The man who shot "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"

Last week James Wolcott and I had a bit of a back and forth and back again over the question of just how conservative the director John Ford was.  It's a tricky question, because it's as hard to use the word conservative these days without meaning the rightwing authoritarianism that's going by that name in Washington as it is to use the word communism to mean anything other than what happened in the old Soviet Union.

Ford was staunchly anti-communist and he could blow off hats and lift skirts with the breezes raised by his all too energetic flag waving, but 60 and 70 years ago those qualities did not disqualify you from being a Democrat or even a liberal.

This is only important as an issue of memory for me.  I'm convinced that I read that Ford was actually more of a conservative Democrat than he was something we'd identify nowadays as a conservative. I've been re-reading Garry Wills' John Wayne's America to try to answer the question for myself and prove I'm not growing senile. So far I haven't concluded anything about Ford's politics.  But I am sick to death of him as a character.  Wolcott called him a conservative coot.  The emphasis should fall on coot.  But coot is too friendly a word for him.  Ford comes across in Wills' book as a twisted little imp, as sadistic, mysogynistic, bad-tempered, and cruelly mischievous as Rumplestiltskin.

Maureen O'Hara plays the princess who learns his name.  In a comment on my post, The Moviegoer, SFMike recommends O'Hara's autobiography, 'Tis Herself.

Even though it's (poorly) ghostwritten and confused as heck about all kinds of things, the book is fascinating. Her accounts of  "Pappy" John Ford, who was her mentor, tormentor, friend and abuser are worth the price of admission, and the settling of scores throughout the book is quite amusing, beginning with the nasty nuns who tried to break her spirit in Dublin. It turns out that Ford was not only a great visual artist, but also a gay closet case and an evil binge drinker who loved destroying other people.

This is not to even mention her anecdotes about Walt Disney (from "The Parent Trap" days) raising himself out of his deathbed at the hospital to point at Maureen and croak out, "That bitch." Plus, her final husband was aviation pioneer Charles Blair who was probably killed by the CIA in a phony plane accident after ten years of their marriage. Or her anecdotes about the "charming" Che Guevara when she was filming "Our Man in Havana." Highly recommended, though very weird.

I think I'll check it out.  And I'll keep reading Wills' book.  Meantime, others have had some interesting things to say on the question, starting with George at A Girl and A Gun.

I think the essence of Ford’s art is in his style and not in his politics, which are conventionally patriotic and mostly unquestioning of received opinion about “what made this country great.” He believed, or was willing to support the position, that the US cavalry played a heroic role in westward expansion and that its original inhabitants were, at bottom, noble savages. Wolcott calls Ford “a classicist,” and I think he’s exactly right. Ford was formalist in his vision, dedicated to composition and structure. He adhered to enduring institutions like the Catholic church precisely because they endured and were therefore honorable and worthy of respect. He was formulaic, resorting to pre-established set pieces like his Irish sentimentalism and male rough-housing and corny old songs (“My Darling Clementine,” “Red River Valley”) the way that Homer resorted to “the wine-dark sea” and “rosy-fingered dawn” to help fill narrative space. He also went to the well a bit too often, and some of his later efforts—The Horse Soldiers (1959), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), and Donovan’s Reef (1963) to name only a few that come to mind—were just about unwatchable. But in the great westerns, from 1939 (Stagecoach) to 1956 (The Searchers), he organized space and movement within it in a way the western never outgrew, at least for me. In later years, whether I was watching movies by Sergio Leone or Clint Eastwood, Ford’s way of seeing that time and place was in my head, and it’s probably never getting out.

You should read George's whole post.

In a comment to my post on Ford, Phil Nugent makes the case that though Ford was a conservative his politics didn't trump his character:

Ford WAS a conservative, but he deserves but be remembered as someone different from the people who've taken over that label, stretched it and pitted it out and degraded its meaning, and claimed it for their own. He was a man formed by experience who had some strongly held beliefs but wasn't looking for a crowd of nodding heads to join. One of the most famous stories about Ford is about how he shot down the attempt by Cecil B. de Mille to institute some kind of Red Scare blacklist inside the Directors' Guild by attending the meeting de Mille had called and making a simple speech, acknowledging all that de Mille had done for Hollywood but ending, "But I don't like you, C.B., and I don't like what you're trying to do here." Wayne was more a prototype modern chicken hawk. As you say, he never actually served in military combat, but --like Ronald Reagan--he seemed to think that he had. Ford, a mean bastard who liked to test people, was said to have treated them increasingly contemptously throughout the years of their association, and Wayne made sure the abuse would continue by never standing his ground or speaking back. Yet he was a much pettier bully with those he thought he could afford to push around, bragging in a Playboy interview about having run the screenwriter Carl Foreman "out of the country" in the HUAC days.

