John Ford

John Ford

Born:

February 1, 1895

Born as:

John Martin Feeney1

Died:

August 31, 1973

It is easier to get an actor to be a cowboy than to get a cowboy to be an actor

Biography:

John's brother Francis took Ford as a stage name and entered pictures in 1907. In 1914 Feeney went to Hollywood, where he worked as stunt man, actor, and assistant director at the Universal Studios.

He changed his name and was assigned to work on shorts and westerns.

Ford shot to the top rank with The Iron Horse (1924), the story of the first transcontinental railroad, filmed on location.

The 1930s found Johns further developing a distinctive style cumulating in the high-budget movie The Informer (1935) which established Ford's critical reputation.

1939 was a great year for Ford. In a twelve month period, he achieved the astonishing task of directing Stagecoach (with John Wayne), Young Mr. Lincoln, Drums along the Mohawk and The Grapes of Wrath (1940).

In the late 1940s Ford directed the Cavalry trilogy: Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and Rio Grande (1950).

In 1973, Ford was the first person to receive the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award.

Ford had been a successful director for over a decade when he met Marion Morrison, the later John Wayne at the time a young USC student working as an assistant property man. He saw something in Morrison and gave the "kid" a few walk-ons in his films. John did 22 films with John Ford. The relationship between Ford and Wayne was unique, going beyond director-actor collaboration. Wayne represented Ford on-screen as a younger alter-ego

  • Four Sons (1928)
  • Hangman's House (1928)
  • Mother Machree (1928)
  • The Black Watch (1929)
  • Salute (1929)
  • Born Reckless (1930)
  • Men Without Women (1930)
  • Stagecoach (1939)
  • The Long Voyage Home (1940)
  • They Were Expendable (1945)
  • 3 Godfathers (1948)
  • Fort Apache (1948)
  • She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
  • Rio Grande (1950)
  • The Quiet Man (1952)
  • Hondo (1953)
  • The Searchers (1956)
  • The Wings of Eagles (1957)
  • The Horse Soldiers (1959)
  • The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
  • How the West Was Won (1962)
  • Donovan's Reef (1963)

Selected Movies

  • The Searchers (1956)
  • The man who shot Liberty Valance (1962)
  • The Grapes of wrath (1940)
  • Stagecoach (1939)
  • My darling clementine (1946)
  • The quiet man (1952)
  • Mister Roberts (1955)
  • How green was my valley (1941)
  • She wore a yellow ribbon (1949)
  • Fort Apache (1948)

Bibliography » Books:

Bibliography » Web:

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DVD Town - The John Wayne John Ford film collection
High-def digest - Another Ford film on blu-ray
Los Angeles Times - John Ford on a stamp
New York Times - A new film discovered
RTE - Annual John Ford Ireland event set