John Ford

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Just saw Searchers again at a local theater, and I'm more impressed by it than ever. Its flaws are more obvious than ever, too: the too-abrupt shifts in tone, the racism and sentimentality (even more unsettling in a film that seems to be attempting to criticize racism), the mostly risible attempts at humor. The wedding scene and the fight between Jeffrey Hunter and the guitar-playing dude is just awful - it belongs in Seven Brides For Seven Brothers. But there's so much that's truly great in that movie - the deservedly famous opening and closing shots, the ominous scene leading up to the massacre, the balance of mutual distrust and growing comradery between Marty and Ethan, and the beautifully subtle way Ford allows us to guess the truth about Ethan's feelings for his brother's wife - that it hardly seems to matter.

Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Sunday, 3 August 2003 04:25 (twenty years ago) link

the truth about Ethan's feelings for his brother's wife

Yes! Isn't that amazing?

There is a lot of stuff in The Searchers that verges on kitsch...the Mexicans, the Indians in a few cases, the hayseed going to marry Marty's sweetheart, etc. A lot of people have found a way of appreciating this as part of the movie's essence as American popular entertainment: look, deep themes and low comedy can coexist! But like you say I think those tones aren't modulated quite as well in that film as in some other Ford pictures.... It does a slight (very slight) disservice to Ford to try to rationalize some of the choppiness in this film, when he was capable of better.

amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 5 August 2003 03:55 (twenty years ago) link

two years pass...
Why Liberty Valance > Searchers (I've always felt so too) from Reverse Shot:

http://www.reverseshot.com/autumn05/symposium/libertyvalance.html


(interesting symposium on classics hitherto unseen by the writers)

Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 16 November 2005 16:26 (eighteen years ago) link


and Rosenbaum on The Sun Shines Bright:

http://www.rouge.com.au/7/sun_shines_bright.html

Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Friday, 18 November 2005 21:51 (eighteen years ago) link

one year passes...

21-disc Ford box coming:

http://davekehr.com/?p=195

Dr Morbius, Monday, 18 June 2007 14:40 (sixteen years ago) link

the only john ford movies i have seen are men without women, arrowsmith, the lost patrol, the informer, mary of scotland, stagecoach, young mr.lincoln, drums along the mohawk, the grapes of wrath, the long voyage home, tobacco road, how green was my valley, the battle of midway, they were expendable, my darling clementine, the fugitive, fort apache, she wore a yellow ribbon, rio grande, the quiet man, mogambo, mister roberts(if that counts), the searchers, the last hurrah, the horse soldiers, two rode together, the man who shot liberty valance, cheyenne autumn, donovan's reef, and how the west was won(which he directed part of), and i like them all, but i don't think i have EVER seen ANY of his movies from the 20's. which is sad, i guess. but then again it just means that i have a lot to look forward to!

i could watch a john ford movie every day of the week.

scott seward, Monday, 18 June 2007 15:34 (sixteen years ago) link

I've seen The Iron Horse and the silent 3 Godfathers.

Dr Morbius, Monday, 18 June 2007 17:39 (sixteen years ago) link

two months pass...

crikey, look at these box details:

http://davekehr.com/?p=230

Dr Morbius, Monday, 10 September 2007 18:05 (sixteen years ago) link

Can't read it- print is too small.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Monday, 10 September 2007 19:56 (sixteen years ago) link

pre-release cut of Muy Darling Clementine!

Dr Morbius, Monday, 10 September 2007 20:06 (sixteen years ago) link

Muy Darling? Do they go South of the Border?

James Redd and the Blecchs, Monday, 10 September 2007 20:07 (sixteen years ago) link

four years pass...

Something I never knew till today: Woody Strode played football alongside Jackie Robinson at UCLA.

clemenza, Sunday, 5 February 2012 16:17 (twelve years ago) link

I knew he was a collegiate star, forgot where

Literal Facepalms (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 5 February 2012 16:20 (twelve years ago) link

nine months pass...

had never seen my darling clementine before, had no idea it was gonna have walter brennan as a bad guy. he should have always been a bad guy! gives him dignity. (i've never seen the westerner either.)

movie was great. loved: earp/holliday's first confrontation at the bar; earp tipping back chair; all barber jokes; cloud of dust kicked up by horses making holliday cough/getting him shot; "you ever been in love, mac?" "no, i've been a bartender all my life"; "there's probably a lot of nice people around here, we just ain't met em"; ten-minute shakespeare interlude designed to deliver both Local Color and holliday-related Intimations Of Death; surprisingly melancholy ending; various john ford skies. also paced just terrifically for a movie with so much plot-irrelevant business in it.

difficult listening hour, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 21:35 (eleven years ago) link

was p upset when "chihuahua" died.

difficult listening hour, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 21:36 (eleven years ago) link

That's Linda Darnell isn't it? Her real life death was pretty upsetting too.