Rob Farley of Lawyers, Guns and Money dropped a line to point out that Ford was indeed an ultra-conservative, a reactionary in fact, but that, interestingly, that's what gave Ford's westerns their grandness:

It's truly remarkable that Confederate nostalgia and reactionary politics can be wedded so fruitfully to an outstanding directorial eye and grasp of character and narrative.  More than that; the best chracters in Ford appreciate their own anachronism.  Indeed, I don't think that any but a reactionary director combined with reactionary actor could bring a character like [The Searchers'] Ethan Edwards to life.  The ambiguity and conflict in his character seems genuine because it is genuine; we appreciate that different impulses are tearing him apart, and we believe all of them.  Same thing with Tom Doniphon [Wayne's character in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance].

But back in my comments section, Robert Anderson resists pasting the conservative label on Ford:

The statement that John Ford was in the conservative camp during the Blacklist era is dead wrong. The blacklisting disgusted him ("John Ford" by Tag Gallagher, p. 340). He is famous for saying "Send the commie bastard to me, I'll hire him." He had his military order condemn the HUAC hearings as witchhunts. In 1950, Cecil DeMille, proposed that the Director's Guild require a loyalty oath for its members, in what amounted to a requirement for directing movies. After a famous intense four hour debate, Ford stood up and said: " My name is John Ford, I direct westerns." He then condemned the oath and moved for DeMille's resignation and an endorsement of Joseph Mankowitz, Guild president and a left-winger. Moved by Ford's eloquent speech, the Guild passed his motion.

You have to be careful with Ford, he's a complex guy. He hated racism, but he loved the Cavalry. In 1967 in his old age, he called himself a "liberal democrat and a rebel."

I think all this circles us back to Wolcott's original point.  Wolcott was responding to the outrage some wingnuts were expressing over the sight of Mel Gibson and Michael Moore admiring each other's work. 

What cultural-rube Hollywood haters don't understand is that there is a fraternal order among filmmakers, whatever their political stripes. That's why a nihilist and Nixon-hater like Sam Peckinpah could pay homage to a conservative coot and classicist like John Ford. Why a Republican like Clint Eastwood has no problem compunction working with lefties like Sean Penn and Tim Robbins. Talented people respect talent. They have larger spirits than the political pundits that glom on to them.

Sunday morning update:  And forth again.  Wolcott gives a nice shout out to Mike, George, Phil, Rob, Robert and all the rest of you who've left comments on this post and The Moviegoer.  I get the traffic but you get the credit.  You did all the heavy lifting.  Thanks, folks.

In his post, Mr W praises the westerns Jimmy Stewart made with Anthony Mann, to which I say, Boys and girls, listen to the man.   Wolcott's favorite is Winchester '73, a real good one, but I'm kind of partial to The Far Country---Ruth Roman in technicolor.  And The Naked Spur is intense, and very unsettling if you're used to thinking of Stewart as George Bailey or Elwood P. Dowd. Stewart plays the ostensible hero, and Robert Ryan's the villain, but Stewart and Ryan have a contest going to see who can play it the most menacing and unsypathetic.  Ryan wins, but only because Janet Leigh chooses Stewart and you figure she must know something we don't.

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In related news:  That post of mine, The Moviemaker, is fast moving down the page.  In case you haven't seen it, it's basically a riff around a link to a fun list of 100 Great Films.  If you haven't looked at either the list or my post, I wish you would take a gander at both.  In the comments, some folks have left lists of their favorites on the list and movies they would add to it.  There are some interesting recommendations.  Please check it out, and leave some recommendations of your own.  Thank you for your support.

