John Ford

John Ford

Host:  Freddy

Freddy's Take: I got to John Ford through John Wayne and Steven Spielberg. John Wayne is in one of my favorite movies "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" and Spielberg had mentioned the impact Ford had on him as a filmmaker in several interviews, so it piqued my interest. I chose "The Searchers", "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", and "The Grapes of Wrath" as the films I wanted to watch with Chris and Tanner. I love all of those movies and each one also comes from a different period in Ford's career. Each one has its' own flavor. "Wrath" is a story that follows a family across an unfriendly and perilous landscape as they try to survive in post-Dust Bowl America. An America that was becoming more of an industrialized and corporate farming nation, especially in the Midwest. "The Searchers" deals with racism in a post-Civil War America that is quickly expanding westward and is hell bent on seeing manifest destiny through, by marginalizing the native Americans and even wanting their extermination. "Valance" is a story of fact and fiction and an emerging modern world that at one point started making certain kinds of men obsolete, yet held on to their "heroism" through legend and storytelling. Each had it's own style. "Valance" was more of a play, while "The Searches" was a wide screen epic and a beautifully shot visual masterpiece. I hope the day yielded a greater appreciation for Chris and Tanner on how much of an impact that older films play on today's movies when taken into the context of their time. Those old movies had to be subtle in the way they approached big ideas and taboo subjects, but the great directors like Ford, Kurosawa (Tanner), Hitchcock (Chris), and Welles were able to pull it off and that's why they are so revered by many modern filmmakers. We have each now taken a crack at bringing an "old master" into the consciousness of other movie lovers and I truly think we are better film lovers and "students of the game" for it. It was one of my favorite Director Days and it basically marks the beginning of our sixth year into doing these semi-regular get togethers or which I'm very proud to say has lasted longer than any of us probably thought it would. 

The Grapes Of Wrath

The Searchers

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance