Reviews (8)

One of John Ford's few duds
A strangely sluggish drama, starring Spencer Tracy as Frank Skeffington, an aging, old-school, ward-heeling Irish-American politico waging his final campaign against the nascent forces of the modern mass media -- namely, a callow young candidate backed by big money and a phalanx of television producers. What's most odd about this film is that John Ford directed it, and yet it's so dull and disjointed. And what, exactly, are they trying to say here? Is Tracy's character a scoundrel or a noble throwback to a simpler, more human time? Is he a little bit of both? And if so, what does that ambiguity mean? It's never quite clear what we're supposed to feel about Skeffington; clearly his enemies are horrible, shallow people, but the film is so fuzzy about how we're supposed to feel in constrast about Tracy's character -- who was roughly modeled on one of Boston's old mayor's -- that it's difficult to feel moved, or involved, one way or the other. Muddled and disappointing.

QUITE EASILY SPENCER TRACY'S GREATEST PERFORMANCE!
"The Last Hurrah" follows the exploits of mayor, Frank Skeffington (Spencer Tracy). He's running for a third term but meets with great opposition from the city council, who don't appreciate his strong-arm tactics and chronic meddling in their affairs. The pack of detractors is led by Norman Cass Sr. (Basil Rathbone), whose youthful incumbent for the post of mayor, Kevin McCluskey (Charles B. Fitzsimmons) seems an impossible long shot. But Skeffington is not above dishing a little dirt of his own on the side. He uses incriminating photos of Cass's simpleton son, Norman Jr. (O.Z. Whitehead) to blackmail Cass Sr. into relative submission. Skeffington also gingerly berates the elements of city council opposing him, including news paper editor, Amos Force (John Carradine) to whom Skeffington's nephew, Adam Caufield (Jeffrey Hunter) is an employee and sometimes unwilling observer. As Skeffington, Tracy is pure dynamite, delving out equal portions of brutality and kindness in a tour de force performance that quite easily might be his best! There are plenty of finely wrought cameos to go around, including Jane Darwell's crotchety spinster, Anna Lee's subtle and tender performance as the widow and Donald Crisp's stoic turn as His Eminence, Cardinal Burke. This is one heck of a good show!
Instituted into the pipeline before Columbia's penny-pinching regime kicked in, "The Last Hurrah" has had admirable work done on its transfer before being minted to DVD. The gray scale is excellent and the anamorphic widescreen version of the movie is very nicely rendered with fine detail, solid blacks and contrast levels. There is a definite grain structure to this film but it will not distract from the performances. There are no compression related artifacts. The audio is MONO and nicely rendered.
There are, unfortunately, NO EXTRAS!

Worth viewing for Tracy
"The Last Hurrah" should be watched (more properly, "endured") for Spencer Tracy. It's not quite as mawkish and overly sentimental as some Boston Irish films, but close. Many of the scenes are just unbearably overlong and preachy. What saves it is one of Spencer Tracy's best performances: he's a model of restraint and dignity in a role that a lesser actor would have gone down for the third time in the sea of blarney. Very fine supporting cast, too, including every Irish character in the Hollywood at the time: Pat O'Brien, James Gleason, Donald Crisp, Frank McHugh, Edward S. Brophy, plus very substantial help from Basil Rathbone and John Carridine. Jeffrey Hunter, as Tracy's nephew, smirks his glamor-boy way through this film as a reminder that no cast is perfect. John Ford was definitely slipping here, unable to resist putting in incredibly broad characters like Tracy's and Rathbone's sons, who belong on The Simpsons, not in this film. Would have deserved two more stars at half its length.

Still great despite a few weak points
Political dramas are not my favorite type of movie, but I still enjoyed this film, if for no other reason than I'm a big Tracy fan and this is certainly one of his greatest roles, and Tracy turns in one of his best performances.

The rest of the cast is also excellent, especially Jeffrey Hunter as Tracy's newspaperman nephew, and Edward Brophy as one of Tracy's cronies, both of whom get extensive play in the movie. Unfortunately, Donald Crisp as the Cardinal and Basil Rathbone don't have that much on-screen time, and Rathbone really only has one big scene and a couple of other pieces of dialogue here and there, as does Crisp, but they're still excellent in their roles.

A few scenes seem a little weak, such as when Tracy tricks Basil Rathbone's idiot son to accept the Fire Marshall job so he can blackmail Rathbone into ponying up the housing loan money. The TV interview with Tracy's young opponent was pretty silly, and I didn't think John Carradine was especially well cast as a former KKK member, magazine publisher, and Tracy's long-time nemesis.

Other than that, the film's portrayal of Tracy as a tough, smart, down-to-earth, old-time political boss (or as Donald Crisp refers to him--"an engaging scoundrel") is itself engagingly and humorously done. It provides a fascinating and perhaps nostalgic look at a vanished era of grass-roots politicians back when they stumped in the inner-city wards, shaking hands and kissing babies and vying for votes one-by-one the hard way before the advent of TV changed the political campaigning process forever.

Overall, still a great flick and especially worth seeing if you're a Spencer Tracy fan.

Movie Politics
This is one of the best political genre films ever made. Spencer Tracey is at his very best as the down-to-earth mayor of small U.S. city. Corrupt city politics is displayed in a humorous fashion as Tracy's character seeks re-election, all the while being covered by a local newspaper reporter (his nephew portrayed by Jeffrey Hunter).

Tracy's acting ability shines here. The film is packed with Hollywood's best character actors, including Basil Rathbone and Pat O'Brian. This is a must see during election time.

I consider Spencer Tracy America's greatest actor, and I rate this in my top five of great Tracy films. This film, while dated, portrays old-time politics in a funny, yet truthful fashion. Also, Tracy's death-bed scene at the film's end, is one of Tracy's best acting moments. The movie is a pure joy to watch. ... Read more

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The last and least memorable of John Ford's famous cavalry trilogy (following Fort Apache and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon), Rio Grande nonetheless has an interesting continuity about the gentlemanly rules of military conduct. Here the focus is on the family. While creating a heated controversy over his handling of the Apache war, John Wayne must also contend with disgruntled wife Maureen O'Hara and estranged son Claude Jarman Jr., a new recruit trying to earn his father's love and respect. Ford seems to suggest that there are two conflicting codes of honor in every cavalry officer's life, the personal as well as the professional, and that it takes an act of heroism to maintain both. It's fascinating to observe Wayne's progression throughout the trilogy, as his personal stakes intensify. Also, this is the first of five onscreen appearances between the Duke and O'Hara, each filled with a competitive spirit and stormy sexuality. --Bill Desowitz ... Read more

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They Were Expendable is the greatest American film of the Second WorldWar, made by America's greatest director, John Ford, who himself saw action from the Battle of Midway through D-day.Yet it's been oddly neglected.Orperhaps not so oddly: for as the matter-of-fact title implies, the filmcommemorates a period, from the eve of Pearl Harbor up to the impending fallof Bataan, when the Japanese conquest of the Pacific was in full cry and U.S.forces were fighting a desperate holding action.Although stirring movieshad been made about these early days (Wake Island, Bataan,Air Force), they were gung ho in their resolve to see the tablesturned. They Were Expendable, however, which was made when Allied victorywasall but assured, is profoundly elegiac, with the patient grandeur of a tragicpoem.

