Top 100 Films – Full List & Stats

Top 100 Films – Full List

100. Rope (1948) (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
99. The Jerk (1979) (dir. Carl Reiner)
98. Office Space (1999) (dir. Mike Judge)
97. American Movie (1999) (dir. Chris Smith)
96. Touch of Evil (1958) (dir. Orson Welles)
95. Zero Dark Thirty (2012) (dir. Kathryn Bigelow)
94. The Wrestler (2008) (dir. Darren Aronofsky)
93. The Virgin Spring (1960) (dir. Ingmar Bergman)
92. United 93 (2006) (dir. Paul Greengrass)
91. Brokeback Mountain (2003) (dir. Ang Lee)
90. Election (1999) (dir. Alexander Payne)
89. Close-Up (1990) (dir. Abbas Kiarostami)
88. Minnie and Moskowitz (1971) (dir. John Cassavetes)
87. Chungking Express (1994) (dir. Wong Kar-wai)
86. Stand By Me (1986) (dir. Rob Reiner)
85. Blazing Saddles (1974) (dir. Mel Brooks)
84. Metropolis (1927) (dir. Fritz Lang)
83. Boyz n the Hood (1991) (dir. John Singleton)
82. A Man Escaped (1956) (dir. Robert Bresson)
81. Manhattan (1979) (dir. Woody Allen)
80. Sunset Boulevard (1950) (dir. Billy Wilder)
79. All That Heaven Allows (1955) (dir. Douglas Sirk)
78. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) (dir. F.W. Murnau)
77. No Country for Old Men (2007) (dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen)
76. The King of Comedy (1982) (dir. Martin Scorsese)
75. Short Term 12 (2013) (dir. Destin Daniel Cretton)
74. The Fighter (2010) (dir. David O. Russell)
73. Ben-Hur (1956) (dir. William Wyler)
72. There Will Be Blood (2007) (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
71. Playtime (1967) (dir. Jacques Tati)
70. My Darling Clementine (1946) (dir. John Ford)
69. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) (dir. Andrew Dominik)
68. The Sting (1973) (dir. George Roy Hill)
67. Sherlock Jr. (1924) (dir. Buster Keaton)
66. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) (dir. Michel Gondry)
65. Kagemusha (1980) (dir. Akira Kurosawa)
64. Citizen Kane (1941) (dir. Orson Welles)
63. Raging Bull (1980) (dir. Martin Scorsese)
62. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) (dir. Sidney Lumet)
61. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) (dir. Wes Anderson)
60. Some Like it Hot (1959) (dir. Billy Wilder)
59. Pulp Fiction (1994) (dir. Quentin Tarantino)
58. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) (dir. Jacques Demy)
57. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) (dir. Frank Capra)
56. This is Spinal Tap (1984) (dir. Carl Reiner)
55. M (1931) (dir. Fritz Lang)
54. When We Were Kings (1996) (dir. Leon Gast)
53. The Gold Rush (1926) (dir. Charlie Chaplin)
52. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) (dir. Roman Polanski)
51. The Wages of Fear (1953) (dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot)
50. The Great White Silence (1924) (dir. Herbert Ponting)
49. Autumn Sonata (1978) (dir. Ingmar Bergman)
48. Withnail and I (1987) (dir. Bruce Robinson)
47. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) (dir. Wes Anderson)
46. Before Sunrise (1995) (dir. Richard Linklater)
45. True Romance (1993) (dir. Tony Scott)
44. Before Sunset (2004) (dir. Richard Linklater)
43. Inglourious Basterds (2009) (dir. Quentin Tarantino)
42. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (2007) (dir. Cristian Mungiu)
41. The African Queen (1951) (dir. John Huston)
40. A Matter of Life and Death (1946) (dir. Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger)
39. Days of Heaven (1978) (dir. Terrence Malick)
38. Rushmore (1998) (dir. Wes Anderson)
37. What We Do in the Shadows (2014) (dir. Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi)
36. 12 Angry Men (1957) (dir. Sidney Lumet)
35. It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2012) (dir. Don Hertzfeldt)
34. Casablanca (1942) (dir. Michael Curtiz)
33. Scenes from a Marriage (1973) (dir. Ingmar Bergman)
32. A Woman Under the Influence (1974) (dir. John Cassavetes)
31. Brief Encounter (1945) (dir. David Lean)
30. The Godfather Part II (1974) (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
29. Do the Right Thing (1989) (dir. Spike Lee)
28. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) (dir. Vincente Minnelli)
27. The Godfather (1972) (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
26. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) (dir. Stanley Donen)
25. Wild Strawberries (1957) (dir. Ingmar Bergman)
24. Seven Samurai (1954) (dir. Akira Kurosawa)
23. All That Jazz (1979) (dir. Bob Fosse)
22. Fargo (1996) (dir. Joel Coen)
21. Dersu Uzala (1975) (dir. Akira Kurosawa)
20. Grizzly Man (2005) (dir. Werner Herzog)
19. The Thing (1982) (dir. John Carpenter)
18. A Serious Man (2009) (dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen)
17. The Searchers (1956) (dir. John Ford)
16. Dazed and Confused (1993) (dir. Richard Linklater)
15. The Social Network (2010) (dir. David Fincher)
14. The Apartment (1960) (dir. Billy Wilder)
13. Rear Window (1954) (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
12. Winter Light (1963) (dir. Ingmar Bergman)
11. The Graduate (1967) (dir. Mike Nichols)
10. Harakiri (1962) (dir. Masaki Kobayashi)
9. The Night of the Hunter (1955) (dir. Charles Laughton)
8. Paris, Texas (1984) (dir. Wim Wenders)
7. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) (dir. Frank Capra)
6. Rocky (1976) (dir. John G. Avildsen)
5. Harold and Maude (1971) (dir. Hal Ashby)
4. The Exorcist (1973) (dir. William Friedkin)
3. Annie Hall (1977) (dir. Woody Allen)
2. City Lights (1931) (dir. Charlie Chaplin)
1. Punch-Drunk Love (2002) (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

---

Top 100 Films – Statistics

Movies by Decade:
2010’s: 6
2000’s: 15
1990’s: 13
1980’s: 9
1970’s: 18
1960’s: 8
1950’s: 15
1940’s: 8
1930’s: 3
1920’s: 5

Best Year:
2007 – 4 (No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days)

Most Popular Actors/Directors/Writers:
Ingmar Bergman – 5
Diane Keaton – 4
Wes Anderson – 3
John Cassavetes – 3
Seymour Cassel – 3
John Cazale – 3
Joel & Ethan Coen – 3
Robert De Niro – 3
Akira Kurosawa – 3
Richard Linklater – 3
Bill Murray – 3
Al Pacino – 3
Brad Pitt – 3
Talia Shire – 3
James Stewart – 3
Max von Sydow – 3
Quentin Tarantino – 3
Billy Wilder – 3
Owen Wilson – 3

---

Counting down 100 films in just 50 days was one heck of an adventure, and something I was fully prepared to give up on halfway through. The list got me through some tough times recently, and provided a nice goal and distraction for me to build towards. I’ve never been more proud of myself as a writer, and seeing #1 finally pop into my feed has been the most rewarding experience yet here at Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Film Club! Thanks to everybody who joined me in the journey, liking, sharing, and commenting on posts, and to all those who read them in their spare time. Your support means the world to me, and I couldn’t have done it without you. Here’s to another great year of films and writing for everybody!

Top 100 Films #17 – The Searchers (1956)

 

#17. The Searchers (1956)
Directed by: John Ford
Written by: Frank S. Nugent (based on The Searchers by Alan Le May)
Starring: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Natalie Wood

