John Ford - S/D

another thing that struck me about Grapes was how much of it was shot on sets with backdrops - it counterintuitively makes the landscape feel so huge and empty, unlike any of the movies shot in Monument Valley where the landscape is so inviting and postcard ready. the America of Grapes is practically post-apocalyptic

the America of Grapes is practically post-apocalyptic

The Great Depression really was an apocalypse for millions of Americans. Try to get ahold of Wild Boys of the Road for an even more post-apocalyptic movie.

I know, I specifically meant the mis en scene of the movie - he really pulls it off in creative ways. very limited use of sound, too. lots of quiet wind throughout. I'll check out Wild Boys of the Road

not entirely faithful

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grapes_of_Wrath_(film)#Differences_from_the_novel

If I remember tomorrow evening I'll check out The Grapes of Wrath.

In the meantime, in the last several weeks I have seen:

1) The Informer: Drastically inferior to the 1929 Arthur Robison silent version. Between this and Hangman's House (1928) I'm convinced Expressionism was a bad influence on Ford. The opening bit with the heroine about to Sell Herself to a bowler-hatted toff for her passage to America was as risibly transparent as certain special effects conveying Gypo's thought processes.

2) Hangman's House: Are all of Ford's treatments of Irish themes this heavy-handed?

3) Bucking Broadway: Now this I liked, especially the finale (the hero and his sidekicks literally ride into a New York hotel full of dudes with Dishonest Intentions towards women, and proceeds to kick their fancy asses).

At this point, my favorite Ford film is still The Whole Town's Talking. And if you have not seen Wild Boys of the Road (Wellman, 1933), do so at your first opportunity.

I've never seen The Whole Town's Talking, or Hangman's House. I *have* seen Bucking Broadway, and that is a pip.

The Great Depression against the Dust Bowl just seems like something none of this generation is equipped to comprehend even though we're all clearly going to go through something just as bad.

and there won't be any studio films about ours

The Florida Project, as a snapshot of capitalism carried to its logical ends, is probably the closest we'll get to an American successor to The Grapes of Wrath. The works of the Dardenne Brothers also owe something to this tradition. But I cannot imagine a major American studio of today letting itself be associated with a work of this nature. For that matter I can't quite place this movie in pre-war filmmaking, even by comparison with Our Daily Bread or Man's Castle. I am assuming Joseph Breen took a firm and verbose stance on what could and couldn't make it into the movie.

What Price Glory (1952) or When Willie Comes Marching Home?

got a super cheap DVD comp of 6 of Ford's comedies & these are the only ones left

they're in my Fox box, haven't watched em

WPG is a remake

John Ford receives the Presidential Medal of Honor from Richard Milhous Nixon. Like it or not folks... this is what Irish-American excellence looks like. pic.twitter.com/FLPdyEGKFz

— ℑ 𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔜𝔬𝔲 (@NickPinkerton) October 8, 2019

If I want Irish-American excellence I'll watch a Cagney movie. What Price Glory watch party anyone?

my mother always said, "Nixon's not Irish."

Since when was Nixon Irish?

he claimed to be at some point, i think on a state visit to Ireland

Every US President claims they're Irish. Apart from Trump, probably his one redeeming quality.

What they usually mean by Irish is Protestant settlers in Ireland from Scotland or England sent there as colonizers.

Ford's one of the few directors whose work Nixon could identify by name.

well, kinda hard not to

same of the general public, after Hitchcock and Chaplin

a side note:

https://epicchq.com/us-presidents-with-irish-heritage/

As my dad used to say, they've had one Catholic president and look what they did to him.

When Willie Comes Marching Home is one of his better comedies w/o Will Rogers. not totally fluff either, goes well with The Long Gray Line as movies about the conflicted feelings of military personnel stationed at home who never see combat. Willie is dying to fight in the war, and his WWI vet dad resents him being stationed in his home town, despite the fact that he was such a good gunner that they made him the instructor. it's from 1950 so it looks great & he wrings so much out of the thin premise and a mostly light script.

just noticed that Robert Wagner is in the remake of What Price Glory

It is with heavy heart that I announce that I apparently will be forced to see Roland Emmerich's Midway. pic.twitter.com/nZZ1nyeISS

— ℑ 𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔜𝔬𝔲 (@NickPinkerton) November 6, 2019

Watched Wagon Master last night. Good lil western. Only really knew Ben Johnson from Last Picture Show so didn't even recognize him. Pretty effortless acting from him. And christ could he ride a horse. The scene where he's escaping from Indians, every other rider in the scene is getting bounced around on their horse, while Ben is going twice and fast and doesn't move an inch.

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.