John Ford: Director of the Month

There have been preeminent directors over the years, but I think John Ford has the distinction of being a legend in his own time and his legacy has continued far after he stopped making films. Ford is the only director to ever win 4 Oscars for best director (The Informer, The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was my Valley, and The Quiet Man). However, his career is most highly remembered for his collaboration and friendship with John Wayne. He essentially made Wayne a star with Stagecoach (1939). Their work together continued for several more decades, memorably in other westerns such as Fort Apache (1948), 3 Godfathers (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Rio Grande (1950), and then of course The Searchers (1956) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). However, Ford also showed a sensitivity in portraying his ancestral homeland in great films such as How Green Was my Valley (1941) and The Quiet Man (1952). Furthermore, Ford had several highly praised films with Henry Fonda including The Grapes of Wrath (1940), My Darling Clementine (1946), and Mister Roberts (1955). I think what makes Ford so brilliant is he had had his trademark genre in westerns and his trademark setting of Monument Valley, but there were many other brilliant aspects to his career. He was definitely a great American filmmaker and yet he was not averse to depicting Ireland as well. I cannot speak for the man specifically but the director John Ford is very impressive.