Comments

[Robert Anderson]

Ford reminds me of Vince Lombardi- An italian American who was a liberal and strongly supported the Kennedys. He hated racism and that quality was a key to his success- he treated everybody the same. But in the 60's, Vince became quite outspoken against draft resisters and the counterculter, often sounding like a flagwaving reactionary. I guess people were a lot more complicated back then.

I don't like to mix politics with sports or art. I'm as liberal as they come, but Ford, Vince, and yes even the Duke, are three of my heros.

[Sown Eye]

Ford's Horse Soldiers unwatchable? Rubbish. Most people likely don't appreciate is that it is based on an actual raid, one which Grant himself did set in motion, as the movie depicts. The raid had a profound effect upon military actions of the confederate leadership, and proved instrumental to the success of his campaign that led to the fall of Vicksburg. In the film's broadest outlines, Ford accurately portrayed the cav's strategy and tactics, too.

As to the comment that Vince Lombardi "..treated everybody the same": during the Pack's glory years, Paul Hornung(?) was asked if that was indeed true. Referring to the players, he famously replied, "Yeah, like dogs".

[Sovereign Eye]

You refuse to watch Jaws? What the hell?

I went and saw it after it had been out a few months, entering the theatre with a real "show me this better be good" attitude. Well, it did, and from the gitgo, too. What on earth prompts your pig-headed refusal to enjoy an enjoyable film?

Now, Jaws 2 I would definitely understand. Even Michael Caine is embarassed by that one. When asked if he had seen it, he replied, "No, but I live in the house it paid for".

[Lance]

I have a soft spot for the Horse Soldiers. I also have a soft spot for Donovan's Reef. I think that might have been the first grown up movie I ever saw. I stayed up late to watch it and it affected me profoundly. I still can't believe I don't live on an island and own a bar.

No movie with William Holden or Lee Marvin is unwatchable.

No sharks. I don't care how good the movie is. In fact a good movie about sharks is even worse!

[Elsie]

How about Titanic, Lance? Have you seen that one? hehe.

[Sovereign Eye]

Hmmm. ".. can't believe I don't live on an island...".

Surely/Shirley, that island would also be surrounded by sharks. Intriguing. Disturbingly so, but genuinely interesting.

You really oughtta lie down, smoke a big cigar, and think that one through.

[KevinNYC]

Ford an ultraconservative? That's just nuts. Rob Farley is way off base, he must be thinking of Ward Bond. You can make a case that Ford became a conservative later in life, but to call him an ultra-conservative can only be done if you don't know what "ultra" means. Farley also doesn't understand the revolutionary aspect of The Searchers as an indictment of America racism.

In general Ford was very complex/contradictory. He was pro New Deal, pro FDR, pro-Loyalist during the Spanish Civil War--how does that man who holds those positions and directed Grapes of Wrath get considered an ultra-conservative?
He definitely did move the right. He voted for JFK and then voted for Goldwater the next time. I think he was personal friends with Goldwater and that may be a consideration. If Bobby Kennedy lived, would he have voted for him? It's a very interesting question. I would think Yes with his sense of Irish identity and his pulling for the underdog. In Joseph McBride's book he talks about the famous Screen Director's Guild meeting where Ford ended the debate about the loyalty oath by coming down on the side of the Liberal (and immigrant) directors and criticizing DeMille for attempting impose a blacklist. Joseph Mankiewicz who was the leader of the liberal faction (and he was a Republican, not a left-winger) said he was watching Ford when DeMille used the term blacklist and Ford nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard the term. He was not happy. McBride also points out that Ford then wrote DeMille a conciliatory letter and that Ford was part of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals which was the engine of the blacklist. Wayne and Bond were forces behind the Alliance and McBride says Ford was more of a moderating influence in the alliance. Ford thought both of them and their politics a bit dumb. Ford used to make fun of Wayne all the time for not having served in the military. Ford thought that Wayne's cartoonish patriotism was a result of insecurity that (and Ford's ribbing about it.) McBride also says that Ford may have good reasons to worry that his earlier films and pro-socialist positions might come back to haught him and that he did hedge his bets.

Here's is an interesting back and forth about Ford and Blacklist from the London Review of Books letters page. The first link is from a blacklistee defending Ford.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v25/n20/letters.html
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v25/n19/letters.html

[Lance]

Kevin,

Ultra-conservative was actually my word, not Rob's. Rob calls him a reactionary, and I don't think that's off base. One other thing that makes it difficult to pin labels on Ford is that an artist's politics off the set, out of the studio, or away from the desk may be different from the political views that get expressed in their art. Then there's the whole problem of defining "politics."

