John Ford Made Westerns : Filming the Legend in the Sound Era

Fresh perspectives on some of the most influential films of John Ford.The Western is arguably the most popular and enduring form in cinematic history, and the acknowledged master of that genre was John Ford. His Westerns, including The Searchers, Stagecoach, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, have had an enormous influence on contemporary U.S. films, from Star Wars to Taxi Driver.In John Ford Made Westerns, nine major essays by prominent scholars of Hollywood film situate the sound-era Westerns of John Ford within contemporary critical contexts and regard them from fresh perspectives. These range from examining Ford's relation to other art forms (most notably literature, painting, and music) to exploring the development of the director's reputation as a director of Westerns. While giving attention to film style and structure, the volume also treats the ways in which these much-loved films engage with notions of masculinity and gender roles, capitalism and community, as well as racial, sexual, and national identity.Contributors include Charles Ramirez Berg, Matthew Bernstein, Edward Buscombe, Joan Dagle, Barry Keith Grant, Kathryn Kalinak, Peter Lehman, Charles J. Maland, Gaylyn Studlar, and Robin Wood.ContentsPart IIntroduction, Gaylyn Studlar & Matthew Bernstein "'Shall We Gather at the River?': The Late Films of John Ford," Robin Wood "Sacred Duties, Poetic Passions: John Ford and Issue of Femininity in the Western," Gaylyn Studlar"The Margin as Center: The Multicultural Dynamics of John Ford's Westerns," Charles Ramirez Berg "Linear Patterns and Ethnic Encounters in the Ford Western," Joan Dagle "How the West Wasn't Won: the Repression of Capitalism in John Ford's Westerns," Peter Lehman "Painting the Legend: Frederic Remington and the Western," Edward Buscombe "'The Sound of Many Voices': Music in John Ford's Westerns," Kathryn Kalinak "John Ford and James Fenimore Cooper: Two Rode Together," Barry Keith Grant "From Aesthete to Pappy: The Evolution of John Ford's Public Reputation," Charles J. MalandPart II -- DossierEmanuel Eisenberg, "John Ford: Fighting Irish," New Theater, April 1936Frank S. Nugent, "Hollywood's Favorite Rebel," Saturday Evening Post, July 23, 1949John Ford, "John Wayne -- My Pal," Hollywood, no. 237 (March 17, 1951), translated from the Italian by Gloria MontiBill Libby, "The Old Wrangler Rides Again," Cosmopolitan, March 1964"About John Ford," Action 8.8 (Nov.-Dec. 1973) The Western is arguably the most popular and enduring form in cinematic history, and the acknowledged master of that genre was John Ford. His Westerns, including The Searchers, Stagecoach, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, have had an enormous influence on contemporary U.S. films, from Star Wars to Taxi Driver.

In John Ford Made Westerns, nine major essays by prominent scholars of Hollywood film situate the sound-era Westerns of John Ford within contemporary critical contexts and regard them from fresh perspectives. These range from examining Ford's relation to other art forms (most notably literature, painting, and music) to exploring the development of the director's reputation as a director of Westerns. While giving attention to film style and structure, the volume also treats the ways in which these much-loved films engage with notions of masculinity and gender roles, capitalism and community, as well as racial, sexual, and national identity.

Contributors include Charles Ramirez Berg, Matthew Bernstein, Edward Buscombe, Joan Dagle, Barry Keith Grant, Kathryn Kalinak, Peter Lehman, Charles J. Maland, Gaylyn Studlar, and Robin Wood.

About the Authors:
Gaylyn Studlar is Director and Professor of Film Studies and English at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She has published widely on issues of gender in Hollywood cinema. She is coeditor (with Matthew Bernstein) of Visions of the East: Orientalism in Film.

Matthew Bernstein, Associate Professor of Film Studies at Emory University, is author of Walter Wanger, Hollywood Independent.

"The Western is arguably the most popular and enduring form in cinematic history, and the acknowledged master of that genre was John Ford. His Westerns, including The Searchers, Stagecoach, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, have had an enormous influence on contemporary U.S. films, from Star Wars to Taxi Driver. In John Ford Made Westerns, nine major essays by prominent scholars of Hollywood film situate the sound-era Westerns of John Ford within contemporary critical contexts and regard them from fresh perspectives. These range from examining Ford's relation to other art forms (most notably literature, painting, and music) to exploring the development of the director's reputation as a director of Westerns. While giving attention to film style and structure, the volume also treats the ways in which these much-loved films engage with notions of masculinity and gender roles, capitalism and community, as well as racial, sexual, and national identity."--Jacket Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 14 PART ONE: ESSAYS 34 1. “Shall We Gather at the River?” The Late Films of John Ford 36 2. Sacred Duties, Poetic Passions: John Ford and the Issue of Femininity in the Western 56 3. The Margin as Center: The Multicultural Dynamics of John Ford’s Westerns 88 4. Linear Patterns and Ethnic Encounters in the Ford Western 115 5. How the West Wasn’t Won: The Repression of Capitalism in John Ford’s Westerns 145 6. Painting the Legend: Frederic Remington and the Western 167 7. “The Sound of Many Voices”: Music in John Ford’s Westerns 182 8. John Ford and James Fenimore Cooper: Two Rode Together 206 9. From Aesthete to Pappy: The Evolution of John Ford’s Public Reputation 233 PART TWO: DOSSIER 266 10. John Ford: Fighting Irish 268 11. Hollywood’s Favorite Rebel” 274 12. John Wayne—My Pal 285 13. The Old Wrangler Rides Again 290 14. About John Ford 302 Filmography 308 Selected Bibliography 314 Contributors 317 Index 319 Nine major essays by prominent scholars of Hollywood film cast new light on the sound-era Westerns of John Ford. They place the films within contemporary critical contexts and regard them from fresh perspectives. While giving attention to style and structure, the volume also treats the ways in which these much-loved films engage with notions of masculinity and gender roles, capitalism and community, as well as racial, sexual, and national identity The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance seems to me John Ford's last successful movie; yet most of Ford's admirers appear to place a very high value on the three features that followed it, finding sustained significance in Donovan's Reef, explaining away the weaknesses of Cheyenne Autumn in terms of studio interference, and acclaiming Seven Women as a masterpiece. The Western is arguably the popular and longlived form in cinematic history, and the acknowledged master of that genre was John Ford. In nine majors essays from some of the prominent scholars of Hollywood film, this book situates the sound era westerns of John Ford within contemporary critical contexts and regards them from fresh perspectives.