John Ford - S/D

Ford pegged it as one of his favorites. I've heard it was one of the most enjoyable sets he had. Makes ya wonder how much the experience of filming has on a director's or actor's personal favorites rather then purely the end result.

I think it's set in 1880. Which means it was as distant from 1950 as 1950 is from now whoa.

well, Ford knew old Wyatt Earp

speaking of Wyatt Earp...the Dodge City diversion section in Cheyenne Autumn is bizarre. I get what he was trying to say with it but it's pretty jarring and superfluous.

yeah I watched that recently and had a similar reaction.

also u+k:
Ford used Navajo people to portray the Cheyenne. Dialogue that is supposed to be the "Cheyenne language" is actually Navajo. This made little differences to white audiences, but for Navajo communities, the film became very popular because the Navajo actors openly were using ribald and crude language that had nothing to do with the film. For example, during the scene where the treaty is signed, the chief's solemn speech just pokes fun at the size of the colonel's penis. Academics now consider this an important moment in the development of Native Americans' identity because they are able to mock Hollywood's historical interpretation of the American West.

Remembering hearing something about that, but didn't know which film it happened in. Awesome. I'm sure they patted themselves on the back simply for having actual Native Americans in the film and speaking their own language in parts. But he wasn't about to fly in Cheyenne to the film shoot in AZ/UT.

for a guy born in the 1890s working in the western genre, my impression is that Ford treated the Natives fairly well. He wasn't a superman.

I also think they probably pranked the dialogue earlier than that film.

Oh for sure. I mean the plot for CA is very pro Native anti US govt. That was rare in early 60s afaik.
A bit similar to Smoki "tribe" I knew about before but was just reading about in a magazine today: white biz men from Prescott AZ doing "burlesque" snake dances in full Indian garb and face paint sounds awful and ridiculous now, but for the time that was progressive relative to the official doctrine of banning and trying to extinguish any Native Am culture.

he be sittin down

https://www.publicartportland.org/project/the-john-ford-statue/

https://silver.afi.com/Browsing/EventsAndExperiences/EventDetails/0000000028

Some Ford silents will be screened as part of this series. Any other ILXors interested in going?

pic.twitter.com/Ci3zWpIbFN

— Peter Labuza (@labuzamovies) February 19, 2020

I was surprised to learn, after watching Wagon Master, that it enjoyed such a strong rep among Ford cultists. I found it kinda slight, mostly due to the weakness of Johnson and Carey Jr. as leads and Ford's unwillingness to exploit the full menacing potential of the Clegg gang.

P tempted by this new set from Indicator

https://www.powerhousefilms.co.uk/collections/frontpage/products/john-ford-at-columbia-1935-1958-le

I think the ensemble nature of Wagon Master is part of its appeal, tho along those lines i prefer The Sun Shines Bright.

The Long Gray Line is his weirdest movie
xp

The Long Voyage Home was and is easily overshadowed by Ford's other film from 1940, but I liked it mostly for featuring Wayne at his most boyish, and for the scene where the crew ambushes the suspected spy only to learn things they didn't expect to learn from reading through his letters. Also, it was shot by Gregg Toland, so of course it looks stunning.

Strange, though, that the Janus logo appeared at the front of the TCM broadcast I watched, but the film is not in the Criterion Collection. I guess one might be coming along at some point?

I liked it more than I expected.

has anyone seen "Young Cassidy?" Started by Ford, then completed by Jack Cardiff after he fell ill. I have to say I'm intrigued by a film based on the life of Sean O'Casey with this poster

https://pics.filmaffinity.com/Young_Cassidy-636490032-large.jpg

Yes, it's not bad. Julie Christie is in and out of the film pretty quickly; Maggie Smith carries the rest. Nice location shooting in Dublin. Can't say I learned that much about the nature of O'Casey's work but it did make me curious about it.

Should say, yes, O'Casey is portrayed as rugged in the film, but as sensitive as well. It's not like just a parade of brawls. However, the scene I do recall most is the one indicated at top right of the poster - a street confrontation that is shot quite realistically and effectively.

It's about O'Casey?? But he's renamed Cassidy?

I note above that Ford to others referred to Wayne as 'DUKE WAYNE'.

Not Ford but I happened to see ROOSTER COGBURN (1975) yesterday.

It's about O'Casey?? But he's renamed Cassidy?

yup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjNUV0Y6Dxg

and thanks for the insight Josefa!

I recorded that one off TCM but than that cable box died so never actually watched it.

Then

Incredible to see W.B. Yeats in that trailer.

