San Antonio College Library

"They helped to instill the mythic qualities of the cowboy in American cinema. This powerhouse program focuses on the friendship of John Wayne and John Ford, beginning with their first meeting in 1928 and spanning their collaboration over 130 pictures, 14 of which were made without a contract--unheard of in 21st-century Hollywood. The program analyzes chiefly their work in Stagecoach and Red River, as well as Fort Apache, one of the first pro-Native...

John Ford is known for his visually powerful westerns, with his characters framed against America's stunning natural landmarks. Stagecoach (1939) and the highly regarded and hugely influential The Searchers (1956) both starred John Wayne. His four Academy Awards for Best Director remain a record and include such classics as How Green Was My Valley (1941), The Quiet Man (1952), and his adaptation of the John Steinbeck classic The Grapes of Wrath (1940)....

Illustrated synopses and analyses of the American director's westerns, placing each in the development of his craftsmanship and assessing his use of recurrent motifs and themes, his techniques and determining vision, and his mastery of the genre.