Directed by John Ford
**This review is for a revised version of the film Peter Bogdanovich did, with new interviews and footage, in 2006.**
Even having seen only two of his films (even though they are two of his most revered, “The Grapes of Wrath” and “The Searchers”), the name of John Ford still looms large in my cinematic understanding. There’s still over 130 of his films I haven’t seen, but the director influenced many of the filmmakers I’ve watched, and loved, over the years myself: Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Akira Kurosawa, Orson Welles, Clint Eastwood, John Woo, and countless others. And I’ve seen enough from other films of his to know that, in the future, I need to get caught up with the master, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy every minute.
In 1971, the young director Peter Bogdanovich, who was part of the generation of filmmakers that also gave us Spielberg, Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Francis Ford Coppola, and many others, released a film entitled, “Directed by John Ford.” Narrated by his friend, Orson Welles, the film was a series of interviews with actors who had worked with the director, as well as Ford himself. From the second I saw snippets of this film in Scorsese’s great documentary, “A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies,” I knew I had to watch this one for myself. And yet, it was unavailable for many years.
The reason, I would learn, is because Bogdanovich was long unhappy with the film, and felt like a revision was in order. In the 2000s, Bogdanovich, who got funds from producer friend Frank Marshall, began to re-edit the movie, and bring new interviews into the picture with contemporaries like Scorsese, Spielberg, Eastwood, Walter Hill, and Harry Carry Jr. (one of Ford’s favorite actors). These new looks at the great filmmaker are interspersed with original footage of interviews with John Wayne (Ford’s favorite actor), Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, and the original narration from Welles, as well as wry footage and comments from Ford himself.
The disparity between the old and new footage in this newer version makes the film a frustrating watch. All of the “classic” footage– not just from Ford’s films, but also the interviews with Fonda, Wayne, Stewart, and Ford himself –and Welles narration is fantastic, essential viewing, and makes me even more curious to watch many of the films discussed and shown. The “modern” interviews, unfortunately, lack that sense of discovery and excitement, even though there’s obvious excitement the people have with regards to Ford’s work. There are exceptions, though, in the interviews with Harry Carrey Jr. and Maureen O’Hara, who had worked with Ford, as well as an anecdote Spielberg provides about the one time he met Ford. Regardless of the source, and regardless of what era the interviewees spoke in, all 110 minutes of this new version of “Directed by John Ford” give me a riveting sense of the director’s art, his life, and a better idea of the man who won more Oscars (4) than any other director. The question is…where should I start?
