Category Archives: Films by Ford

Born Reckless
Directed by John Ford
Written by Dudley Nichols from a novel by Donald Henderson Clarke
1930/US
Fox Film Corporation
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Ford proves to be less adept at gangster movies than he was at Westerns or war stories.

Mobster Louis Beretti (Edmund Lowe – least Italian looking Italian in cinema) and a couple of his cronies are given the chance to volunteer for duty in WWI as an alternative to time in the slammer. When our hero returns from the front, he tries to go straight. It’s hard since his way of doing so is to open a speakeasy and hang out with the same gang he did before he went away. Drama ensues. With Marguerite Churchill as our hero’s sister.

The WWI parts are more engaging and Ford-like than the later crime melodrama.  Can be watched in full on YouTube for free.  No trailer or clips though.

From a movie premier in 1929 or 1930. Footage includes: Dorothy Sebastian, Karl Dane, H.B. Warner, Nils Asther, Robert Montgomery, Anita Page, Norma Shearer, John Gilbert, Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon, Erich Von Stroheim, James Kirkwood, Betty Compson, James Cruze, Jack Holt, George O’Brien, Olive Borden, Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, Lois Moran, Buster Collier (William Collier, Jr.), Joseph Schildkraut, Maurice Chevalier, Nancy Carroll, Edmund Lowe & Lilyan Tashman, Joan Bennett, Norma Shearer again with Irving Thalberg, Harold Lloyd, Bessie Love, Ivan Lebedeff, Jack Oakie, Georgie Stone, Buster Collier again, Hoot Gibson, Gary Cooper, Bessie Love again, Warner Baxter, Lila Lee, Buron Fitts (L.A. County District Attorney elected in November 1928), Helene Chadwick, George O’Brien and Olive Borden again, Mary Brian, Ivan Lebedeff again, Lilyan Tashman and Edmund Lowe again, John Boles, Bebe Daniels again, Ben Lyon again, Hoot Gibson with Sally Eilers, Billie Dove, Betty Compson again (Roscoe Arbuckle appears briefly behind Betty Compson, then cutaway), Joe E. Brown, Ruby Keeler and Al Jolson, William Bakewell, Mary Brian with unidentified escort, Regis Toomey, Norma Shearer again, and Clara Bow.

Bucking Broadway
Directed by John Ford
Written by George Hively
1917/US
Universal Film Manufacturing Company
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

Unnamed cowboy: He’s only a simple ranch hand; it must be more than friendship.

John Ford was making solid Westerns almost from the get-go.

Cheyenne Harry (Harry Carey) is the pride of the cowboys on the horse ranch where he works. He is in love with the ranch owner’s adorable daughter Helen (Molly Malone). The father is enthusiastic and a date is set.

But before the two can be united, a city slicker arrives looking for young horses to buy. He soon starts sweet talking Molly and eventually convinces her to run away with him to New York City. It doesn’t take Molly long to become disillusioned with her beau and then it is Harry to the rescue.

This is a sweet romance with some trademark Ford touches, including magnificent use of locations. It is not the baffling Western mystery promised in the poster however.

Numerous free full versions of the movie are currently on YouTube.  No trailer or clips however so here is a tribute to Harry Carey, Ford’s favorite leading man until John Wayne came along.

Seas Beneath
Directed by John Ford
Written by Dudley Nichols from a story by James Parker Jr.
1931/US
Fox Film Corporation
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Everyone’s got to make one submarine drama in their life. — Kevin Macdonald

John Ford had to make several submarine dramas.  This is a pretty good one.

The story takes place toward the end of WWI. Cmdr. Robert Kingsley (George O’Brien) captains a “mystery ship” – a battleship disguised as a schooner in order to lure German U-boats into range of the US submarine traveling alongside and the ship’s hidden big guns. The Germans are known to lurk in the seas around the Canary Islands so the commander heads there.

Unfortunately, he grants his crew liberty in town under strict orders not to drink hard liquor or fraternize with women. These rules are very soon broken by the entire crew including Cmdr. Bob, who begins a flirtation with pretty Anna Marie (Marion Lessing). Anna Marie is the sister of the captain of the U-boat unbeknownst to him. One of the other officers succumbs to the charms of a Spanish Mata Hari. Will the ship’s mission be thwarted?  With John Loden as a German officer.

This film has plenty of manly banter and a fair amount of singing, trademarks of Ford. It also reflects his love for the navy and sailors which would be expressed throughout his career.

Just Pals
Directed by John Ford
Written by John McDermott and Paul Schofield
1920/US
Fox Film Corporation
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube

Bill: [to Bim] They ain’t nothin’ the matter with you, is there? You didn’t go to school, did you? Then why in hell send me?

A sentimental story told well by John Ford and company.

The setting is a small Western town.  Buck Jones plays Bim.  He is scorned and ridiculed by all for his laziness and tattered clothes but he has a heart of the purest gold.  He has a crush on local schoolmarm Mary (Helen Ferguson).  She is being courted by bank clerk Harvey Cahill (William Buckley).

One day, Bim rescues Bill (George Stone), a boy of about ten, after he is forcibly ejected from the train he has hooked a ride on.  They become close pals and Bim takes on a fatherly attitude.  This includes trying to bathe his charge and sending him to school.

Bill gets injured and the local doctor takes him in.  When the doctor’s wife learns there is a large reward for recovery of a runaway fitting Bill’s description, the couple set about separating the two pals.  In the meantime, Mary is in terrible trouble after she innocently did a favor for the bank clerk, who is a complete rat.  Things get more exciting as the movie draws to a close.

You wouldn’t suspect that the director of this film was John Ford if you didn’t read the credits.  On the other hand, the story is very well told and the actors are all charming.

Tribute to John Ford

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My next adventure in cinema will be an in-depth exploration of John Ford’s filmography.  I still plan to move into 1978 soon but those films are probably not ones my husband will enjoy.  I will only review the Ford films here if I have not done so before.  If you are curious, you could follow my Instagram account at @flickersintime.

I also watched Ford’s eight-minute documentary on the fate of Torpedo Squad 8 which lost all 15 of its torpedo bombers during the battle of Midway.  This is done by showing smiling young men full of life preparing their bombers for battle and then listing the names and ranks of the dead. Very simple and devastating.