Roadside Prisunic (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 28 November 2012 20:01 (eleven years ago) link

this is one of the few Fords whose mythopoetic qualities don't annoy me.

the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 28 November 2012 21:10 (eleven years ago) link

i'll admit the messianism around henry can be annoying but you don't even like harrison?

difficult listening hour, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 21:26 (eleven years ago) link

Gerald's mythopoetic qualities shown in his casual wear.

the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 28 November 2012 21:28 (eleven years ago) link

Fonda isn't very messianic as Earp, certainly not compared to Tom Joad or even young Mr Lincoln.

saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 28 November 2012 21:29 (eleven years ago) link

nah he was really grounded. we were being dumb. (also i think i may have confused brave new world with real life.)

difficult listening hour, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 21:32 (eleven years ago) link

two years pass...

I watched quiet man tonight for the third time this year idk am I getting more cod irish or is there really something there, leaning toward the latter atm

thoughts you made second posts about (darraghmac), Sunday, 31 May 2015 01:03 (eight years ago) link

I could barely finish it once.

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 31 May 2015 01:06 (eight years ago) link

You are stronger than me. His Technicolor Irish films are...too brawny for me.

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 31 May 2015 01:06 (eight years ago) link

thing is my memories of the eighties west of Ireland are p much that technicolor depending on the humour I'm in

thoughts you made second posts about (darraghmac), Sunday, 31 May 2015 01:10 (eight years ago) link

I've read some stuff on the movie concerning the opening scenes where Sean looks down on the village and there's a kind of hazy unreality to it all like he's creating an idealised version of the homeland. I dunno about that myself, it's due a rewatch I think. I love this film unreservedly myself. I just watched My Darling Clementine for the first time last week, that's a wonderful film too.

tayto fan (Michael B), Tuesday, 2 June 2015 21:15 (eight years ago) link

six years pass...

Pardon the delay 💐 Our JUNE 2022 titles will be announced on Thursday (3/17)... pic.twitter.com/0gcRwPsMoV

— Criterion Collection (@Criterion) March 15, 2022

The Criterion announcements for June 2022 have been postponed to March 17. So there's speculation that a big John Ford title (The Informer? The Quiet Man?) will be among them. Any thoughts?

Also, I dragged out the Ford at Fox set; any suggestions for what to watch? (I'm thinking What Price Glory, but talk me out of it. Or don't!)

Infanta Terrible (j.lu), Wednesday, 16 March 2022 17:33 (two years ago) link

So I did watch WPG last night. When I saw The Black Watch back on New Year's Eve, I wondered what a John Ford musical would be like. Did he ever get any closer than this?

Infanta Terrible (j.lu), Friday, 18 March 2022 13:38 (two years ago) link

Half an hour into this excruciatingly bad Spanish giallo/sexploitation flick, the protagonist has just told his lover, post-coitus:

"Do you know what John Ford used to say? Love is the contact of two epidermis."

Love it when a hack filmmaker tries to class their film up by dropping a name, but dodgy subtitles aside....is there some actual Ford quote that's anything near this?

Daniel_Rf, Saturday, 19 March 2022 13:05 (two years ago) link

Love as it exists in society is merely the mingling of two fantasies and the contact of two skins.

Nicolas Chamfort

Possibly the translator misheard "Chamfort" as "John Ford".

Halfway there but for you, Saturday, 19 March 2022 15:54 (two years ago) link

lmao yeah I checked and that's def what happened, French philosophy much more of a reference point for this kind of film than horse operas

would've been funnier if it had actually been John Ford tho

Daniel_Rf, Saturday, 19 March 2022 16:22 (two years ago) link

The sentiment perhaps closer to England Dan and John Ford Coley of "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight" fame.

Halfway there but for you, Saturday, 19 March 2022 16:30 (two years ago) link

two weeks pass...

https://www.criterionchannel.com/young-mr-ford

If you have access to the Criterion Channel, they've just posted a number of early John Ford films (not all of which are in the Ford at Fox boxset).

Infanta Terrible (j.lu), Monday, 4 April 2022 23:21 (two years ago) link

one month passes...

recently watched two silents, Just Pals (1920) and Iron Horse (1924) and both were memorable.

Dan S, Monday, 16 May 2022 00:41 (one year ago) link

Iron Horse featured George O’Brien, who was “The Man” in F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise (1927), one of the great films of all time

Dan S, Monday, 16 May 2022 00:47 (one year ago) link

I see the title was "The Iron Horse". It was very long (2 1/2 hours) and was too episodic, but George O'Brien was hot and it was quite watchable

Dan S, Monday, 16 May 2022 01:13 (one year ago) link


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