"They" are the officers and men of the Navy's PT boat service, anexperimental motor-torpedo force relegated to courier duty on Manila Bay buteventually proven effective in combat. Their commander is played by Robert Montgomery, who actually served on a PT and later commanded a destroyer atNormandy; James Agee called his "the one unimprovable performance" of 1945. In addition to giving it, Montgomery codirected the breathtaking second-unitaction sequences (and took over the first unit for a week when Ford broke his leg).John Wayne's costarring role as Montgomery's volatilesecond-in-command initially looks stereotypically blustery, but as the dramaunfolds--the death of comrades, a friendship-that-never-gets-to-be-a-romancewith an Army nurse (Donna Reed)--Wayne sounds notes of tenderness andvulnerability that will take Duke-bashers by surprise.

They Were Expendable is a heartbreakingly beautiful film, full ofastonishing images of warfare,grief, courage, and dignity: the artificial "rainfall" that lashes thebeached Wayne as his PT boat explodes in the surf; the glow around acommunally improvised dinner for nurse Reed; an old ship-repairer (RussellSimpson, The Grapes of Wrath's Pa Joad) settling in grimly to wait forthe Japanese, with "Red River Valley" as benediction; the propeller spraythat hangs over a jungle inlet, like the dust from one of Ford's cavalrypictures, as the PTs round a bend and disappear into history.This is amasterpiece. --Richard T. Jameson ... Read more

Reviews (33)

The best Naval film of World War II
They Were Expendable is the story of a small number of Sailors who found themselves in the Phillipines as World War II started. These men are operating small torpedo boats for the Navy which doesn't seem to have much of a use for them, if one listems to the admirals and captains viewing them in action.

The all star cast includes George Montgomery, Donna Reed, John Wayne and Ward Bond, amongst others. All are excellent and make this story much more real than it might otherwise have been. You get the feel for the Philippines and the climate. Plus the deterioriation of the situation as the Army is forced down the Bataan Peninsula to the island of Corregidor and the ultimate siege and defeat.

Many people "remember" Pearl Harbor but don't quite recall that the Philippines was a starker defeat for the United States. If you look at it objectively, Pearl Harbor was essentially avenged at the Battle of Midway. The Philippines took over2 1/2 years to see the return of US forces and it then evolved into a slogging match with the Japanese Army that went on until the surrender of Japan in 1945. Pearl Harbor sticks in the mind, the Philippines rapidly faded away.

This movie brings back the events that made up the US role in the Philippines in 1941 and early 42. You see at the end that there is not a happy ending. The romantic interest stays behind to become a POW. The remaining members of the PT crews become rifle carrying Sailors as they march off into the bush. Pay attention to Montgomerey's farewell talk to his men. It should rank up there with Washington's farewell to the Army.

This is a film that should be seen by all with an interst in Naval and Military history as well as the events of 1941-42. It is a movie about people that could be anyone of us.

An outstanding, but unusual war film
A superior war film, shot just as WWII was winding down. Tightly scripted, beautifully shot, with suspenseful, visceral action, this tells the story of how PT boats -- mobile torpedo ships -- made their mark in the Pacific war theatre. John Wayne, playing second billing to Robert Montgomery, delivers one of his most understated and enjoyable performances. Realistic but full of optimism, this film matter-of-factly captures the visceral sense of danger the war brought with it -- from the early Japanese raids following Pearl Harbor, to the sense of dread and helplessness soldiers felt under bombardment while convalescing in hospital bivouacs. A fine cast of supporting actors project the same sort of pragmatic American amiability as seen in the "Terry & The Pirates" cartoon strip. The film is particularly notable for the atypically bleak, inconclusive ending, which shows the disheartening midwar defeat of the American forces in the Pacific theatre -- we know, from the modern vantagepoint, that the Americans ultimately won, but director John Ford doesn't show it in his film. Excellent film; highly recommended.

No Mock Heroics -- This is the Real Thing. Beautifully Done
If you're looking for mock Hollywood heroics or a bloated 'action movie', try The Flying Tigers or The Fighting Seabees. This beautifully made, understated film is about the courage and dedication of the forsaken Phillipine defenders in 1941-42. In particular, the scene in which a radio announces the American surrender tells what those early days were really like. John Ford, who served in the Navy, casts Robert Montgomery as a PT squadron leader (in fact, Commander Montgomery served in the same PT squadron with John Kennedy). The b&w photography is outstanding, often mesmerizing, quite unique for a war film, with locations that are dead ringers for the originals. Adapted from the 1942 Pulitzer prize book by a reporter who was on the scene, it follows the true story fairly closely. Every performance is right-on, as are the combat scenes. Not a pumped-up excercise in flag waving; rather, it's a well executed tale of courage in desperate times. Every scene fascinates with the ambiance of its time and place, and with chilling historical accuracy. If the ending doesn't get a grip on you, you're a lost cause. And, yes, Doug MacArthur is treated like a god -- which, in those days, he was. No ostentatious preaching here; it's understated brilliance from start to finish, and an education in an earlier generation's attitude toward duty, integrity, and sacrifice. Bruce Willis fans stay clear; this is a war movie for grown-ups.

John Wayne at his best.
Although this movie can be a little sappy at times, it still comes through with a sense of realism that was not seen in other movies from this era. Many of the heros die and it's not even close to a fairy tale ending. Love this movie!

John Ford's Classic War Film
More than 60 years ago, Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor. During the months which followed, the United States struggled to recover as Japanese military victories continued throughout the Pacific. This film is based on William Lindsay White's interviews of four members of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, published as They Were Expendable in 1942. John Ford and Robert Montgomery co-directed and Montgomery also stars as Lieutenant John Brickley. Throughout much of this film, Brickley's squadron only provides courier service between Bataan and Corregidor. When given the opportunity, however, Squadron Three does manage to sink several of the enemy's ships as the Japanese complete their conquest of the Philippines, eventually forcing the American forces to surrender.

