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John FordImage: Wikimedia Commons

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John Ford

American film director (1894–1973)

John Ford (1 February 1894 to 31 August 1973) was an American director, born in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, whose career ran from silent Westerns in 1917 to a final documentary short in 1970, across more than 130 films. He won a record four Academy Awards for Best Director, for The Informer, The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley and The Quiet Man, and two more for wartime documentaries. His Westerns, from Stagecoach (1939) to The Searchers (1956), shaped how cinema pictured the American frontier. He received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1973.

John Ford appears in 20 films in The Rerun, from 1940 to 1964. That includes 20 titles as director. Most of that work is in drama, western and adventure. Frequent collaborators in The Rerun: Mae Marsh (10), John Wayne (10), Henry Fonda (6), Ben Johnson (5), Ken Curtis (5).

Known for

  • Stagecoach (1939), Director. The Western that made John Wayne a mainstream star.
  • The Searchers (1956), Director. One of his best-known Westerns, starring John Wayne.
  • The Quiet Man (1952), Director. Won him a fourth Academy Award for Best Director.
  • My Darling Clementine (1946), Director. A 1946 Western listed among his renowned work in the genre.
  • Fort Apache (1948), Director. A 1948 Western, shot in the location style he favoured.

Career

Ford followed his older brother Francis to Hollywood in 1914, working as an actor, stuntman and crew member before directing The Tornado in 1917. He made his name in silent Westerns such as The Iron Horse (1924), then broadened into prestige drama in the 1930s and 1940s, winning his directing Oscars for The Informer (1935), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941) and The Quiet Man (1952). During the Second World War he made The Battle of Midway and December 7th, both Oscar winners.

Stagecoach made John Wayne a star, and the two went on to make many of Ford’s best-known films, including Fort Apache (1948) and The Searchers. They Were Expendable (1945) turned his war experience into drama, and My Darling Clementine (1946) retold the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. He died in Palm Desert, California.

Where to start

  • My Darling Clementine (1946): a poetic Wyatt Earp story and a good entry point to his Westerns.
  • Fort Apache (1948): the first of his cavalry trilogy, with Henry Fonda and John Wayne.
  • They Were Expendable (1945): a sombre account of PT boat crews in the Philippines.
  • The Searchers (1956): Wayne’s darkest role for Ford, in the story of a years-long search.

Movies

Quick answers

What movies and TV shows has John Ford been in?
John Ford appears in Cheyenne Autumn (1964), How the West Was Won (1962), Sergeant Rutledge (1960), The Horse Soldiers (1959), The Last Hurrah (1958), The Wings of Eagles (1957), The Searchers (1956), Mister Roberts (1955), Mogambo (1953), The Quiet Man (1952), Rio Grande (1950) and Wagon Master (1950) on The Remote.
When was John Ford born?
John Ford was born on 1 February 1894.

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