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Admiral John Ford's Interests
General
Movies
MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946)
Among Ford's finest Westerns and one of the greatest of films for its sense of poetic tragedy, My Darling Clementine is pervaded by a feeling of loss—of family, place, honor, and self-worth. The reluctant hero, Wyatt Earp (Henry Fonda), can never find the peace the church-going pioneer families pay him to establish. Equally, he is a reluctant romantic, deeply chivalrous like other Fordian leading men. Among the more elusive protagonists of the Western genre, Earp seems laid back, reserved, or repressed. His friend and ally, Doc Holliday (Victor Mature), is a dentist turned gambler who carries a tragic weight. Earp's sorrow is quieter, more introspective. His gentle attempts to achieve balance on a sunny Sunday morning yield one of cinema's most sublime moments.
Ford gave a lonely landscape a particular resonance. No other filmmaker is as identified with a specific location; none has imbued a site with greater meaning. His Westerns are an evocation of his strong feeling for the American past; the frontier is his landscape of memory. My Darling Clementine is a triumph of his unique Western mise-en-scène, rich characterization, and breathtaking black-and-white cinematography. The town of Tombstone, a settlement emerging in the middle of nowhere, is a universe unto itself. The town represents the civilization of the white man, with the Indian nation of no importance. Problems are caused by greed and drunkenness, clannish loyalties, and a thirst for revenge. The film plays freely with myth and legend, often departing from what is known about the historical figures who inspire the tale: the Earps, the Clantons, and Holliday.
John Ford came to Hollywood following one of his brothers, an actor. Asked what brought him to Hollywood, he replied "The train". He became one of the most respected directors in the business, in spite of being known for his westerns, which were not considered "serious" film. He won six Oscars, counting (he always did) the two that he won for his WWII documentary work. He had one wife; a son and daughter; and a grandson, Dan Ford who wrote a biography on his famous grandfather.
Foremost in the pantheon of Western directors is John Ford, who has no less than nine films featured in Edward Buscombe's guide to 100 Westerns. Philip French, film critic for The Observer, cited The Searchers as the key film in the Ford canon as long ago as 1973.
--Nigel Arthur, BFI Stills Curator
THE SEARCHERS - Intro
What gives The Searchers its compelling force is the character of Ethan, the most complex of all Wayne's characters. Ethan is an Indian-hater, a man who knows their ways but is implacably hostile. His niece Debbie [Natalie Wood] is captured by the Comanche which makes him bitter and vindictive, almost to the point of madness, so that he prefers to see his niece dead rather than contemplate her as the sexual partner of Scar. His feelings are exacerbated by guilt at the memory that he himself loved his brother's wife; in raping Martha before murdering her, Scar has become a kind of monstrous surrogate for Ethan's own desires. At the end, Ethan confirms this identity by scalping the Comanche Chief, a kind of symbolic castration asserting both Ethan's own savagery and his need to root out his quasi-incestuous desire.
--Excerpts from BFI Screen Guide: 100 Westerns by Edward Buscombe
Admiral, Your work is among the greatest of any director. The nuances and camera angles you brought to the cavalry trilogy, The Searchers and countless others will live forever! Even a film like Liberty Valance, shot with a low budget on the back lot, is a CLASSIC!
Les deux plus belles conquêtes que l'homme ait faites sur lui-même, c'est le saut périlleux et la philosophie. The two more beautiful conquests than the man made on itself, it is the somersault and philosophy. [Edmond et Jules de Goncourt]
Le rire est le saut du possible dans l'impossible. The laughter is the jump of possible in the impossible one.
[Georges Bataille]
L'élan fait partie du saut.... Douce journée, Botti. The dash forms part of the jump.... Soft Day, and Happy Birthday... Botti.
Hi John thanks for the add.... i wont talk to u about art so but have a look at my paintings in a photo album on my site and maybe give an opinion.......now i didnt talk about art!!!!