With regard to the film's title, not all of those involved with resisting the Japanese were expendable. General Douglas Mac Arthur is ordered by President Roosevelt to relocate with his family and staff to Australia. Brickley's squadron makes their escape possible. As the film ends, he and Lieutenant J.G. "Rusty" Ryan (John Wayne) return to the United States on the last plane out. Their men will now be fighting on foot...at least for a while. In the final scene, as they trudge proudly down the beach and the plane carrying Brickley and Ryan rises above them, the soundtrack offers a muted choral rendition of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." A distinctive Ford touch.

The greatness of this film is best explained in terms of (a) the generally non-verbal but nonetheless close relationships between Brickley and Ryan, and, between them and their crews; (b) the romantic feelings shared by Ryan and Lieutenant Sandy Davys (Donna Reed) which Ford never permits to deteriorate into sentimentality; (c) Montgomery's highly-effective portrayal of a soft-spoken leader; and (d) Wayne's (for me) surprisingly subtle and sensitive performance, perhaps equaled (in terms of nuance) only by his performances in The Searchers and The Shootist.

It is worth noting, also, that Ford as well as his cast and crew obviously had great respect for the men and women in the American military services. They avoid all of the pitfalls which ruin so many other war films. For example, character stereotyping (e.g. including a philosophical Jewish cab driver from Brooklyn) and using melodramatic music to manipulate a viewer's emotions during especially dramatic moments. This film has integrity in all respects, suggesting that although many of those whom it portrays may have been expendable, they are nonetheless admirable. ... Read more

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The great John Ford directed this rousing 1937 adventure with such invigorating physicality that the movie is never compromised by its cornball plot. It's an island adventure from the old school of tall tales, and the title says it all--the tropical romance between native girl Dorothy Lamour and suntanned hunk Jon Hall is established simply so it can be tested by a meddlesome island governor (Raymond Massey) and a tropical storm that provides one of the most physically impressive climaxes ever filmed. The storm remains as awesome as ever simply because it triumphantly captures the power of nature in the throes of a raging tempest. Massive waves, driving wind, and expert use of miniatures make The Hurricane a marvel of late-1930s special effects, but the sheer spectacle is more than matched by Ford's efficient economy of story. The romance is lush and primitive, in keeping with the sun-drenched setting on the fictional island of Manikoora, and as Hall's heroic character must endure wrongful imprisonment and the rigors of escape, Ford maintains a constant atmosphere of foreboding. The director's masterful use of sound and picture is best captured in the lonely peal of a church bell--it's both a reaffirming sign of life and, when the bell finally goes silent, a dreaded signal that the hurricane has taken its ultimate toll. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Your jaw will drop
Wow. Incredible special effects close out the last half hour of this film, in which a small Pacific island near Tahiti is obliterated by a collossal hurricane. The action scenes are amazing, as buildings, boats, people and trees are swept away by unstoppable nature. The plot revolves around the noble seafaring Terangi, a native who runs afoul of an unbending legal system, and has to go to great lengths to return to his family, and to prove his valor and nobility. Played by athlete-turned-actor John Hall, Terangi has a major "me Tarzan" quality to him, but is compelling nonetheless. Dorothy Lamour, in her trademark sarong, also plays a Polynesian. If you can get past the silliness of these white folks playing "ethnic" roles, this is a superior, and quite stunning film. As ever, a tightly crafted movie by director John Ford.

A special effects storm that has never been surpassed
The main reason to watch this 1937 film directed by John Ford is for the special effects as the title storm wrecks the fictional island of Manikoora. Certainly the cornball romance between the native girl Marama (Dorothy Lamour) and the sailor Terangi (Jon Hall) is not particularly captivating. Terangi is unjustly imprisoned for a murder he did not commit and escapes just as a hurricane strikes the island and makes it difficult for him to return to his wife. The hurricane sequence is what justifies five stars for this film as giant waves and battering winds destroy the sets and miniatures. Let me put it this way: the special effects in this 1937 film are at least as impressive as anything you see in "The Perfect Storm." The supporting cast features Raymond Massey as the heartless Governor De Laage, Mary Astor as his more sympathetic wife, John Carradine as the warden, C. Aubrey Smith as Father Paul and Thomas Mitchell as Dr. Kersaint in an Oscar nominated role for Supporting Actor. If you can track down a copy of "Hurricane" check it out, but do not do so on a dark and stormy night.

Hurricane
Don't watch this dvd if you are afraid of hurricanes! The last time I saw this marvelous John Ford film was on the morning of August 23, 1992-AMC Movie Channel, as bad coincidence would have it, was broadcasting The Hurricane, as Hurricane Andrew was tear- ing into Miami. I don't know which was more terrifying, the winds outside, smashing trees to the ground-or seeing the priest playing the organ as the walls came caving in, and the churchbell silenced........it is, for it's time, THE most realistic depict- ion of a hurricane as you are likely to get. And very advanced social commentary, that the imposition of rigidly-observed col- onial rules damaged those whom it was imposed on, that it drained the life out of them. Not to mention rigidity on a personal lev- el wrecked relationships, ruining love. Rather a parable of para dise lost and destroyed-to great effect. What could have been a humdrum boring sermon became an electrifying tale under the sure hand of John Ford. John Hall and Dorothy Lamour really never had such a workout of their craft again!

Doesn't spare any puches. There's a terrifying scene of an is- lander mother giving birth in a canoe, surrounded by her family and the doctor, being jounced around and battered by the storm in all it's fury-you have to buy this. You won't regret it. It has not lost any of it's punch, it is as applicable today as then.

Category 5 Hurricane
Bliss of islanders Terangi (Hall) and Marama (Lamour) is threatened by overzealous, rigid (yet tenderly devoted to wife Germaine) colonial governor De Laage (Massey), obsessed with the letter of the law--until nature intervenes to settle the conflict and soften De Laage's heart. Enduring a lengthy period of false incarceration, Terangi is reunited with beloved Marama and young daughter Tita--on the eve of the hurricane that will overwhelm their tiny island, yet ironically, despite great human toll, reconcile persecutor and persecuted. Awesome, riveting hurricane sequence still is unsurpassed after more than sixty years. Ever intensifying gale force winds tear away the tattered tricolor, signalling the end of colonial government's vain attempt to impose bureaucratic order on the island. Storm surge violently and indiscriminately carries away trappings of church and state, as nature asserts its primacy over man. Top notch cast, especially Mary Astor as De Laage's gracious wife Germaine, more than hold their own with the hurricane--the real star of the film.