John Ford’s epic, trailblazing The Searchers is without a doubt my favorite discovery that I can accredit to my time blogging here at Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Film Club. The Searchers tells the story of Ethan Edwards (John Wayne), a Civil War veteran returning home for the first time in eight years.  Ethan is very soon forced to seek vengeance for the murder of much of his family by a Comanche tribe.  He and two other men set out to find the tribe responsible, and to bring back young Debbie (Natalie Wood) at any cost necessary.  John Ford’s film is undoubtedly one of the great western films ever made, creating a complex and multidimensional character in John Wayne’s Ethan Edwards, and at the same time exploring chilling themes about revenge and prejudice.  Ethan is at all times blinded by his hatred of the Comanche people, and hell-bent on revenge, never stopping to mourn the loss of his family members or second-guess his own brutal actions.  John Ford has created a character who is very difficult to root for, essentially making Ethan one of cinema’s most effective anti heroes.  While I never felt bad for John Wayne’s Ethan, it’s easy to see the immense pain and pressure that he is under – I’ll maintain that John Wayne’s performance in The Searchers is his greatest performance.  On top of the incredible character study director John Ford has managed to craft, his classic western action set-pieces are incredible as usual.  Ford’s wide-angle cameras capture entire battlefields, with his unflinching directing style never pulling too far away from the action.  The most memorable moment in The Searchers comes very early on, seeing Ethan and company stumble upon the charred remains of the Edwards home.  This scene has been the subject of more than a few homages and tributes, most notably George Lucas’ iconic Star Wars.  Ford’s film is far ahead of its time in terms of themes and resonance, and will go down as the great director’s most complex narrative feature.  The Searchers is a challenging and poignant western that still feels relevant and exciting more than sixty years later.  To read my full thoughts of John Ford’s The Searchers, check out my review here.

John Ford Feature #10 – The Wings of Eagles (1957)

The Wings of Eagles (1957)
Directed by: John Ford
Written by: Frank Fenton, William Wister Haines (based on the life & writings of Frank W. Wead)
Starring: John Wayne, Dan Dailey, Maureen O’Hara, Ward Bond, Ken Curtis, Edmund Lowe

It’s hard to believe that the same man who directed a tried and true masterpiece just one year earlier had anything to do with a picture like The Wings of Eagles.  Ford’s 1957 follow-up to The Searchers is unlike anything the great director ever put to film.  Instead of being reminiscent of his romanticized westerns, wartime films, or his period dramas, The Wings of Eagles more closely mirrors the so-called “Oscar-baity” biopics of today.  The film features many members of the John Ford Stock Company, and yet manages to feel nothing like any of his films I’ve seen to date.  It bears no resemblance in its style, music, cinematography, or even performances to the previous decade or so of his output, and just feels like an oddity in a career of never pandering to the masses.  The Wings of Eagles barely managed to make its budget back at the box office, and from everything I can tell received a very mixed reaction from critics and audiences alike.  Released the same year as massive hits (and later historically appreciated films) like Oscar-winning The Bridge on the River Kwai, Billy Wilder’s Witness for the Prosecution, Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory, Frank Sinatra vehicle Pal Joey and more, The Wings of Eagle was completely ignored by the awards circuit and has been more or less lost to time.  Ford’s film stars John Wayne as Frank Wead, known better as “Spig” to those close to him.  Sharing the screen with Wayne are Maureen O’Hara as his wife Min, Dan Dailey as Jughead Carson, Ward Bond as John Dodge, and Ken Curtis as John Dale Price.

The Wings of Eagles takes place in the aftermath of the first Great War.  We meet Frank “Spig” Wead (John Wayne), who seems to be a relatively carefree Navy man.  After a reckless stunt to prove the worth of aviation combat to Navy officials, his opinions on the matter are heard.  He urges the Navy to hone their skills through the use of races and endurance competitions, which will help develop pilots and create an aerial force to be reckoned with.  After spending the majority of his time and energy on the Navy’s aerial program and on general mischief, Spig and his wife Min (Maureen O’Hara) find tensions growing between them. Eventually Spig is promoted to the position of Commander for his contributions to the effort.  While attempting to celebrate with his wife and two daughters, Spig falls down a flight of stairs in his home and breaks his neck.  The accident has left Commander Wead’s lower body completely paralyzed, leaving him in long-term hospital care.  After rejecting his wife’s affections in the hospital, the only person Spig will see are his colleagues, “Jughead” Carson (Dan Dailey) and John Dale Price (Ken Curtis).  Jughead is more dedicated than most anybody and visits the hospital on an almost daily basis in order to help with Spig’s morale.  Carson tries to get Frank to regain the use of his legs through repeated use of the motivational sentence “I’m gonna move that toe!”.  Carson also helps Spig battle his depression and recommends the use of writing in order to cope.  After finally finding success in all three areas, Spig goes on to accomplish great things in the rising empire of Hollywood.  With new found success, he returns to the Navy during World War II in order to help develop escort and transportation vessels and vehicles.  After an ill-timed heart attack, Spig is sent back home before he can see out the end of the war.  Will Frank Wead be able to mend relations with his family during the last years of wartime, or will he die without them knowing just how much they meant to him?  Find out in John Ford’s The Wings of Eagles.

