John Ford Can Do No Wrong!!

A few months ago, we watched "Stagecoach," the iconic western by John Ford that made John Wayne a star and started a filmic partnership that produced some of the greatest pictures ever produced by a director/actor team. We decided that we wanted to see more John Ford movies, and "3 Godfathers" arrived this week. This 1948 movie is overshadowed in the Ford/Wayne canon by such classics as "The Searchers," "Stagecoach" and "The Quiet Man." However, there is no denying the genius that is Ford's vision and storytelling.

Yes, there is the 'hokum' that sells films to those of us in the great unwashed. Yes, my wife and I are suckers for good-hearted bankrobbers who are redeemd by the events that surround them. Yes, as Christians, we love it when Hollywood throws us a bone and puts Bibles, hymns, and moral uprightness in a picture without mocking them. And Ford puts in all these and more. Deathbed promises and prayers, honor among thieves, commonsense sheriffs and judges, and acts of kindness testify to Ford's belief in the nobility of the common man.

Wayne is the leader of three outlaws who come to a Arizona town to rob the bank and have the misfortune to run up against a good sheriff, whose task it is to track them down over the desert. Coming upon a woman giving birth in a covered wagon, the outlaws make a promise to her as she is dying that they will take care of her child and serve as godfathers. Without horses or water, they keep their promise to fend for the baby, trying to make it to a town where they can find water.

With Ward Bond giving his usual great performance as Sheriff Purley Sweet and introducing Harry Carey, Jr., as the Abilene Kid, the film boasts great performances from the ensemble cast, and Ford again creates a unique vision of the Old West on film. Not to be missed is the scene of where Pedro is shown looking into the wagon, talking to the woman about to give birth. It is reminiscent of the final scene in "The Searchers," with Wayne silhouetted by the door. As well, the scene where John Wayne takes care of the new-born baby is delightful.