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
• 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
3/14/2016
• Used a fine balance of action and romance
John Ford: Directing Style
Jonathan 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/ Filmography
By 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
• Became very active during late Silent Era
• No awards for silent films
• Prominent director in “Talkies” era
• Started to win awards consistently
• 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 Decker
Ian 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
http://agilewriter.com/Biography/JohnFord.htm
Monument Valley in the
southwest was one of
Ford’s favorite shooting
locations, helped define his
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.