John Ford's Themes & Styles in 3 Films
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This paper analyzes John Ford's themes and styles in three of his most distinctive films, The Grapes of Wrath, My Darling Clementine, and Rio Grande. These three all focus on different aspects of one issue that reoccurs throughout his films, the issue of family. Family drives the Joads in Grapes of Wrath to seek survival in California, the Earps in My Darling Clementine to seek revenge, and the Yorkes (and the greater families they serve, the United States Army and the United States itself) in Rio Grande to seek reconciliation and reunion. All three use traditional American music, stark black and white images, and the deep-seated feelings of their characters, rather than extensive dialogue, to communicate the conflict between the losses of their pasts and the uncertain promises of their futures. Ford is the quintessential American moviemaker, and these three classic films clearly demonstrate why.While Ford may be best known for his Westerns, stark films of lonely men set against the familiar outlines of Monument Valley, Grapes of Wrath is as representative of any of his works of what makes him great and what images and themes he found most interesting. Using John Steinbeck's novel as basic story material, Ford has created his own filmic statement of desolation, hope, and uncertainty in a uniquely American setting. He begins with the image of the desolate country road, stretching to the horizon, and, except for the telephone poles lining the road, the might be an image
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long sweep through American history) as of his very American themes and concerns. Lloyd Eby argues that Ford's enduring legend is due to his ability to explore the American character, especially through his Westerns but also throughout his other films.
Ford himself defined himself by the films he made that featured cowboys, Indians, gunfights, and vast wastelands. Joseph McBride quotes the director at a meeting in 1950 introducing himself by saying, "My name is John Ford. I am a director of Westerns" (416). McBride argues, "He retreated extensively into the American past to seek historical or mythic answers to the problems that troubled him in the present" (418).
This may be the reason that Grapes of Wrath fits so well into the overall examination of Ford's work. Like the other two films, it uses a period of history to examine more current forces. While Grapes of Wrath is in some ways a history lesson about the Great Depression that had already ended by the time it was made, it nevertheless addresses the ongoing problems of hard times and the individual struggle to claim a piece of the American dream.
Throughout Ford's work, history provides a starting point but is not the filmmaker's ultimate concern. Jonathan Romney argu
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Approximate Word count = 2804
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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