Binging on John Ford, Part 7: The Civil War, Will Rogers and Stepin Fetchit

Stepin Fetchit and Will Rogers in
Judge Priest

A recurrent theme in many of Ford's early sound pictures is the Lost Cause syndrome of the Civil War which portrays those who fought for the Confederacy as noble, rough-hewn gentlemen fighting for a legitimate, almost holy way of life rather than insurrectionists battling for the right to hold slaves. I recently acquired a box set of DVDs called Ford at Fox: John Ford' American Comedies from eBay for $16. The set contains three 1930s films starring popular American humorist Will Rogers, two of which rely heavily on the Lost Cause mythos. These two--Judge Priest and Steamboat Round the Bend also star Stepin Fetchit, the African-American actor (real name Lincoln Perry) who perpetuated the stereotype of a lazy, subservient black man (More on that later.) I also caught up with Rio Grande (also from eBay in an individual DVD), the third of Ford's Cavalry trilogy, also replete with Civil War themes.

Rogers was an immensely popular entertainer who rose to prominence by performing fancy rope tricks while cracking wise on current events. He started in vaudeville and then was featured in the Ziegfeld Follies before moving on to feature films. He always played a variation on himself, the relaxed, lovable wise rube dispensing front-porch wisdom. In his three films directed by Ford, Rogers doesn't even seem to be acting, but reacting to the situation while most of his co-stars gave stagey performances. According to the commentary by Ford biographer Scott Eyman (Print the Legend), Ford would give Rogers the script, but told him not to memorize any lines because they would come out phony. He should just get the sense of the scene and say the lines in his own way. Rogers is charming and relaxed in all three Ford comedies which do convey a rustic, warm mood. But they also reflect the prejudices of their time. According to Ford, the Civil War was a tragic conflict between equally well-intended adversaries and the slavery issue was just a minor footnote producing comic relief characters. (You can also see this in the obscure Prisoner of Shark Island.)

Binging on John Ford, Part 6: Gay Rumors and an Alleged Affair w/Hepburn

Maureen O'Hara, John Wayne and 
John Ford during the filming of
The Quiet Man in Ireland

The more I learn about John Ford, the more twisted, fascinating and complex the legendary director becomes. I originally set out to watch all of his movies and read about him because so many film scholars have said he was the greatest director of Hollywood's Golden Era and perhaps even of all movie history. He also reminds me of my late dad who enjoyed his works tremendously and had a similar individualistic streak. But as I read books and articles on Ford, he emerges as a deeply troubled, fickle, jealous man who could be extremely manipulative, abusive and vindictive, if you got on his wrong side, even unintentionally. 

Maureen O'Hara starred in five Ford films--How Green Was My Valley, Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, The Long Grey Line and The Wings of Eagles. In her autobiography, Tis Herself, she reveals an early connection with Ford over their shared Irish heritage. O'Hara was born in Ireland and came to Hollywood to star in The Hunchback of Notre Dame under the tutelage of Charles Laughton who discovered her as a teenager in Great Britain. Ford developed an affection for O'Hara and her family many of whom later emigrated to the US and got into the picture business. 

Book Review: Tis Herself

(Borrowed from the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts) "What a story! It's got everything but the bloodhounds nipping at her rear end." That's how Thelma Ritter's character Birdie described Eve Harrington's history when she first enters Margo Channing's dressing room in All About Eve. She could also be encapsulating Maureen O'Hara's action-packed autobiography. O'Hara went from acting on the Irish stage to Hollywood stardom while still in her teens, survived two horrific marriages and the mysterious, possibly CIA-related death of her third beloved husband, sexual harassment from the top movie execs, bizarre advances and physical abuse from John Ford, and a legal battle with Walt Disney. The prose is vital and full-blooded, though how much can be credited to her co-author John Nicoletti?

I love O'Hara's honesty and settling of old scores. She loves the words "rubbish" and "stinkeroo" when describing some of the papblum she was forced to act in. She doesn't hold back in her assessment of her leading men. Co-starring with Jeff Chandler was like acting opposite a "broomstick." Jimmy Stewart was a nice guy, but not generous with sharing scenes. He insisted on one of their scene being reshot when it was clear O'Hara got the better of it. A great, fast read full of Hollywood backstage stories.