Hurricane is Rare Event
This film is very exciting and has good production. It the head of its time in the seventh art for its high quality effects. The message of the film is about destructive natural hurricane with its similar hurricane of human life represented in black side of man. I.e. hatred injustice and conspiracy. These bad things are the true hurricane that travels inside man which would get ride of what it meets like natural hurricane. This is quite clear in the film the ruler(Raymond Massey ) and the young man(Jon Hall ). The similarity between the two films is the destruction of every thing that the hurricane meets. It among lines message which the film seeks to convey. ... Read more

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The first feature film to be photographed and projected in the panoramic three-camera Cinerama process, this epic Western is almost as expansive as the West itself, chronicling a pioneering family's triumphs and tragedies in numerous episodes spanning three generations and a half century of westward movement. Divided into five segments directed by veteran Hollywood filmmakers Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, and the legendary John Ford (and including uncredited sequences directed by Richard Thorpe), the film was one of the most ambitious ever made by the venerable MGM studio. Its stellar cast reads like a virtual who's who of Hollywood's biggest stars. Debbie Reynolds plays a sturdy survivor of many pioneering dangers, and the eventual widow of a gambler (Gregory Peck), who is later reunited with her nephew (George Peppard), a Civil War veteran and cavalryman who heads for San Francisco as the transcontinental railroad is being built. Many more characters and stories are woven throughout this epic film, which is dramatically uneven but totally engrossing with its stunning vistas and countless outdoor locations in Illinois, Kentucky, South Dakota, Monument Valley in Arizona, California, Colorado, and elsewhere. The DVD presents the film in its Cinerama aspect ratio of 2.65:1 and also includes a "making of" documentary and the original theatrical trailer. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (55)

Not made for the small screen
Like IMAX films released on dvd...what's the point? This was made for the biggest movie screens ever conceived.

I was lucky to see this film a few years ago in genuine 3-strip CINERAMA on an archival print from the original release. On the big screen it's an amazing experience. The uneven story fades away when one is viewing the spectacular cinematography. CINERAMA captured vast scenes in incredible richness and detail. It's an experience like no other.

On the small screen at home you mainly notice the technical flaws, the borders between the three separate images, and also the dated 1960's Hollywood "Old West" story. (Carroll Baker's makeup is never smudged, even when tilling the soil.) The first two segments are the best dramatically.

One aspect that is still great at home is the magnificent score by Alfred Newman. So save your money, buy the soundtrack, and head to Seattle, LA, or England or where ever you can find an exhibition of the real CINERAMA.

America's own "Triumph of the Will" -- Leni would be proud!
In a remarkable coincidence, the same day I saw "How the West was Won" at the Seattle Cinerama (03/01/03), the History Channel aired a program on the history of the wheel. One of the talking-head experts opined that the wheel's invention marked a fundamental change in human thought -- not only was there a technological solution to every problem, but nature could be bent to human will, forced to reveal her secrets and serve us.

This is the theme of "How the West was Won." It starts with the title, and extends to nearly everything in the film. The narration tells us that the land had to be wrested from nature and from the "primitive people" who inhabited (and by implication, infested) it. The chorus is continually singing about how "we're headed for the promised land" and those who are willing to work hard will be richly rewarded (except the Chinese railroad laborers, of course). We were justified in overrunning the continent because we are actually "doing something" with it -- as opposed to the Indians, who merely lived there in harmony with nature. Not having invented the wheel, they saw no further possibilities.

James Webb's script acknowledge the culture clash between the Americans and the native peoples, recognizing that the latter will have to eventually change or be destroyed. But this is peripheral to the celebration of the industry, hard work, and sacrifice of the Americans, who "tamed" the wilderness. The film ends with a nausea-inducing flyover of the California freeways (I sat next to a guy who'd taken Dramamine in anticipation of such scenes), followed by a flight under the Golden Gate bridge, firmly and unambiguously driving the point home.

"How the West was Won" is social propaganda, plain and simple. It's the kind of film that could change Osama Bin Laden's mind about destroying the US. (Maybe the State Department could arrange a screening...)

As a movie, there's no denying "How the West was Won" is wildly entertaining. Simply as cinematic spectacle, it works magnificently. There are films (such as "2001" and "Lawrence of Arabia") that even the finest video transfer cannot do justice to, and this is one of them. Sitting in the first few rows, you're so close to the screen that you can't take in all of it at once. When the camera tracks into a scene, the sense of physical motion is uncanny. (Can you say "stimulation of peripheral vision"? Sure you can.) And if you haven't seen a buffalo stampede, or a train crash, or a row of cannons firing in sequence on a (roughly) 30' by 90' screen -- well, you haven't lived, cinematically-wise.

Story-wise, there's so much material to cover the script cannot begin to do it justice, even in a film lasting 2½ hours. Characters are more types than individuals, and almost every performer is cast to type. (Eli Wallach, in particular, gets to do his "crazy Mexican outlaw" shtick, though without an accent.) It's only the efficiency and focus of the script that keeps the actors from looking altogether foolish. Other than (perhaps) Karl Malden, no one gives what would be considered a "real" performance.

The plot (which follows the Prescott family and its descendents over 50 years) is concocted to make Debbie Reynolds' character the sort of farm girl who wants to run off to the big city to become rich, so we're treated to several (mercifully brief) song-and-dance numbers. Her sister is played by Carol Baker, who falls head over heels in love with Jimmy Stewart's "aw-shucks" mountain man, and later "tames" him (as the film's conceit requires). The rest of the film rehashes just about every cliché of westerns and Civil War movies -- though entertainingly. The final sequence posits the "conquest" of the West as occurring when "the law" (in the form of George Peppard's marshall) arrives, to establish justice. But Peppard -- who says he wants to bring the bad'un to justice in court -- shoots him to death, anyway.

My five-star rating acknowledges this is a classic film -- not necessarily a great one.

I can't pass up the opportunity to trash Pauline Kael, who was not so much a hard-nosed-but-movie-loving critic as she was an empty-headed, loudmouthed [female canine]. Note how she uses the artistic limitations of a single sentence to craft a thoughtful, insightful commentary that will help the reader better understand this film...

"'How the West Was Lost' would be a more appropriate title for this dud epic, since, as conceived by the writer, James R. Webb, the pioneers seem to be dimwitted bunglers who can't do anything right."

