John Ford is the director most associated with the western, and some call him the best director in the history of American cinema. In his biography of Ford, Joseph McBride writes, “At the famous meeting in October 1950 when the Screen Director’s Guild was torn apart of the issue of the Hollywood blacklist, the leading figure in the guild, who had been sitting in enigmatic silence throughout the evening, finally rose to address his colleagues. ‘My name is John Ford,’ he said. ‘I am a director of Westerns'” (416). Although he directed a number of silent, feature-length westerns, I know of only four that survive in complete or near-complete prints: Straight Shooting (Universal, 1917), Bucking Broadway (Universal, 1917), The Iron Horse (Fox, 1924), and 3 Bad Men (Fox, 1926). During the sound era, however, he produced a number of important films in the genre, including three we are watching in class. His entire western output during this period is below:
Stagecoach (Walter Wanger /United Artists, 1939)
Drums Along the Mohawk (Fox, 1939) – “Pennsylvania Western”
My Darling Clementine (Fox, 1946)
Fort Apache (Argosy/RKO, 1948)
3 Godfathers (Argosy/MGM, 1948)
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (Argosy/RKO, 1949)
Wagon Master (Argosy/RKO, 1950)
Rio Grande (Argosy/Republic, 1950)
The Searchers (Warner Bros., 1956)
The Horse Soldiers (Mirish/United Artists, 1959)
Sergeant Rutledge (Warner Bros., 1960)
Two Rode Together (Columbia, 1961)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Paramount, 1962)
Cheyenne Autumn (Warner Bros., 1964)