John Ford

CRHS IB Film 2014: Director Focus

John Ford: Early Life

Lance Phillips, Mykell Sloan, Breanna Balzarini

Brief Bio• John Martin Feeney born February 1st, 1894 • 1914 Working for Brother in Hollywood • Worked way up to directing in 1917• Served in WWII from 1941-1945• Died August 31st, 1973 of stomach cancer

Influences• directed several Western shorts • D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915) would start

Ford's fascination • Orson Welles, Citizen Kane (1941)

Early Westerns• The Tornado (1917)• Straight Shooting (1917)• The Iron Horse (1924)

As Westerns began to lose their appeal in late 1920s, John Ford would turn to directing comedies and dramas

Early Films (Non-Western)• The Prince of Avenue A (1920)• The Girl in No. 29 (1920)• Up the River (1930)

Ford wouldn't make another western until 1939 with Stagecoach.

Ford's Style• Used a fine balance of action and romance

• Complimented this with comedic digressions• Used beautiful sceneries shot on-location• Used quiet and personalized moments in his characters• Included authentic and specific details to plot setting or time

period

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John Ford: Directing StyleJonathan Haugen and Nate Colven

Characters• Protagonists were stereotypically Americanized.

• Usually tough and rugged character.• Usually outsiders, separated from society

• Native American characters were always separated and ostracized from society.

• Preferred to create characters in his own image, emotionally tough and unwavering in their opinions.

Shot Selection• Long shots featuring natural surroundings (primarily western)• Focuses shots around making characters appear strong or

weak in comparison to the environment.

Shot Selection Cont.• Prefers medium or long static shots as opposed to close-ups. • Although he did not usually use moving shots, Ford was

famous for his use of tracking shots.

On-Set Attitude

• Focused on discipline and efficiency• Gave actors in his movies minimal instruction , preferring to

instead to demonstrate what he wanted the actors to do.• Reacted very harshly whenever an actor made a mistake,

berating and insulting them.

Symbolism• Focused on western staples such as wagons and trains,

starting films with a vehicle leaving or arriving.• Used interior lights in an Expressionist style.• Used the act of lighting a cigarette or matches to great effect.

John Ford:Directing Career/ FilmographyBy Brandon Ganaden and Tanner Soom

Timeline of Career• Began his Career in California in 1914.

• Followed in footsteps of older brother Francis Ford• Jack Ford started out in his brother's films

• an assistant, handyman, stuntman and occasional actor frequently doubling for his brother

• During his first decade as a director Ford honed his craft• dozens of features (including many westerns) but fewer than a

dozen of the more than sixty silent films he made between 1917 and 1928

• Ford was one of the pioneer directors of sound films• he shot Fox's first song sung on screen, for his film Mother

Machree (1928) of which only three of the original seven reels survive

Timeline of Career (Cont.)• Stagecoach (1939) was Ford's first western since 3 Bad Men in

1926, and it was his first with sound.• Reputedly Orson Welles watched Stagecoach forty times in

preparation for making Citizen Kane. It remains one of the most admired and imitated of all Hollywood movies.

• Made Documentaries for the Navy Documentary.• Ford returned to the big screen with The Searchers

• the only Western he made between 1950 and 1959, which is now widely regarded as not only one of his best films, but also regarded by many as the greatest western ever made.

• His last completed work was Chesty: A Tribute to a Legend• A documentary on the most decorated U.S. Marine, General

Lewis B. Puller, with narration by John Wayne

Western Films• Stagecoach• The Searchers• Cheyenne Autumn• How the West was won• The Horse Soldiers• The Long Gay Line• Mogambo• The Fugitive• Fort Apache• At the Front• The Long Voyage Home• Four Son’s

• Famous for his most popular Westerns including Stage Coach, The Searchers, and the Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

• Especially in his Westerns John Ford was a pioneer of Location shooting and long shot which frames his characters against a vast harsh and rugged natural terrain.

Other Films

• Ford was noted for his work on dramas other than the Westerns he was initially highly regarded for, and directed more than a few romance movies in the prime of his directing.

• Directed Young Mr. Lincoln, nominated for an academy award.

• Also directed The Grapes of Wrath, another historical drama highly regarded in his directing ability

• How Green Was My Valley, won five Academy Awards for directing here as well.

• The Battle of Midway won for documentary.

John Ford:Awards & Honors

By: Leo Thom Brandon Davis Connor Mishler

Award Timeline

• Prominent director in “Talkies” era• Started to win awards consistently

• Became very active during late Silent Era• No awards for silent films

• Post-“talkies” Era• Won bulk of awards in this Era

• End of Career/Death• Won multiple awards of recognition

Academy Awards• Best Director

• The Quiet Man (1952)• How Green Was My Valley (1941)• The Grapes of Wrath (1940)• The Informer (1935)• Was Nominated for Stagecoach (1939)

• Best Picture• Was Nominated for The Quiet Man (1952)

Golden Globes• Won the Special Pioneer award in the motion picture industry.

• Nominated for Best Director (The Quiet Man, 1952)

Other Notable Awards• Life Achievement Award (1973)

• Blue Ribbon Award (1963)

• Multiple DGA Awards (1953-1960)

• Founder’s Award (1997)

• NBR Award (1958)

Walk of Fame• Ford is honored with the inclusion in the “Walk of Fame”

• (1960)

• When he died in 1973, he was honored by the American Film Institute with the “Life Achievement Award”.