Hello? Were we watching the same movie? "How the West was Won" might be politically incorrect, dramatically shallow, and little more than agit-prop -- but it's no dud. The Seattle audience -- which included many people sporting "No Iraq War" buttons -- just ate it up. "How the West was Won" is Hollywood middlebrow-populist entertainment at its best.

One final question... Where did they find a stunt man who looked like Agnes Moorhead?

Wake me when it's over
I kind of figured television was responsible for this... movie. HOW THE WEST WAS WON dvd comes with a featurette on the making of the movie, in which we learn that the movie studios developed the Cinerama process (three cameras shot the movie which was projected onto three specially designed screens. Think IMAX) to present an alternative "viewing experience" to compete with television.
Watching this on television, even in a letterbox edition, is excruciating. There are visible bars where the three screens meet. Often the color in one screen doesn't jibe with that of the adjoining screen.
Those defects could be corrected by digital manipulation, I suppose, but what's the point? The Cinerama screen was meant to wrap around the audience and a television screen is flat. What can't be corrected is the lack of close-ups and a surplus of dead space.
Almost all the action takes place in the center panel, and the closest we get to the action is in a medium shot. Most of the time there's nothing happening on the edge panels. Two-thirds of the screen is dead. The only time Cinerama seemed to shine was when chaotic action was swiftly coming at the audience, which is why we are so often treated to onrushing trains and galloping horses and stampeding buffalo shot from a camera in the ground. I think it would have taken a visual genius the likes of a Busby Berkeley to exploit Cinerama's potential without having to open the paddock.
The featurette also tells us HTWWW had a cast of 12,000. I guess maybe a dozen of them weren't miscast, but that's just a guess. The movie opens with Jimmy Stewart, out of character as mountain man Linus Rawlings, canoeing along a river while Spencer Tracy narrates over the action: '(The land) known only to the lonely trappers wandering its vastness in search of beaver...' One and a half scenes later Linus skids his bark next to the Prescott campsite and gives Carroll Baker a pelt to stroke....
Okay. I was bored. What can I say? At least I was paying attention. When Debbie Reynolds delivers a rousing rendition of 'Raise a Ruckus' for the despondent members of the wagon train I wasn't paying much attention at all. By the time Eli Wallach was glaring daggers at George Peppard's kids I was wondering whether or not one should fill in that little hole in the middle of a dvd when you make it into a coaster.

Middling story and atrocious transfer
I like westerns. My favorite entries in the genre are spaghetti westerns, those cheap, ultra low budget Italian takes on the American West. I always try to fit some of these movies into my viewing schedule, and when the day came where I considered it time to watch Sergio Leone's epic "Once Upon a Time in the West," I headed out to rent it. Imagine my surprise when I got home and saw that I inadvertently checked out "How the West Was Won" instead. I scratched my head, not familiar at all with the title. After all, I like westerns but I don't know a lot about the genre or the films I have yet to see. When I saw the cast list for this 1962 movie, I decided not to take it back without watching and seeing if I liked it. I think I would be remiss to have skipped this one on initial impression alone; the cast list reads like a "who's who" of mid twentieth century Hollywood. You've got Carroll Baker, Lee J. Cobb, Agnes Moorehead, Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, George Peppard, Debbie Reynolds, Eli Wallach, John Wayne, Richard Widmark, Walter Brennan, Karl Malden, Carolyn Jones, Harry Morgan, Raymond Massey, and Robert Preston filling the roles. Spencer Tracy voices the narration. Howard Hawks and John Ford directed specific segments of the film. What a list of talent! Couldn't go wrong with a movie like this one, right? Wrong.

As amazing as it seems, "How the West Was Won" is not a very good experience. The movie runs for an eternity as it attempts to describe the different experiences in settling the American West. At the beginning of the film, the Prescott clan heads out to the West in search of farmland and a new beginning. Zebulon Prescott (Karl Malden), his wife Rebecca (Agnes Moorehead), and two daughters Eve (Carroll Baker) and Lilith (Debbie Reynolds) travel down the recently completed Erie Canal and travel out into what Illinois or Missouri. Along the way, they encounter a traveling fur trapper named Linus Rawlings (Jimmy Stewart), who stays with the family for a day or so, just long enough to fall in love with one of the daughters. After Zeb and Rebecca perish in an unfortunate rafting accident, Rawlings reemerges to take care of Eve and eventually establish a farm at the sight of the accident. These two will have children-one named Zebulon Rawlings (George Peppard)-who will eventually fight in the Civil War. Zeb Rawlings then leaves the family property to his brother as he moves further west fighting Indians for the railroads and working as a law officer. He ends up thwarting a nasty train robbery in Arizona some fifty years after his grandparents expired on that raft.

The other daughter, Lilith, ends up in St. Louis working as a dancer and actress when she learns that she inherited a gold mine in California. As she prepares to head west, a slick card shark named Cleve Van Valen (Gregory Peck) convinces Lily to take him along. There's a minor competition for Lily's affections between Van Valen and Roger Morgan (Robert Preston), another guy on the wagon train. The gold mine doesn't pan out in the end, so Lilith and Cleve end up falling in love and marrying, eventually going on to build and lose several huge family fortunes. Of course, Lily's travels to the coast are fraught with perils, such as an Indian attack on the wagon train and a song and dance number at a campsite. I kept hoping the filmmakers would insert a Donner Party type situation that would require Gregory Peck to consume either Robert Preston or Debbie Reynolds, but no such luck. In any event, the movie seems to focus more on the Rawlings clan than it does on Lily's experiences.

Sadly, many of the great actors in the movie rarely appear. Raymond Massey plays Abraham Lincoln, John Wayne and Harry Morgan are General William Tecumseh Sherman and General Ulysses S. Grant respectively, and Lee J. Cobb is a Marshal in Arizona. Even Eli Wallach as an outlaw is a ghostly shadow of the villain he played in Leone's "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly." The huge cast list highlights the central problem of the film, namely that the filmmakers tried to do too much. Very few of the characters we see receive proper development. The focus here is on shock and awe photography and scenery, not the individuals taking part in the events. "How the West Was Won" was the first film shot in Cinerama, and, I think, a prime example of how Hollywood abuses a new technology. We see the same thing going on today with the CGI effects in those top-heavy special effects bonanzas. Everyone wants to use a new cinematic technique, so much so that they rely solely on the effect and lose sight of the human element. A bit less spectacle and a lot more interaction between the cast would have helped this movie succeed.

