3 Godfathers (1948)

After robbing a small town bank, three bandits (John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, and Harry Carey Jr.) go on the run in the desert with very little water. They happen upon a dying young(ish) woman about to deliver her first baby and the three promise to take care of him.

Westerns can be a little two dimensional, and 3 Godfathers is a perfect example. It doesn’t help that it’s also a Christmas movie. Our three outlaws represent the three wise men from the east. This isn’t interpretation, it is literally in the text. We watch three criminal but essentially good people learn to put the welfare of a baby over themselves. You know, the true meaning of Christmas.

The film is dedicated to director John Ford’s friend Harry Carey who died prior to this film’s production. He appeared in an earlier version of the story and son Carey Jr gets an Introducing credit, even though it’s his fifth film role. A youtube video brought my attention to prolific character actor Ward Bond. He has appeared in 261 feature films including thirteen Best Picture nominees and four winners. Silent film star Mae Marsh makes an appearance. She has a ton of screen credits.

3 Godfathers is a fine movie, I suppose, and definitely holds your interest, but the lack of depth and wooden performances (looking at you, Duke!) make for a sometimes annoying watch. AMRU 2.5.

"Quit talkin' Mex in front of the infant!"

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

Retiring Captain Brittles (John Wayne) goes on one last patrol, this time to evacuate the women-folk. Oh, and one of them wears a yellow ribbon. It’s unimportant.

The ribbon signifies that the woman (Joanne Dru) is officially going steady. Between two young officers, she chooses the rich pretty-boy over the one with a promising military career ahead of him. I struggled to follow this sub plot and I needn't. It was very uninteresting.

A young John Agar appears as Brittles right hand. He was married to Shirley Temple at this time. Also here is Harry Carey Jr, not to be confused with Harry Caray. And also is Ben Johnson whom we recently saw in Shane.

The 41 year old Wayne was surprisingly believable as the 60 year old captain, impressing long time collaborator John Ford, who said he "didn't know the big son of a bitch could act!" I haven’t seen too many of Wayne from his young and fit years and he didn’t much resemble himself from his El Dorado years, which is a good thing.

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon has a few strange elements, like Wayne getting a man thrown in the brig for some reason. Also, there is the element of Wayne trying to avoid hostilities with the natives rather than the more familiar narrative. Pointless love triangle aside, the major theme explores a man dealing with his obsolescence. Who is he if not the gruff captain the others look to for leadership. This is a theme I can relate to. AMRU 3.5.

The Battle of Midway (1942)

Back in WWII, Director John Ford was just like any raw recruit who took to arms to defend his nation. That's right, just like any 50 year old recruit. His job: Shoot the enemy. That is to say, film the enemy shooting us. He got that opportunity during the famous battle of Midway. The result is an 18 minute documentary short.

In said documentary, Ford filmed service men, sea birds, enemy aircraft, more soldiers, while liberal Hollywood types like Henry Fonda narrate, pretending to be red-blooded real Americans. For this, Ford won the Oscar for Best Documentary.

Currently I'm at risk of spending more time typing this than I did watching it, so let me sum up like this: Ford was in the right place at the right time (maybe too right - he was wounded while filming) and this struck a nerve. Adding actor voices was an interesting technique. I wonder if the stories and names were accurate. Still, the Jingoistic hoopla was a little bit much. It came off tasting a bit of corn. I'll forgive the amateurish look because the technology of the day and the extreme difficulty of the circumstance. A little surprising that it won an Oscar, but an interesting piece none the less. AMRU 3.

Apparently Tojo is a reference to a Japanese soldier. I am told it's derogative, but who gives terms of endearment to enemy soldiers?

Stagecoach (1939)

A bunch of people are sharing a stagecoach ride from Tonto, Arizona (not kidding) to Lordsburg, New Mexico. Each has their own back story. The principle problem is that Geronimo is on the warpath, which means he is active in his attacks on the heathen invaders (that'd be us whities). The Calvary has offered an escort for part of the way.

Along the way, they meet up with escaped murderer, the Ringo Kid (John Wayne). Seems Ringo busted out to git the man who shot his paw. And his brother. The man that shot them both. As luck would have it, that man is in Lordsburg. That place is totally hopping.

Ringo hitches a ride, principally because the Sheriff was riding shotgun (youngsters take note: that's what that means!) and will take Ringo into custody once they reach their destination. So, the outlaw joins the group of the wife looking for her soldier husband, the drunken doctor, the banker, the gambler, the hot chick of ill repute, the liquor salesman, the eskimo, the indian chief, the space pilot, the ... ok, I fibbed about a couple of those.

Anyhow, at every stop their prospects look worse and worse. The Calvary can't protect them, evidence of injun attacks is everywhere, and lady-looking-for-husband is getting sick. Whatever shall become of them?

This here is a character study. Most of the people don't know each other and they all have their own secret. As the story progresses and the challenges become more intense, their character is revealed.

Excellent movie. Chuck full of western stereotypes and character actors, this granddaddy of the the modern western is the movie that made John Wayne a star. Before Chuck Norris was Chuck Norris, there was John Wayne. Wayne never gave nobody a karate chop, but at least he could act. Sure, Chuck was a great martial artist, but his acting was absolutely craptacular. Back in the day, nobody was tougher than the Duke. Nobody. AMRU 4.

The Searchers (1956)

Rated the best western by AFI's 10 Top 10 list. I chose this movie based entirely on that fact. I'm not a fan of westerns, but I keep seeing pieces of Clint Eastwood movies and my interest was piqued.

John Wayne returns from the civil war, three years late. The indians lead a diversion to bring our hero away from the homestead, then attack Wayne's brother and his family. Wayne's (Ethan, actually) family is slaughtered, except for his two nieces (a young Natalie Wood playing one), who are captured. Ethan becomes obsessed with rescuing them.

The scenery is great. The plot is surprisingly complex. Ethan's motivation is a mystery at first. There are details that only the most careful viewer will pick up on. I watched this with my 12 year old son. He had the same reaction I had. Interesting, but this is the best western? Ever? Wayne, while being the "hero", isn't really a hero character. Some of the acting was fairly poor (I'm looking at you, Jeffrey Hunter!)

Still, it was worth watching. 3 AMRUs.