Searching for John Ford

John Ford, born Sean Aloysius O'Fearna in Cape Elizabeth, Maine in 1895, hasn't lacked for biographers since his death in 1973, but he remains an extremely difficult subject, for several reasons. One is the sheer sweep of his career, which, spanning 1917 to 1970, roughly paralleled that of American cinema itself and witnessed massive societal changes and world wars. More problematic is Ford himself, a man with a multiplicity of nicknames: Boss, Pappy, Jack. Joseph McBride, in Searching for John Ford, quotes Reverend Clayton (Ward Bond) in The Searchers telling Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) "You fit a lot of descriptions," a statement that nicely summarizes Ford's own elusiveness. In this rock-solid, 800-plus-page biography, McBride shows that this exceptionally powerful but also deeply flawed man hid behind his films and behind a carefully constructed identity that was always in danger of cracking, and sometimes did. A sensitive, culturally literate, poetically inclined man, he pretended (in his own phrase) to be "illiterate" and called assessments of his status as the master of the western saga "horsehit." A passionate defender of family values in his films, he was also, frequently, a sadist on the set. The book shows him as a poisonous presence to actors like Jimmy Cagney (who called him "truly a nasty old man") and Henry Fonda (who may or may not have knocked him down) but particularly to his treasured stock company members Ward Bond and John Wayne. Without being overly psychoanalytical, McBride shows how Ford's personal behavior was often a projection of his anxieties. On the set of Stagecoach, he was publicly merciless to Wayne: "I really should get Gary Cooper for this part. Can't you walk, for Chrissake, instead of skipping like a goddam fairy." The irony here was that Wayne was apparently copying Ford's own much-noted "feminine" walk. The book also documents Ford's endless practical joking, much of it aimed at Bond, a rabid anticommunist whom Ford considered "stupid." Searching for John Ford documents every phase of his life and career, from his early missteps to his canonization as one of the greatest -- and most widely influential -- directors in world cinema. The book gives what are most likely definitive answers to some nagging questions in this history, one of them Ford's alleged affair with Katherine Hepburn. McBride sifts methodically through every shred of evidence, including questionable portrayals by Hepburn biographer Barbara Leaming and Ford's grandson Dan, and a mysterious letter found among Ford's papers that purports to reproduce a conversation between Hepburn and an unidentified "Miss D" on the subject of her involvement with Ford. He makes an entirely credible case that this relationship was not physical, based on Ford's Catholic inhibitions and marriage vows. At any rate, despite Ford's wife Mary's willingness to let him have a private life outside his beloved home and marriage, alcohol had a stronger lure for him, eventu

This might be the definitive(if that makes sense...)biography of the American Renoir (according to François Truffaut, who eventually came to understand and appreciate the director's work after years of disdain...contrary to Rohmer who never changed his mind), even if thoroughly researched works, among which quite recent ones, are already available: Tag Gallagher's, among others, seemed to embody the bulk of what could be said today of the "greatest poet of the western saga"( "horseshit", according to the guy himself...) or even the "Shakespeare of cinema"...until the release of Joseph Mc Bride's Searching for John Ford.Mc Bride, with Michael Wilmington, had already explored with sympathy and insight the rich complexity, destructive contradictions and inner conflicts building up the director's work in their 1974 John Ford. The book was an assumed reading of the films in the light of Ford's search for allegiance as a first generation Irish-American, progressively doomed by disappointment and bitterness.The analyses of movies such as Straight Shooting (maybe Ford's first, with most of his themes already in...),The Searchers or The Man who Shot Liberty Valance conveyed a sense of poetry owing as much to the authors as to the soul of the works studied.This new biography is a thirty-years job, exploring deeper than ever the interconnections between the director's inner life and his films. Nothing is here anecdotal,all is but aimed at understanding a man. As Martin Scorcese puts it on the huge volume backcover: Searching for John Ford should be compulsory reading. And even if Renoir did deserve a pretty good amount of good critical studies, the French John Ford has never been paid such a tribute.

I don't know why anyone interested in the seminal American director, John Ford, would not find this book utterly fascinating. McBride illuminates Ford's early life and the beginnings of his long career with detailed care. He explores his problematic character with skill, compassion and insight without ever being patronizing and without ever holding back about the darkest aspects of Ford's personality and behavior. For instance, McBride makes it very clear that Ford does not deserve as much credit as he usually gets for what was really an ambivalent attitude toward the notorious Hollywood "blacklist" during the anti-communist hysteria of the 1940s and '50s.McBride's book is packed with vivid anecdotes from associates, observers of Ford and members of the legendary "Stock Company" (Harry Carey, Jr.'s stories are really wonderful!), and his own critiques of the films are sophisticated and augmented by quotes and assessments by other major "Fordians." McBride is generous with his inclusion of other critics' views and when he disagrees he himself is never mean or dismissive. His illuminations of the significance of the post-WWII western, his accounts of the intricacies of the "blacklist" and his sympathetic understanding of Ford's last films and what they represented are especially valuable. There may indeed be other biographies just as good as McBride's but this is a captivating, comprehensive and intellectual volume for the Ford aficionado. It is immensely satisfying!

This is a very good biography of Ford. Yes, McBride relies on Sarris and Carey Jr. a good bit of the time, yet this book remains very interesting and does a thorough job covering the many films Ford made.Strengths of the book include an eye-opening look at Ford's WWII service, (How many other guys were at both Midway and D-Day and managed to get to Burma and Yugoslavia as well?) a clear presentation of Ford's relations with the different studios (the list of "better" titles for The Quiet Man the head of Republic tried to force on Ford is hysterically funny) and an evenhanded evaluation of Ford's behavior during the blacklist era.Perhaps the evenhandedness of McBride's tone is what I liked the most about the book. One could take Ford's life and turn it into a straightforward case of hero-worship, or one could take an axe to him up and down the line, pointing out his failures in family life, his bigoted comments, his questionable actions in some controversial issues. McBride avoids falling into either extreme camp. We get Ford warts and all here, and it is left up to us to decide.My only complaint is that the book is too short. I would have liked more discussion on a few films, and I would have liked a chapter on Ford's posthumous reputation. McBride raises the issue in his introduction that Ford is being forgotten by the new generation of writers and filmmakers, but he never quite tells why.Still, this was a fine book, one that I read quickly despite its length.

As a fan of the master filmmaker John Ford, I was enthralled to find this wonderful biography. It is both entertaining and scholarly, filled with fascinating anecdotes that provide the reader with an in-depth view of Ford's complex personality. In spanning Ford's life and career, this book also provides a panoramic overview of Hollywood itself and the dramatic changes it went through over the years, many of which are reflected in Ford's work. I really enjoyed the analyses of Ford's films which provide many new insights and perspectives. A must-read for anyone interested in film.