I hate to say it, but the DVD version of this film could use a lot of work. You can literally see the two lines dividing the picture into three segments in the transfer. Not only is this enormously annoying, it's completely unacceptable. I can't believe the studio techs couldn't release a seamlessly restored version of this film. The disc does contain a short documentary detailing the Cinerama process along with a few bits about the stunts in the film, but the shoddy picture quality of the movie will dampen your enthusiasm for any extras. I imagine some people would like the actual movie better than I did though no one should settle for the poor transfer. I suggest waiting for a special edition disc.

Needs a better format, anamorphic
I saw the film in LA, at the original Cinerama, in the original
showing. This film is not going to be right until shown in
HDTV (HD-DVD), but for Pete's sake, why letterbox ?

What a trashy way to treat this classic. Stick a crowbar in your
wallet and spring for an anamorphic release. When the HD-DVD with
proper restoration shows up, I'll buy a copy of that, not rent. ... Read more

Reviews (38)

BRING KLEENEX - A POIGNANT TEAR JERKER
"How Green Was My Valley" is a story about the celebration and disillusionment of family. It takes place in a Welsh mining town (actually a Twentieth Century-Fox set built in California) and centers on the Morgan family, mum, dad and five adult sons and one child, played brilliantly by Roddy McDowell. The whole story is seen through McDowell's eyes. Director John Ford cuts a masterful swath in telling this tale. Maureen O'Hara and Walter Pigeon, as the ill-fated lovers, are superb. Donald Crisp and Sara Allgoode are brilliant as the elders of the Morgan clan. This is a wonderful, timeless film to share with your family and friends. A genuine classic in every sense.
The transfer from Fox is pretty much the same as the previously issued DVD. Contrast levels seema bit low at times but the black and white picture is pretty much pristine, especially when it comes to the stunning close ups. The remixed soundtrack is a bit too aggresive in its side channel output, often drowning out the more soft spoken bits of dialogue with music. Not to worry. The film's original mono audio is also included and it is properly balanced. Dialogue, though dated in fidelity is nevertheless well represented. On this incarnation we get a documentary on the making of the movie that is all too brief and some theatrical trailers that don't add anything to the enjoyment of the over-all film experience. BOTTOM LINE: If you have the previously issued DVD you might want to think twice before going out and rebuying this title again. The extras aren't worth it.

Forever a One-of-a-Kind Classic
Welsh Author Richard Llewellyn's classic (1940), in 1941 won an Oscar at the Academy Awards over 'Citizen Kane' for Best Picture. Also to recieve an award for Best Supporting Actor, Donald Crisp and Best Director, John Ford. Ford had previously won an Academy Award for Best Director in 1935 for 'The Informer' and in 1940 for 'The Grapes of Wrath.' With this track record it a wonder that the 1941 film's success claimed all the awards at the Oscars. Ford went on later to capture again the Best Director category in 1952 for 'The Quiet Man.'

Most movie-goers and critics who have seen both, 'Citizen Kane' and 'How Green Was My Valley' in comparation choose 'Citizen Kane' as the greatest American film in movie history. According to the American Film Institute (AFI) had been selected as one of the top 100 films of all time. Was it such a disappointment at the 1941 Oscars that left 'Citizen Kane' empty-handed in it's artistic achievement? Concerning at the time the approach of the film's story and Orson Welles are not to go unnoticed. The differences that probably considered at the time, that 'Citizen Kane' approach was a more documentary-type looking at the life of a newspaper mogul. Whereas, 'How Green Was My Valley' is a narrative look at one Welsh family seen through the eyes of the 10-year-old son. My guess that's what the public can relate to more of family values at a time in the early 40s just after the Great Depression and the beginning of World War II. That's what 'The Grapes of Wrath' did. It related to real people the same as 'How Green Was My Valley.' Maybe 'Citizen Kane' in some public's point-of-view at that time left a bad taste in their mouth. Or, maybe we can all just relate more in our life experiences. Isn't that what life and art is all about? If you've read Llewellyn's book you can hear the Welsh speak and the events that affect the Morgan family like that of a soap opera. The same is geniously done in the film.

Ford does a beautiful job creating this memorable drama about a loving, spiritual Welsh family of coal miners. It's gentle portrayal well deserves it's reward in this coming-of-age story in the best and worst times that hold a family together. A true masterpiece, that Hollywood could use as an example in their film notebooks of how a great film is made. There's a great cast that makes a great movie. There's plenty here. The story focuses on the events as seen through the eyes of 10 year old Huw Morgan (Roddy McDowell). His father and mother (Donald Crisp and Sarah Allgood) and five other brothers has seen the best and worst times when tensions of a miner's union causes some turmoil between the Morgan family members and the other villagers as they begin a long strike. Huw Morgan also learns the tougher side of life under the guardianship of local preacher, Mr. Gruffydd (Walter Pidgeon). Mr. Gruffydd has also developed permanent affections towards Huw's sister, Angharad (Maureen O'Hara). Crises arise throughout the film, like the cruel schoolmaster, the bully and the unfortunate accident of a fall causing Hwu to lose the use of his legs are endured. Even when the family are separated because of change or tragic loss the story just unfolds into a moving, lush family portrait of durable strength and sound morals. It was a time that was simple and innocent. The fondness of memory and the journey from childhood to adulthood we all have in common. Such a beautiful classic to cherish. If you like to read more about Richard Llewellyn's work try, 'None But the Lonely Heart.' You may also enjoy in the same gnere as this film, 'The Corn is Green' with Bette Davis.

Unforgettable Hollywood Classic Of The First Order
"Timeless",is perhaps the best word to use in describing producer Darryl F. Zanuck's beautifully assembled tribute to the Welsh Coal Mining Family that became a well deserved winner of five Academy Awards including Best Picture in 1941. I never fail to be totally moved by this quite simple story of love, devotion to one's family, and pulling together in times of adversity. Those are indeed timeless themes just as applicable nowadays as they were when Richard Llewellyn first wrote his acclaimed novel. Among the many things that make this film a viewing experience to treasure is to see 13 year old Roddy McDowall, give a subtle, beautifully wrought performance way beyond his young years as youngest son Huw Morgan through whose eyes the story unfolds. The film indeed has something for everyone from a fine literate script, low key believable performances and one of the finest outdoor sets from Hollywood's heyday where an entire Welsh village was constructed on a hillside in California. The film is rightly still regarded as one of Hollywood's greatest achievements in storytelling and has a rare sensitivity about it despite the often harsh themes explored during its running time.

