''The American West of John Ford'' is a 1971 television special about movie director

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 ...

's career narrated by John Wayne, James Stewart, and

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and ra ...

. Footage of Wayne, Stewart, and Fonda talking with the aging Ford are interspersed with an array of clips from Ford's films spanning more than five decades, including ''

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance ''The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'' () is a 1962 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and James Stewart. The screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck was adapted from a 1953 short story written by ...

'', ''

The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John W ...

'', and '' Stagecoach'', each of which is dealt with at some length. The section on '' My Darling Clementine'' features Fonda and Stewart, both of whom played

Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which l ...

in Ford films, interviewing Ford about the director's claim that Earp himself had explained the strategy and chronology of the

gunfight at the O.K. Corral The gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a thirty-second shootout between law enforcement officer, lawmen led by Virgil Earp and members of a loosely organized group of outlaws called the Cochise County Cowboys, Cowboys that occurred at about 3: ...

to Ford and

Harry Carey Harry Carey may refer to: *Harry Carey (actor) (1878–1947), American actor * Harry Carey Jr. (1921–2012), American actor * Harry Carey (footballer) (1916–1991), Australian rules footballer See also * Henry Carey (disambiguation) * Harry Car ...

, complete with a sketched diagram, decades before Ford filmed a version of the melee with Fonda as Earp. Stewart's memorable poker scene as Earp in '' Cheyenne Autumn'', which had nothing to do with the rest of the movie and has frequently been cut by exhibitors and television stations, is also discussed and illustrated with a clip. The hour long special was telecast on December 5, 1971 over the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

television network. The show sometimes appears on Hulu under the title ''The Great American West of John Ford''. The documentary also briefly features a whip-cracking

Andy Devine Andrew Vabre Devine (October 7, 1905 – February 18, 1977) was an American character actor known for his distinctive raspy, crackly voice and roles in Western films, including his role as Cookie, the sidekick of Roy Rogers in 10 feature fil ...

during a comedic sequence with Wayne and Ford filmed in Monument Valley.

Production

Parts of the special were filmed in Monument Valley in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

References

External links

* * American documentary television films Documentary films about film directors and producers Television shows filmed in Utah {{documentary-tv-film-stub