Editing My Darling Clementine (section)

== Critical reception ==
The film is generally regarded as one of the best Westerns made by John Ford<ref name=Ebert/><ref name=Maltin/> and one of his best films overall.<ref name=Eggert/> Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average score of 8.80/10, based on 32 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads "Canny and coolly confident, ''My Darling Clementine'' is a definitive dramatization of the Wyatt Earp legend that shoots from the hip and hits its target in breezy style."<ref name="RottenTom" />

At the time of its release, [[Bosley Crowther]] lauded the film and wrote "The eminent director, John Ford, is a man who has a way with a Western like nobody in the picture trade. Seven years ago his classic ''[[Stagecoach (1939 film)|Stagecoach]]'' snuggled very close to fine art in this genre. And now, by George, he's almost matched it with ''My Darling Clementine''&nbsp;... But even with standard Western fiction—and that's what the script has enjoined—Mr. Ford can evoke fine sensations and curiously-captivating moods. From the moment that Wyatt and his brothers are discovered on the wide and dusty range, trailing a herd of cattle to a far-off promised land, a tone of pictorial authority is struck—and it is held. Every scene, every shot is the product of a keen and sensitive eye—an eye which has deep comprehension of the beauty of rugged people and a rugged world."<ref name=NYTrvw/> ''Variety'' wrote that "John Ford's direction is clearly stamped on the film with its shadowy lights, softly contrasted moods and measured pace, but a tendency is discernible towards stylization for the sake of stylization. At several points, the pic comes to a dead stop to let Ford go gunning for some arty effect."<ref name=VtyRvw/>

Director [[Sam Peckinpah]] considered ''My Darling Clementine'' his favorite Western,<ref name=Erickson/> and paid homage to it in several of his Westerns, including ''[[Major Dundee]]'' (1965) and ''[[The Wild Bunch]]'' (1969). Similarly, director [[Hayao Miyazaki]] called it one of his 10 favorite movies.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-01-05 |title=Hayao Miyazaki named his 10 favourite films of all time |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/hayao-miyazaki-10-favourite-films/ |access-date=2022-11-18 |website=faroutmagazine.co.uk |language=en-US}}</ref>

Fifty years after its release, Roger Ebert reviewed the film and included it in his list of [[The Great Movies]].<ref name=Ebert/> He wrote it was "one of the sweetest and most good-hearted of all Westerns", unusual in making the romance between Earp and Clementine the heart of the film rather than the gunfight.

In 2004, Matt Bailey summarized its significance: "If there is one film that deserves every word of praise ever uttered or written about it, it is John Ford's ''My Darling Clementine''. Perhaps the greatest film in a career full of great films, arguably the finest achievement in a rich and magnificent genre, and undoubtedly the best version of one of America's most enduring myths, the film is an undeniable and genuine classic."<ref name=Bailey/> In the British Film Institute's 2012 ''[[Sight & Sound]]'' polls, seven critics and five directors named it one of their 10 favorite films.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b10f03e/sightandsoundpoll2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200413035036/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b10f03e/sightandsoundpoll2012 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 13, 2020 |title=Votes for My Darling Clementine (1946) |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=February 21, 2016}}</ref>

In 2012, director [[Michael Mann]] named ''My Darling Clementine'' one of his 10 favorite films, stating it was "possibly the finest drama in the western genre" and "achieves near-perfection" in its cinematography and editing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/voter/1069|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160223014107/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people//sightandsoundpoll2012/voter/1069|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 23, 2016|title=Michael Mann &#124; BFI}}</ref> It was also President [[Harry Truman]]'s favorite film.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/1993/10/29/all-presidents-favorite-movies/ |title=All the Presidents' (Favorite) Movies |first=Chris |last=Nashawaty |date=29 October 1993 |access-date=7 March 2019 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |publisher=Meredith Corporation}}</ref>

The Japanese filmmaker [[Akira Kurosawa]] cited ''My Darling Clementine'' as one of his 100 favorite films.<ref name="farout">{{cite web |last1=Thomas-Mason |first1=Lee |title=From Stanley Kubrick to Martin Scorsese: Akira Kurosawa once named his top 100 favourite films of all time |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/akira-kurosawa-100-favourite-films-list/ |website=Far Out Magazine |date=January 12, 2021 |access-date=23 January 2023}}</ref>