HI All,
I'm posting about this old John Ford Classic with a purpose. I own two other Wyatt Earp movies, both recent. They Are "Tombstone" and "Wyatt Earp". I acquired "My Darling Clementine" last in the sequence.
As I read the reviews of MDC, I became very enthusiastic. After all, it was John Ford and Henry Fonda. And it was declared a Classic. What could be better? The reviews also spared no effort to put down the latter versions.
I'm afraid I must disagree with the experts. I liked both "Tombstone" and "Wyatt Earp" much better. Ford's movie seems like watered down chicken soup. All the major themes are downplayed to the point of boredom. The human relationships are weak. The characters are weak. I do like the B&W photography, though. Doc Holiday, a prime and important character in the later movies, was just disappointing. Val Kilmer did a fantastic job portraying Holiday in Tombstone.
All in all, I think MDC is an example of a movie that should be great but isn't.
I have not even mentioned the historical problems with MDC. Ford, when questioned about this, said "I don't want to make a documentary". Well, when the real story is so dramatic why change it? No, MDC is more like a fairytale that really doesn't work for me.
Sparky
I'm posting about this old John Ford Classic with a purpose. I own two other Wyatt Earp movies, both recent. They Are "Tombstone" and "Wyatt Earp". I acquired "My Darling Clementine" last in the sequence.
As I read the reviews of MDC, I became very enthusiastic. After all, it was John Ford and Henry Fonda. And it was declared a Classic. What could be better? The reviews also spared no effort to put down the latter versions.
I'm afraid I must disagree with the experts. I liked both "Tombstone" and "Wyatt Earp" much better. Ford's movie seems like watered down chicken soup. All the major themes are downplayed to the point of boredom. The human relationships are weak. The characters are weak. I do like the B&W photography, though. Doc Holiday, a prime and important character in the later movies, was just disappointing. Val Kilmer did a fantastic job portraying Holiday in Tombstone.
All in all, I think MDC is an example of a movie that should be great but isn't.
I have not even mentioned the historical problems with MDC. Ford, when questioned about this, said "I don't want to make a documentary". Well, when the real story is so dramatic why change it? No, MDC is more like a fairytale that really doesn't work for me.
Sparky
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