I can’t help but feel that I made a poor decision when scheduling The Wings of Eagles to be the final film of my John Ford marathon.  Not only does it feel incredibly anti-climatic, but also feels like I robbed myself of seeing a truly great Ford film.  I hope to continue the marathon next year and cover all the underrated movies I chose not to cover this time around (and maybe some of the ones I feel might require a rewatch), so I won’t beat myself up too much.  The Wings of Eagles isn’t the worst film I’ve any seen by any means, but it’s so incredibly mediocre in every way that it just isn’t memorable.  The moment the end credits started rolling on screen, I could feel the film already fading from my memory.  Ford’s 1957 film is so tonally confused that I was never quite sure whether to laugh or feel bad for the characters, especially Spig.  At times dramatic, and at other times almost veering into slapstick comedy, I was never quite able to understand how Ford felt about his subject.  There’s no doubt in my mind that he certainly admired Spig as a character and as a man, but it’s hard to tell his motivations for making an entire feature about it at any given moment.  His direction throughout just feels so uninspired, which is kind of heartbreaking coming off making literally one of the greatest American films ever made.  John Wayne’s performance as Spig isn’t exactly on the level of previous performances seen during the marathon, but the role isn’t exactly demanding either.  His performance is completely one-note, and especially doesn’t work during the hospital scenes where Spig is supposed to be depressed and at his absolute lowest point.  Maureen O’Hara’s performances as Mrs. Wead is an even bigger shame, as her single point in being in the film is essentially to serve as Spig’s estranged wife.  I never felt the on-screen chemistry between the two that I did in something like The Quiet Man, and instead just felt bad for the two legendary actors.  The cinematography is another aspect of the film that just couldn’t possibly live up to previous ones, this time featuring that ugly and washed out early colour look.  The film would probably be better suited to a black and white film, which probably would’ve detracted nearly as much as the harsh colouring did.  The one positive about the film is that the hospital scenes with Spig and Jughead are quite fun, and the “I’m gonna move that toe!” sequence is actually quite inspiring despite everything I’ve said about the film.  Some of the comedic moments work well towards the film, while some of the more elaborate gags just make The Wings of Eagles feel like a joke.  On a film note, Ford casting Ward Bond as “John Dodge” is tremendous, and I’m glad that even the curmudgeonly old director could poke fun at himself at times.   

I’m not upet that I saw The Wings of Eagles, but I can’t help but feel that John Ford was capable of so much more.  It would be another five years until he would direct The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, another tremendous effort by the legendary director.  I wish that Ford had at least made the story of Frank “Spig” Wead compelling to see on screen, because I kind of feel that the way it was depicted was a pretty big missed opportunity for all parties.  While not all bad, it’s certainly tough to pick out the very good moments of the film, which come all too sparingly.  John Ford’s The Wings of Eagles is not recommended.

John Ford Feature #9 – The Searchers (1956)

The Searchers (1956)
Directed by: John Ford
Written by: Frank S. Nugent (based on The Searchers by Alan Le May)
Starring: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Natalie Wood, Harry Carey Jr.

John Ford is considered one of the great trailblazers in the early days of film, one who paved the way for early sound films to go on to become what they have today.  His influence is so indescribably far-reaching that his work still fascinates audiences, critics, and filmmakers and is continually studied by young and old alike.  The Searchers is perhaps considered to be his greatest film, and in a career full of truly remarkable films, that’s saying a great deal.  Though his 1956 classic earned no Oscar nominations that year, it is widely considered to be one of the greatest American pictures ever made, and has earned just about every retrospective accolade that historians can throw at it.  The Searchers is truly epic in its scope, taking place over a number of years and featuring terrific set pieces, breathtaking cinematography, and one of the most engaging performances ever given by a man who was once considered to be a bad actor.  Ford’s masterpiece would prove to be one of his final “traditional” westerns, and is considered to be the pinnacle of the director’s collaborations with actor John Wayne.  It wouldn’t be a great film without its fair share of controversies, and this film features them in spades.  The Searchers is most notable for its interpretation and examination of the racist attitudes towards Native Americans by early Americans.  Ford’s film depicts Native people as being ruthless and bloodthirsty, not because of any prejudice held against them by the filmmakers, but in order to justify the brutal actions of its main characters in the final act of the film.  Despite some of these dated and controversial themes and features, the film has more than endured the test of time and is even more poignant for its brutal examination of tough ideas and themes.  It has influenced and paid homage by great film directors like David Lean, Sam Peckinpah, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Martin Scorsese.  The Searchers stars the great John Wayne as Ethan Edwards, who is considered to be one of the most compelling characters in a film of its time.  Also featured are Natalie Wood as Debbie Edwards, Jeffrey Hunter as Martin Pawley, Vera Miles as Laurie Jorgenson, and regular John Ford Stock Company regulars Ward Bond as Rev. Capt. Samuel Clayton and Harry Carey Jr. as Brad Jorgenson.  

Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter) and Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) in 1956’s The Searchers.

The Searchers begins with Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) returning home to his brother Aaron (Walter Coy) and his family after an eight year wartime absence. It’s clear that Uncle Ethan has been missed, as his influence is immediately felt in the Edwards household as well as in the community. Edwards is soon visited by the Rev. Capt. Samuel Clayton (Ward Bond) and his band of Texas Rangers. Clayton and the Rangers report a herd of stolen cattle, and suspect Comanches in the area as the thieves.  Ethan and his adopted nephew Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter) ride off with the Rangers to find the cattle, but instead find an obvious ploy to lure the men away from their homes.  They immediately turn around and head for the Edwards home, but it’s too late, as the home has been burnt to the ground, and Aaron, his wife, and their son have been brutally murdered by the Comanches.  No sign Ethan’s nieces Debbie (Lana Wood) and Lucy (Pippa Scott) can be found in the destroyed home, so the men ride off in search of the two young girls.  After an intense firefight with the Comanches, the Rangers are left with too few men to effectively fight the enemy combatants, and head home. Without the Rangers at their disposal, Ethan, his nephew Martin, and Lucy’s boyfriend Brad Jorgensen (Harry Carey Jr.) are left to carry out the search.  After Ethan finds his niece Lucy brutally raped and murdered in a canyon clearing, an enraged Brad charges into the Comanche camp and is quickly killed.  After the two survivors lose the trail during the tough winter season they take refuge with the Jorgensen family, and Martin falls for their young daughter Laurie Jorgensen (Vera Miles).  Ethan and Martin are eventually tipped off as to Debbie’s whereabouts, and set off once again to find the last remaining Edwards child. Will Ethan and Martin be successful in their hunt for their young family member, or have they been chasing a ghost all along?  Find out for yourself in John Ford’s masterpiece The Searchers.

There are few better feelings in the life than knowing that you’ve just finished watching one of the greatest films ever made, especially when it manages to live up to the tremendous amount of hype and acclaim it has built up over nearly sixty years.  John Ford’s The Searchers is a masterpiece in every sense of the word, and has very easily become one of my all-time favorite films.  It’s presence alone has made December’s John Ford marathon more than worth the time and effort put into it.  There are so many highlights throughout the film that it’s difficult to single out my favorite elements.  The first thing I’ll address is the performance of Ethan Edwards by John Wayne, who is an incredibly complex and multifaceted character.  Edwards is very difficult to root for in The Searchers, between his need for brutal revenge, his apparent hatred of the Native American people, and his old world “take no prisoners” attitude towards all things in life.  Yet even without a protagonist to truly get behind and support, The Searchers makes you feel the immense pain felt deep inside of Ethan.  Wayne’s performance is unblinking and stiff in the best way possible, and is easily the greatest performance I’ve seen the old cowboy give to date.  The cast of supporting characters don’t stick around too long with the exception of Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter) and the Jorgensen family, but every single performance is impressive in how they handle the gravity and seriousness of the situation at hand.  Hunter’s Pawley is the protagonist we yearn for in Ethan’s worst moments, and it is quite the experience to see the young man grow in front of our very eyes. John Ford’s direction of the films terrific action set pieces is remarkable, never opting to pull his camera away from the most important points of interest.  He handles the racism and moral ambiguity found throughout the film with a deft hand, keeping his camera motionless and letting the audience be the judge of Ethan Edwards’ actions.  The scene where Ethan Edwards and company discovers the burning remains of the Edwards home is one of the most heartbreaking moments ever captured on film, and clearly had a tremendous influence on a similarly moving scene in the Star Wars franchise.  Complementing the veteran director’s skillful camerawork is the photography by the Academy Award winning Winton Hoch.  Hoch once again shot the film in beautiful Technicolor, this time filming it entirely in VistaVision, one of the many film formats that would eventually lead to the modern day IMAX experience.  It’s a wonder how Hoch wasn’t nominated for an Academy Award for The Searchers, but the Academy’s ignoring of the film as a whole is even more shocking.

Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter) and Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) in 1956’s The Searchers.

Ford’s The Searchers holds up in a way many classic films simply can’t, from its unflinching analysis of historical racism that nearly led to a genocide in the United States, to its epic scope and beautiful photography.  Everything about the film still feels relevant and pressing, even sixty years after its release.  The Searchers features an incredible cast propped up by one of the most impressive performances of all time in John Wayne’s Ethan Edwards, remarkable cinematography by the godfather of Technicolor, and impeccable direction by the great John Ford.  This is truly one of the greatest films ever made, and no amount of praise I can give it will ever be able to do it justice.  The Searchers earns my highest recommendation, and I implore that everybody reading gives it a chance.  You might just discover your new favorite film.

December Theme – John Ford (An Introduction)

If you aren’t somebody who is interested in film history and the significant players in its development, you may be wondering who exactly John Ford is, and what makes him so worthy of an entire month-long feature.  You may often hear him described as being a difficult, if unpretentious, and old-fashioned director.  Ford was an incredibly intense and idiosyncratic man who even managed to occasionally alienate even those closest to him.  John Ford smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish when he was permitted to, but was an extremely humble and sensitive man.  John Ford was and remains to this very day a mystery to many people, but the one thing that critics and historians alike are sure of it’s that he’s a legendary figure in the business, and one of the greatest filmmakers to ever live.  

Ford most famously made his name known through the direction of dozens of western and dramatic films, spanning from the early silent era to the mid-1960’s.  The great director is the only filmmaker in history to win four Academy Awards for Best Director (The Informer in 1935, The Grapes of Wrath in 1940, How Green Was My Valley in 1941, and The Quiet Man in 1952).  His frequent collaborators included famous western stars John Wayne and both Harry Carey Sr. and Harry Carey Jr., Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, and Maureen O’Hara.

The films of John Ford often had themes that romanticized the old west, and were incredibly patriotic and passionate about America.  As far as direction, he greatly preferred the use of long, static shots as opposed to complex camera movements, which he felt were too laborious and time consuming.  Ford was never afraid to sacrifice parts of his work for the greater good, and was known to make last-minute changes to many of his scripts, proving he was never “married” to any one idea.  He preferred his actors known the ins and outs of their characters, and was not particularly fond of rehearsals.  Though Ford favoured a more deliberate pacing and classic approach to direction, his films are far from boring or standard in any way.  The man absolutely knew his way around a camera, and had both the critical praise and financial success to prove it.

John Ford’s most famous films include the incredible and highly influential Stagecoach, the Oscar-winning adaptation of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, the beautiful and controversial The Searchers, and my personal favorite film of his, the “film that beat Citizen Kane” How Green Was My Valley.  His influence has been felt for years, and his films continue to amaze and inspire generations.  Some of the directors who admired the man and were influenced by his films and style include my favorite director Ingmar Bergman, Jean-Luc Godard, Alfred Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa, Steven Spielberg, and Orson Welles.

The schedule for my John Ford retrospective month looks as follows:

#1 – The Informer (1935) – December 1

#2 – The Long Voyage Home (1940) – December 4

#3 – They Were Expendable (1945) – December 7

#4 – My Darling Clementine (1946) – December 10

#5 – Fort Apache (1948) – December 13

#6 – She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) – December 16

#7 – Rio Grande (1950) – December 19

#8 – The Quiet Man (1952) – December 22

#9 – The Searchers (1956) – December 25

#10 – The Wings of Eagles (1957) – December 28

*The schedule is subject to change, with Christmas break looming.  If I have to eliminate any films from the marathon, I’ll be sure to post about it.