Rear Admiral John Ford was a Naval officer who contributed greatly to documenting American history, including his work with World War 2. He is best known for his work in westerns, like The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance starring John Wayne. Ford came into the industry the way many other people do in Hollywood: by knowing somebody. Ford’s older brother, Francis Ford, had been performing in silent films in Hollywood and had formed his own production company at Universal.
In 1914, John Ford began starring in his brother’s projects in California. He quickly became his brother’s assistant and cameraman, and in the fall of that year starred in a silent movie called The Mysterious Rose. From there, John Ford showed great interest in directing and worked on multiple silent films in the first ten years of his career. The majority of sources report that Ford’s first film was 1917’s The Tornado, which is unfortunately considered a “lost film”.
John Ford is also well-known for his role in the rise of actor John Wayne. Wayne was a young student working on the set of a Fox lot when Ford discovered him and saw some potential. They remained intertwined during Ford’s career and life, taking yacht cruises and trips together when they weren’t working.
Ford was prominent in the introduction of sound to motion pictures as well. Mother Machree was Fox’s first film with singing and the first John Ford film to star John Wayne. Then, Ford’s first full-length picture with sound, Stagecoach, went on to change Westerns forever. While the film was criticized for its representation of Native Americans, it has been called an illustration of “American aspiration toward a form of politically meaningful equality,” by philosopher Robert Pippin. Here are nine of the best John Ford films, ranked.
9 Stagecoach
Stagecoach was one of the very first sound westerns Ford shot, situated in an area on the Arizona and Utah border. The film starred John Wayne and Claire Trevor and follows a group of strangers on a stagecoach who are crossing through potentially dangerous Apache territory. According to Nick Clooney’s book The Movies That Changed Us, the film producer Walter Wagner was reluctant to take on Stagecoach because John Ford lacked experience in making Westerns and John Wayne was mostly unknown. However, Wagner gave in with a smaller budget, and the movie debuted in 1939 and changed the Western as we know it. Supposedly, Orson Welles took inspiration from this project for his film, Citizen Kane.
8 How Green Was My Valley
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One of John Ford’s films that didn’t star John Wayne was also set in largely unfamiliar territory for the director, Wales. How Green Was My Valley follows the difficult lives of the Morgan family, a Welsh family involved in mining, who experiences the hardships of living in the South Wales coalfields. Again, the success of this piece is often credited to Ford’s “style” and what Abel Green of Variety calls “skillful John Ford camera painting.”
7 Fort Apache
Based on a short story named Massacre, Fort Apache tells the tale of a veteran war captain, played by John Wayne, whose order is replaced by a younger, more arrogant lieutenant who lacks respect for the local Native Americans. Unlike The Searchers, the support of Native Americans in this film was more outright and not as nervous as Ford’s other efforts. While this is true, critic Lucia Bozzola says that the movie is “hardly politically correct” but “still offers Ford’s striking black and white Monument Valley vistas and assured performances by Wayne and Fonda."
6 The Grapes of Wrath
Another detour from Ford’s regular theme of Westerns, The Grapes of Wrath is a 1940 film about an Oklahoma family in the midst of the Great Depression. They lose their farm as a result of their poverty and decide to travel across the country to California. Like many other films handled by Ford, the film was recognized by the US National Film Registry as one of the greatest films of all time. Roger Ebert’s review of the film claims it tells a story that, to the people who experience it, “will never become dated.”
5 The Quiet Man
Another one of Ford’s films selected by the US National Film Registry, The Quiet Man was the winner of Ford’s fourth Academy Award for Best Director. The film follows the story of a retired American boxer and his visit to the place of his birth in 1920s Ireland. Played by John Wayne, the boxer falls in love with a bold woman whose brother disapproves of their relationship. Another detour from Westerns for Wayne and Ford, in a review by Reel Views, James Berardinelli says that this piece was the most “personal film Ford ever made” because Ford was also from “Irish extraction.”
4 Young Mister Lincoln
A 1939 biographical movie about the American president, Young Mr. Lincoln follows the life of an adolescent Abraham Lincoln, played by Ford’s second choice next to Wayne, Henry Fonda. According to a movie review by Common Sense Media, in this work Ford “seamlessly works in patriotism, myth, broad humor, dancing, and a love of history, as well as his unerring, poetic visual sense.” Lincoln comes across as having “regular pains and making regular decisions” without seeming too admirable or inhuman.
3 Mister Roberts
Mister Roberts is another piece that stars Henry Fonda and other famous players such as James Cagney, William Powell, and Jack Lemmon. The film follows the story of a World War II naval officer, played by Henry Fonda, managing a crew on a cargo ship. Common Sense Media comments that at times the movie feels “stiff and constrained” but is rescued by the work of a talented cast.
2 The Searchers
The Searchers was one of John Ford’s color films, and considered one of the best Western movies of all time. Also starring John Wayne, the film tells the story of a civil war veteran who has embarked on a search for his missing niece with his adopted nephew. This is another one of Ford’s critically acclaimed films and is criticized for certain representations of that time.
Wayne’s character shows acute anger toward the Native Americans, but there is a debate as to whether this was Ford’s representation of reality or his own form of prejudice. In a Roger Ebert article, the famed critic writes that, “Ford was trying, imperfectly, even nervously, to depict racism that justified genocide; the comic relief might be an unconscious attempt to soften the message.”
1 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The 1962 film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was adapted from Dorothy M. Johnson’s story of the same name. Although movies in color were becoming popular at this time, John Ford insisted that the project must be done in black and white. Unlike Stagecoach, this film was also shot on a set and not on location. The story starred an older John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart in a great performance and follows a senator who revisits a western town to mourn an old friend. The senator, played by James Stewart, goes on to explain where he came from and his connection to the community. Though it represented the end of an era for Westerns, like Ford’s other works, the movie went on to inspire younger directors, including Sergio Leone and his best spaghetti westerns like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
John Ford played a significant role in Hollywood and inspired many other successful directors with his careful attention to detail and sincerity. While many of his films might remain problematic in this day and age, his poetic framing, great American themes, and dissection of western history make him one of the greatest directors of all time.