground, bearing Ike Clanton and the eldest of his four sons. Clanton tries to buy the cattle, Earp laconically turns him down, mentions that he and his brothers may visit the nearby town of Tombstone that night, and returns to his herd.
The exchange of dialogue, like much of the conversation throughout the film, is less important than what is left unspoken. Ford allows the camera to hold on the faces of his actors (without taking too close a shot) as they observe one another. The sceneÆs final cut is a two-shot of the Clantons watching Earp ride away. The son warily watches the father, and IkeÆs hardened mouth and squinting eyes clearly show a dangerous man sizing up the stranger passing through his little world. Ford holds the shot, trusting his actors to impart the subtle menace that frames the whole film.
That night, after supper, the Earps leave the youngest brother in camp and ride into Tombstone. The portrait Ford paints of this famous frontier town in chaotic, noisy, and generally unappealing. The saloons and brothels are jammed with rowdy, cigar-smoking crowds who do not seem to be having a particularly good time, despite their best efforts. Ford crams the garishly lit interiors with prospectors, cowhands, and ladies of the evening, all trying very hard to live it up. Although this first scene takes place at night when, presumably, the children would already be i...