John Ford: Politics & Influence

Casey DeckerIan David

Politics• Began his career with leftist leanings

• Roosevelt supporter• Leader in the pro-union movement

• Helped found anti-Nazi/fascist and pro-progressive/liberal organizations

• Early movies like Grapes of Wrath considered by some to be leftist

• Later shifted to the right• Major supporter of Richard Nixon• Overall political philosophy never really clear, likely

intentionally• “The truth about my life is nobody's damn business but my own”

• Refused to truly answer questions on the political meanings of his films

http://articles.latimes.com/2001/jun/03/magazine/tm-5876

McCarthyism in the Directors Guild of America• C.B. DeMille, director of Cleopatra and The Ten

Commandments, organized an anti-communist DGA faction• Tried to make members of the Guild sign a loyalty oath• Made accusations against the Guild’s President of communist

sympathy• Ford spoke up against DeMille and called the whole ordeal

“laughable”• Guild members realized how ridiculous the situation was and

voted to end it

http://www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/All-Articles/1101-Spring-2011/Feature-Loyalty-Oath.aspx

Ireland• Irish heritage

• Father was a Democratic party leader in Maine, Irish immigrant• Visited Ireland during the Irish War of Independence

• 1921• Had cousins fighting in the IRA, which he became a supporter

of• Eventually forced out of country by the British• Remained a supporter of the IRA throughout his career,

channeling money to the organization

http://articles.latimes.com/2001/jun/03/magazine/tm-5876

Influences• Joined Hollywood at a young age, began as stuntman and

actor• Experience as an actor likely played role in one of his signature

traits: emphasis on character development• Famous for taking the often one-dimensional Western genre and

making it complex• Ford’s complex politics also influenced the complexity of his

films: not everything is so black and white• Joined the Navy during World War II

• Continued making movies in the form of documentaries• Won awards for some of these documentaries

http://agilewriter.com/Biography/JohnFord.htm

Influences• At start of his career, most of Hollywood was not focusing on

lighting or setting• Ford influenced by German filmmaking style, which

highlighted creative lighting and the use of shadows• Became known for his artistic lighting• Also used appealing and prominent backgrounds for his

Westerns• Filmed outdoors, used valleys and mountains in the southwest• Skilled at enhancing visuals, making them interesting

Monument Valley in the southwest was one of

Ford’s favorite shooting locations, helped define his

visual style.http://agilewriter.com/Biography/JohnFord.htm

The History of“Western” Films

Bryan McCarthy, Damon Day

Origin of western films• Western films were being produced near the end of the

Western Expansion era (1860’s)• A lot of early western films were representations of conflicts

and wars during Western Expansion• Westerners did not have the most positive views of American

frontier due to the hardships and conflicts• Western films shined a positive light on the American Frontier

with stories of Heroes and triumph

Evolution of Western

1. Expanding Westward (journey/adventure)

2. Establishing civilization (opportunity/law)

3. Conflict with Native Americans

4. Horse/cowboy stories

Why we watched them• Escapism

• During the depression era, western films were used as an escape from society

• Emotionally beneficial to see the “good guy always win”• Curiosity

• Curiosity led to interest as the western genre grew due to popularity in the fictional, glamorized stories of life on the frontier

• Moral ambiguity• Some films held room for debate on the moral boundaries that

define a character as good or bad• “Shane” (1953)• “High Noon” (1952)

Role of John Ford• One of the first Western directors to evolve from the silent

era• Embodied the popular, stereotypical “good guy” in numerous

western films• He contributed to the popularization of the western genre

through his notable films that became hits• “Stagecoach”• “The Searchers”

Characteristics of Western Films• The western genre is mainly an American genre that

represents U.S. history around 1860 – 1910.• During Western expansion

• Elements/Themes• Primary civilization (savagery/lawlessness)• Culture vs Nature• Community vs Individual• Settlers vs “Indians”• Traditional Western Hero

Works Cited

• Franklin, Richard. "John Ford." Senses of Cinema RSS. N.p., 21 July 2002. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.

• Grost, Michael E. "The Films of John Ford." Classic Films and Television. N.p., 6 Mar. 2004. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.

• Levy, Bill. John Ford: A Bio-Bibliography. Westport: Greenwood, 1998. Print.

Works Cited• Lindsay Anderson, Never Apologise: The Collected Writings,

London: Plexus, 2004. Republication of "Meeting in Dublin with John Ford: The Quiet Man", Sequence 14, 1952.

• Lindsay Anderson, About John Ford, London: Plexus, 1981, 1999 edition.

• Peter Bogdanovich, John Ford, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967, revised 1978.

• Peter Cowie, John Ford and the American West, New York: Harry Abrams Inc., 2004.

Works Cited• www.IMDB.com

• Lindsay Anderson, About John Ford, London: Plexus, 1981, 1999 edition.

• http://www.biography.com

Works Cited• Martynuska, Malgorzata. “The Evolution of the Western

Genre Resulting From Social Changes in the USA.” Zeszyty Naukowe University. 2009. Wed-pdf. February 13, 2014.

• “The Evolution of the Western Genre.” Filmslate magazine. 2008. Web. February 13, 2014.