"How Green Was My Valley", unfolds through the thoughts of sixty year old Huw Morgan and we are taken back to the time of his childhood in the small Welsh village that is dominated by the Coal Mine that is the chief source of survival for most of the men in the town. Huw is the much younger son of no nonsense "salt of the earth", parents Gwilym and Beth Morgan (Donald Crisp and Sara Allgood), who have raised their brood of five sons and one daughter to be honest, non complaining, God fearing pillars of the community. Integrity of the soul and a belief in the basic good of mankind are the mottos by which the Morgan's live their everyday lives. The film traces the various happy and tragic occasions that colour the families life in the valley from the marriage of oldest son Ivor (Patric Knowles)to sweet Bronwyn (Anna Lee), to the tragedy and divisions caused to the community by a crippling strike that turns friend against friend and in the Morgan's case, Father against son. We also witness young Huw's adjusting to going to a school outside the valley were he must contend with bullies and a sadistic teacher, on his journey to eventual manhood. All the characters encounter either physical or emotional heartbreak along the way as we see Ivor killed in a mining accident widowing Bronwyn with a young child, many of the Morgan boys being forced to seek work else where as the mine retrenches more of its workers, and Huw and Mrs. Morgan almost dying after falling into a freezing river. We witness the budding romance of daughter Angharad(Maureen O'Hara ), with the local minister Mr. Gruffydd (Walter Pidgeon), being destroyed when Angharad is forced into a loveless marriage with the son of the mine owner. The story ends on the final sad note with the death of Morgan family head Gwilym in another mining accident. All is not gloom in this story however as it never is entirely in real life and along the way there are many joyous celebrations of the human spirit and of people supporting others in need. Mr. Gruffydd's devotion to young Huw inspires him to overcome his accident in the river and to walk again which in turn inspires Mrs. Morgan in her recovery as well. Town hypocrisy and gossip are also tackled when vivous rumours about Angharad's affection for Gruffydd despite being married, raises the preacher's indignation to the level where he turns it back on the "un christian", individuals spreading the gossip during a church service.

In "How Green Was My Valley", we constantly see the human spirit rise above adversity to go on and face the next challenge. John Ford directed this film with an eye for detail, sentiment and human emotion without sacrificing the strong themes present here. He does a masterful job with the individual performances he gets from the actors who deliver some of the best work many of them ever did. Donald Crisp as the stern but loving head of the family richly deserved his Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor that year and Walter Pidgeon and Maureen O'Hara as the illfated lovers are nothing short of brilliant with every emotion expressed by the two being of a sincerity and believability that comes from assured playing and strong direction. Character actors Anna Lee, Barry Fitzgerald and especially Sara Allgood are also superlative in their work and are immortalised in these roles forever for their fine work. Roddy McDowall is of course the very heart and soul of "How Green Was My Valley", and rarely has a child's part been so centrally placed as the "emotional crossroads", of a story as here. McDowall displays a maturity in his playing that never fails to amaze me and he brings to life the sensitive youngest son of the Morgans who loves his home and family, like no other could. Twentieth Century Fox paid great attention to detail to make this film one of their biggest productions for 1941. The recreation of Welsh mining life is done with great attention to detail right down to the use of the famous Welsh Singers to provide the voices for the men singing on their way home from another day in the mines. The recreation of the Welsh Village also still stands as one of the outstanding achievements of Hollywood technical know how in it's heyday.

For a journey to a simpler and seemingly more sincere time then John Ford's classic "How Green Was My Valley", is unsurpassed entertainemnt of the old Hollywwod school. The phrase, "they dont make them like this anymore", could most definately be applied to this classic. It will bring tears, laughter, and inspiration as no modern film possibly could and this is what makes viewing this film such a special experience. Treat yourself to a viewing of it soon, you wont regret it.

I Love This Movie
The first time I watched this movie I was blown away. I have seen nearly all of Ford's major films, but only the Grapes of Wrath astounded me quite on this level. Everything about this film is beautiful. Roddy McDowell's performance is excellent and memorable. The little town feels alive and real.

Passionate Family Brings Tear to Watchers of
This is a captivating film about the Morgans, a simple coal mining family: strict rules, a pot of weeks' shillings, sorrows, love, and hardships. Roddy McDowall (who gives a frightningly strange and disturbing performance and jerks the most tears) is Huw Morgan, a young boy: quiet, meek, the epitome of childhood. His father is the blunt, strong Gwilym Morgan (an Oscar-winning performance by the great Donald Crisp), a father of six boys and the head of his household who almost loses contact with his sons beause of their different opinions through the new era. His mother is Beth (an Oscar-nominated performance by the funny Sara Allgood), a good-hearted mother, a poineer in a new era of thought and wisdom. Then we come to Angharad Morgan, his beautiful sister played wonderfully by Maureen O'Hara. Angharad has the same meekness and childness as her brother though already a grown woman. Angharad and the church's preacher, Mr. Gruffydd (Walter Pidgeon), have a love at first sight relationship even though he tells her they could never marry which devestates her into marrying her father's boss's son. Anna Lee plays Bronwyn, Huw's tragic brother Ivor (Patric Knowles)'s beautiful wife who Huw has a huge crush on. It is a great movie, a big tearerker, and a movie that'll make you glad for all the things avaliable to us today. The film's cast rounds out with Barry Fitzgerald ("Going My Way"), John Loder, and Rhys Williams as Dai Bando. I'd really give it 4.5 out of 5 stars or 9 out of 10 stars. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Outstanding Film about Midway From The "Battlefield" Series
Unfortunately, there seems to be some confusion about this video tape. This is not the classic film made during the war about the Battle of Midway, but rather this is one of the films
about famous battles of World War II from the "Battlefield" series. This series gives a comprehensive view of the battle from the point of view of the upper echelons conducting the war. The battle is explained within its context as part the wider stragtegic issues of the war. A considerable part of the film deals with the lead-up to the battle including discussion of the political and military leadership of the opposing sides, the weapons involved and the military action preceding the battle. In this film, the Battle of the Coral Sea is discussed in detail as a prelude to Midway. The Battle of Midway was an extremely complex engagement that is hard to follow even when reading detailed descriptions of the battle in books. This film makes the battle and its various components clear to the viewer. This film certainly made me appreciate the genius of naval air power commanders such as Halsey, Spruance, and Fletcher who had to move around large numbers of ships and aircraft in both attack and defense at the same time. This series is highly recommended for someone who has more than just a passing interest in the Second World War.

