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Wagon Master
''Wagon Master'' is a 1950 American Western film produced and directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Joanne Dru, and Ward Bond. The screenplay concerns a Mormon pioneer wagon train to the San Juan River in Utah. The film inspired the US television series ''Wagon Train'' (1957–1965), which starred Ward Bond until his death in 1960. The film was a personal favorite of Ford himself, who told Peter Bogdanovich in 1967 that "Along with '' The Fugitive'' and ''The Sun Shines Bright'', ''Wagon Master'' came closest to being what I wanted to achieve." While the critical and audience response to ''Wagon Master'' was lukewarm on its release, over the years several critics have come to view it as one of Ford's masterpieces. Plot The film opens with a prelude showing a murderous robbery by the outlaw Clegg family (the patriarch Shiloh (Charles Kemper) and his four "boys"). The credits then follow the prelude, which was a stylistic innovation at its time. A Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He was the recipient of six Academy Awards including a record four wins for Best Director. Ford made frequent use of location shooting and wide shots, in which his characters were framed against a vast, harsh, and rugged natural terrain. In a career of more than 50 years, Ford directed more than 140 films (although most of his silent films are now lost). He is renowned both for Westerns such as '' Stagecoach'' (1939), '' The Searchers'' (1956), and ''The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'' (1962) and adaptations of classic 20th century American novels such as '' The Grapes of Wrath'' (1940). Ford's work was held in high regard by his colleagues, with Akira Kurosawa, Orson Welles and Ingmar Bergman among those who named him one of the greate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