Thanks for the links.

[KevinNYC]

He probably was a reactionary if only think in terms of late 60's counterculture and the changing roles of women in society. He definitely did react to that, but hell he was an old man by then.

But he was not a reactionary if you think in terms of social/economic justice and the civil rights movement and few others. But he was outspoken against Joseph McCarthy and thought that he was a scoundrel. He probably remembered when the KKK burned crosses along the route of Al Smith's train because he was Catholic.

One of my favorite political anecdotes and what I think of when I think of a reactionary is there was a story during FDR's presidency (in Chicago I think) where a wealthy businessman who pay the newsboy a dime, look at the headlines and then hand the paper back to the newsboy everyday. The newsboy finally asked him why he did that. He said he was only interested in the obituaries. The kid said the obituaries were inside the paper. The businessman replied the sonofabitch I'm thinking of will be on the front page.

[harry near indy]

lance, i first saw donovan's reef when i was nine years old. it was the best movie i had seen up til then, bypassing spartacus, which i saw when i was six or seven.

i watched donovan's reef against about two or three years ago when it was on amc. parts were unwatchable, but still -- it's still has some quality.

basically, it's a cartoon for adults and intelligent slapstick -- smarter than the three stooges, but not as smart as laurel and hardy.

i'll mention some other actors in donovan's reef who made some fine performances -- mike mazursky, jack warden, cesar romero and DOROTHY LAMOUR (hubba hubba).

as for ford's anti-racism, remember that warden hid his children with the island queen from his all white boston brahmin daughter from his first marriage, but she accepted them in the end.

and remember when wayne put her over his knee and spanked her by the fountain in the town square? that would never pass nowadays.

[Robert Anderson]

"As to the comment that Vince Lombardi "..treated everybody the same": during the Pack's glory years, Paul Hornung(?) was asked if that was indeed true. Referring to the players, he famously replied, "Yeah, like dogs"."

Actually it was Hall Of Fame tackle Henry Jordan who said it. Jordan also said: "When Coach Lombardi tells me to sit down, I don't look for a chair"

[Sown Eye]

R.A.-- Thanks for the Henry Jordan reference. Man, that name is a blast from the past. And the "don't look for a chair" crack. Beautiful! I'd never that one before.

[Robert Anderson]

What Paul Hornung said was "Coach Lombardi was in bed with his wife Marie. Marie said "God, your feet are cold." Coach Lombardi said "When we're alone, you can call me Vince".

The Golden Boy was/is a real class act. I lived a few miles from Green Bay (obviously I'm a cheese head) and Paul would often be paid a few hundred bucks to come speak before the Rotary or the Jaycees. Each time he came, he would bring one of the Packer's rookies or subs with him, usually some black kid, have him say a few words, and then split his fee with him. Paul could have come alone and kept the whole thing. He's a good guy. Lombardi always said that over most of the field Hornung was just an average player, but once the Pack got inside the 20 yard line, he was "the greatest running back who ever lived".

[Steve Paradis]

Ford can be maddening. If he liked the cavalry so much, how could he show a megalomaniac like Thursday rise to command it?
Or portray the Washita massacre and aftermath in "The Searchers"? (A scene in which Ethan remarks to Custer that most of the dead he saw weren't warriors was cut--it showed Ethan acknowledging a limit to Indian-hating.) Then there's the anti-"Searchers", "Two Rode Together", in which the captives are shown to be better off with the Comanches, and the cavalrymen and their wives are a bunch of snobs and bigots.
If nothing else, re-watch "The Searchers" and note the "redeemed" captives in the Army camp, crazed maniacs all, and compare them to the eventual revelation of Debbie in Scar's tent--not crazed, not maniacal, but composed and comely; to all extents happy and contented in her new life, an impression that lasts even to the end--her entry into the house sees fearful and strained. It was Ford who made those scenes.

[Edgy DC]

For another peek into Ford's outsized, but complex character, check out Darcy O'Brien's "Jack Ford and George O'Brien," a memoir of his father's relationship with Ford (naturally), focusing on the strange fandango that ended up severing their relationship.