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The Characteristic of a John Ford
Western.
Before >
John
Ford (1894-1973, real name Sean O'Fearna) became well-known for
his typical >
John
Ford western that started off with Stagecoach (1939),
he already was 25 years active in the film industry. He was the thirteenth and
last child of Irish immigrants and in 1913 he went to his brother Francis in
Hollywood. Until 1917 he worked as a stuntman, assistant director, and actor
(in 1915 he played a member of the Ku-Klux-Klan in D.W. Griffiths' Birth of
a Nation). Ford directed for Universal until 1921 and for Fox until 1931.
Unfortunately a large part of his silent-area work has been vanished.
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After 1931 he worked independently for the
remaining part of his career, although he sometimes took routine tasks, to
provide him with the freedom to make movies of his preference. Who thinks of
Ford, (...unquestionably thinks of...) probably the first thing that comes to
mind is the John Ford western, like Stagecoach , My Darling
Clementine, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,
>
Wagonmaster, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
A
striking detail is that Ford received 4 oscars for his directing efforts ( The
Informer ('35), The Grapes of Wrath ('40), How Green Was My
Valley ('41), and The Quiet Man ('52) but none for his typical John
Ford western productions.
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Studio portrait of John Ford.
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Welles and Hawks
When someone asked Orson Welles, which American
director had influenced him the most, he replied: '...the old masters.
And by
this I mean John Ford, John Ford and John Ford...When Ford is well underway,
you have the feeling that the film really has lived and breathed...' The
director Howard Hawks once remarked that Ford seemed to control even the
weather when he filmed in Monument Valley.
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John Ford on the set.
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Stagecoach
The first John Ford western masterpiece was Stagecoach
in 1939.
He added two new elements to the western genre, namely movement and
space. After Stagecoach it was not possible anymore to produce westerns
solely in theatrical settings and motions. Stagecoach follows in almost
documentary style an exciting ride of an Overland-Stage-Line-Stage-coach, with
on board nine passengers. The story has the beloved underlying Ford theme, how
does a group of different characters react in the face of death. This movie
also catapulted the career of the legendary John Wayne (1907-1979, real name
Marion Michael Morrison, nickname 'The Duke') who has a spectacular
introduction as Ringo Kid. In one of her acclaimed essays, the critic Pauline
Kael has stated, that every good western that has been produced after Stagecoach
either imitates the film, has been influenced by it, or at least refers to it.
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Affiche for Stagecoach.
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Later Life
In later life, Ford gave lectures from time to
time at universities. He introduced himself by saying: "I am John Ford. I
make westerns".
This is what he did better than anyone. The
distinguishing ingredients of a John Ford western is that he gave the tough
world of the traditional western a chivalrous and sympathetic atmosphere.
Whatever periods in American history he handled in his movies he always
depicted an absolutely convincing rendering of that place and moment in time.
With his humour and courage, Ford brought light
in tough times. Emotional engagement is therefore inevitable in his work. He
is often attacked by critics who objected against his way of conducting his
projects, his sentimentality and hazy idealism. Maybe there is some element of
truth in these objections, but for the true cinephile these are all
negligible, because the beholder who opens up to a John Ford western
will find more joy than any other director of westerns can offer.
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Famous final shot from The Searchers (1956)
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