The American West of John Ford - 1971 [Kosjeyr]

The American West of John Ford, 1971 film

It starts with John Wayne riding a horse and falling off. [Or was that a stunt double?] "They want action pictures." We see scenes of Monument Valley. [Does Wayne have a shortness of breath?] We see pictures of old movie scenes, they were short movies. "The Iron Horse" changed the format of westerns. "Stagecoach" was filmed there in 1938 (an area unchanged for centuries). John Ford won many Oscars for his movies and documentaries, not one for a Western. Jimmy Stewart talks about John Ford's accomplishments. Music was part of his films. He tells about the characters of the female stars. "Fort Apache" was Ford's version of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Would a newspaper print the legend in place of the facts? Yes, it occurs daily (IMO). There is a scene set on a former Hollywood movie lot, now torn down for office buildings.

There is a comic scene from "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon". [Yellow was the color for the US Cavalry.] Ford used the same actors in his films. Exteriors were shot on location, interiors in movie studios. Ford's outdoors were similar to the paintings of Remington and Russell. These movies became part of American culture. Ford's movies kept scenes simple without too much talk. No man or horse were seriously injured in his films. William S. Hart pointed out that the Indians would have stopped that "Stagecoach" by shooting the horses, but that would not have made a dramatic chase. They show scenes from "The Searchers" with comments. It ends with a view of Monument Valley and the voice of John Ford (who had an interesting life), the man who made Westerns. There is a reference to John Ford's Navy career (he held the rank of Commander for his services during WW II). He filmed the landings at Omaha Beach, but this was censored due to the heavy casualties.