I tried to watch How the West Was Won on TCM last night just to get to the Ford sequence but had to bail after about 15 minutes.

oh, you

On Twitter a couple days ago I saw a quote by some international arthouse auteur that The Long Gray Line is a "great experimental film," but now I can't find it.

I just don't think it works on a flat screen, a four-square western epic whose every frame looks like Seconds.

I tried to watch How the West Was Won on TCM last night just to get to the Ford sequence but had to bail after about 15 minutes.

― coronoshebettadontvirus (Eric H.),

Congrats! You beat me!

oh, you

On Twitter a couple days ago I saw a quote by some international arthouse auteur that The Long Gray Line is a "great experimental film," but now I can't find it.

thx

Been digging into my Ford At Fox box... recommend both the silent Four Sons and 1933's Pilgrimage as very different motherhood tales centered on World War I.

haven't seen "how the west was won" yet, but dave kehr raves about ford's sequence:

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/09/movies/homevideo/09dvds.html

It's the best segment in the film, for sure.

The lead actress in Pilgrimage, Henrietta Crosman, gives a very strong and detailed performance as a Bad Mother who gets her son drafted and killed rather than see him marry. The film's about her redemption, of course, but to ultimately touching effect.

how's The Horse Soldiers? got the blu ray for $6 at a pharmacy

Watched his What Price Glory recently, a weaker one with a handful of really beautiful moments (the girl singing to the soldier). the opening is particularly striking and nightmarish, a garish set of the aftermath of a horrible battle with a haunted, minor key military crew singing in the deep distance. again, it doesn't really come together as a movie, but even in these whiffs there is often a bit of the sublime.

yay/nay on The Horse Soldiers (1959) ?

uploaded less than 2 months ago, I think recorded this year? PB looking OK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weHUnrrmpnM

Bird: THE HORSE SOLDIERS is wonderful. I've seen it about 4 times on TV. Probably one of my favourite Westerns and one of the Ford films I most admire. Curiously serious about war, and curiously packed with distinct scenes and set-pieces.

Yes it is! I didn't know it came right before Sergeant Rutledge. You can see it coming, sort of.

THE LAST HURRAH: yay / nay?

ah, yay!

two months pass...
ok, nobody reads my Spencer Tracy thread, but The Last Hurrah is worth it for the lead and its conviction as an old Irish machine-pol wake, in spite of Jeffrey Hunter and any scenes featuring actors born after 1905.

― son of a lewd monk (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, September 24, 2014 2:50 PM (five years ago) bookmarkflaglink

from TCM.com:

Pat O'Brien recalled that on the set... Ford "would never talk the part you were playing, he'd just tell you what he wanted. 'I hope you can get it,' he'd say, chewing on that handkerchief he always had. When you failed, he'd say, 'That wasn't what I wanted. Try to get what I wanted. We're going to take another whack at it and it better be good.' And after you finally got it he'd come over and put his arms around you. 'Why the hell didn't you get it in the first place?' he'd say. Ford was the genius of them all. He was an artist drawing a portrait in oil."

The only potentially disruptive incident that occurred during the filming was when someone showed up with a case of whiskey in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. Ford, who was a heavy drinker like most of the Irish cast and crew members, exploded in anger, "Jesus Christ, what do you want to do, shut down the picture?" and the booze was carted off.

― son of a lewd monk (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, September 24, 2014 3:12 PM (five years ago) bookmarkflaglink

I find it REALLY weird that he only made ONE movie about/set during the Civil War (the horse soldiers)

A tremendous film!

plus his segment in How the West Was Won

TOBACCO ROAD! such a great B-side to Grapes. Amusing Gene Tierney performance as a very dirty, near feral young woman with only one line at the very end--"Yes, ma'am!"

Reader in the "Hey Bill" section of Bill James' website:

After the recent discussion here on "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," I wrote a letter to Vera Miles, who played Hallie, asking her about the points raised about her feelings for Tom Doniphon. She wrote back: "Never occurred to me to wonder if Hallie was going to hitch up with Tom in the absence of Ransom. In retrospect, I believe Tom (Duke) was the man of choice. (He didn’t care if she could read or not.)"

So if you have any questions on The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, you can write Vera Miles directly. Actual letter, please--no e-mail.

Holy shit

Started Scott Nyman's massive PRINT THE LEGEND bio recently, trying to pace myself because it's so good (his SPEED OF SOUND is one of the best film books I've ever read).

I've been leafing thru the Ford bio for months now tho. I didn't know about April Morning, or the extent of his alcoholism, or the bucket he started having with him on set in his last years...

Thank you, Bill.

was coming here to post that