John Ford's short documentary on the Battle of Midway
The story is that President Franklin Roosevelt insisted that this documentary about the pivotal World War II battle in the Pacific be made for the mothers of America. In this battle the torpedo squadrons from three American aircraft carriers were all shot down by the Japanese, without ever having one torpedo hit anything and only one man surviving. In an incredibly lucky twist of fate, the torpedo planes had forced the Zeroes providing air cover for the Japanese carriers down on the deck, giving the American dive bombers a clear shot at their targets. John Ford directed this 20 minute documentary, which is narrated by Donald Crisp with Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell providing dialogue voices. Ford happened to be on hand with a crew of naval photographers and was wounded during the battle. The film covers the attack on Midway, including some aerial footage, the search for survivors, and aftermath of the battle. Edited in secret, the film was released just days after its completion. Certainly, this documentary is of more than passing historical interest, although the details of the battle are rather sketchy.

Propaganda Film
The Battle for Midway is 20 minute propaganda film. Global War follows the Allies march to Rome(30 min). For $7.49 what can you expect?

Tora Tora Tora
Excellent rendition of historic facts , some of the battle scenes were well done , but the political blunders made by both sides was appalling. but i think that is human nature.

WWII Battles of the Pacific :How so much hinges on so little
I feel that "Battle of Midway" is unique amongst films of this genre, in that it shows how even the smallest decisions made by admirals or captains on either sides of the battlelines can have such a devestating impact on the overall outcome. To give a perfect example, how one commanders decision to equip their fighters with bombs as opposed to torpedoes (or vice-a-versa) could be the hingpin that holds their battleplan together, or the mistake that tears it apart. Take it from an ex-sailor, the depictions of naval combat in this film are as close to real as a filmaker could probably get, especially considering the era the film was made in. Add to all this the all star cast that reads like a whos who of hollywood, you wont find a better film in this genre. To sum it up, this was the "Pearl Harbor" of the 70's! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

important? in it's own way...
I don't quite know what to say about this. John Ford is an important director. I suppose this is important historically speaking, but it is very racist. It's propoganda, and not against the enemy, but against out own people. This is the type of work that allowed us to have our deterrment camps. On the plus side, Huston, who plays Uncle Sam, does argue that they are Japanese-Americans are as American and as loyal as any other. But we have Mr. C., which is U.S.'s conscience telling us different. I'd like to think that the rational side won the arguement in the film, but we know from history it didn't. And the film ended with our people as the enemy. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In 1943 John Ford gave the great cinematographer Gregg Toland(Citizen Kane, The Grapes of Wrath) an opportunity to direct hisfirst film. What was intended to be a short documentary of the bombing of PearlHarbor grew into a veritable epic, framed by a debate between Walter Huston'sUncle Sam and Harry Davenport's Mr. C on the true nature of the Pacificparadise. Hawaiian history, rah-rah patriotism, and arguments over the loyaltyof the Japanese-American population are capped by a stunning re-creation of thebattle so convincing that feature films borrowed footage from it for decades.Arch and dated, it's a fascinating slice of history that until a few years agowas never seen by the public. Toland's criticisms of the American Navy caused itto be withheld until Ford could cut the 82-minute feature into a half-hourshort, removing the history and analysis and concentrating solely on the battleand the recovery.

VCI's release features Toland's original cut as well as Movietone News andUniversal newsreels of the attack and an unusual Japanese TV newscast coveringthe 1995 debut of this restored version in Japan.

The DVD also features Ford's Oscar®-winning 34-minute version, audiocommentary by four Pearl Harbor survivors, and Frank Capra's 60-minute 1945documentary Know Your Enemy: Japan, a more traditionally jingoistic pieceof wartime propaganda that was narrated by Walter Huston. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (1)

important? in it's own way...
I don't quite know what to say about this. John Ford is an important director. I suppose this is important historically speaking, but it is very racist. It's propoganda, and not against the enemy, but against out own people. This is the type of work that allowed us to have our deterrment camps. On the plus side, Huston, who plays Uncle Sam, does argue that they are Japanese-Americans are as American and as loyal as any other. But we have Mr. C., which is U.S.'s conscience telling us different. I'd like to think that the rational side won the arguement in the film, but we know from history it didn't. And the film ended with our people as the enemy. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

important? in it's own way...
I don't quite know what to say about this. John Ford is an important director. I suppose this is important historically speaking, but it is very racist. It's propoganda, and not against the enemy, but against out own people. This is the type of work that allowed us to have our deterrment camps. On the plus side, Huston, who plays Uncle Sam, does argue that they are Japanese-Americans are as American and as loyal as any other. But we have Mr. C., which is U.S.'s conscience telling us different. I'd like to think that the rational side won the arguement in the film, but we know from history it didn't. And the film ended with our people as the enemy. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

This Oscar-winner examines President Lincoln's early years. Even though he was the subject of some 158 films, this movie perhaps defines Lincoln on screen--despite the fact that Young Mr. Lincoln was released in what was perhaps film's finest year, 1939. It certainly endured stiff competition: Destry Rides Again, Gone with the Wind, Gunga Din, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Of Mice and Men, and Wizard of Oz. Young Mr. Lincoln explores Lincoln's budding interest in politics (he accepts a law book as payment at his grocery store), a bittersweet relationship with a girl to whom he shares his dreams, his first law office, and as he meets Mary Todd. The film's highlight is the court trial. Lincoln is successful through a substantiated defense: due to a moonless night, the witness testifying against Lincoln's client couldn't have seen the murder committed. Even in his earliest performances, Fonda easily switched between comedic and dramatic. It's remarkable this was actually one of his earlier films--what an onus of responsibility to play the country's most revered president! Fonda succeeds, and performs valiantly and credibly. His portrayal is kindly, respectful, admirable, and brilliant. No president could ask for more. --N.F. Mendoza ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Fonda IS Lincoln
Henry Fonda was never more believable than when he portrayed Abraham Lincoln as a young man in John Ford's 1939 film YOUNG MISTER LINCOLN.The action covers Lincoln's self-education in law, his loss of his first love, Anne Rutledge, and his attempted entrance into society, during which he meets Mary Todd, the future Mrs. Lincoln.But the central focus of the action is Lincoln's law career, the climax of which is a successfully argued murder trial.Under Ford's direction the film has no wasted moments, seeming more like a series of vignettes than a biography, and Alfred Newman's musical score adds much.Fonda's physical resemblance to Lincoln is striking, and he embodies him in speech and manner as well; though much of the plot is no doubt fabrication, one feels that this is exactly how Lincoln really walked, gestured, and spoke.The screenplay captures Lincoln's simple, straightforward moral values, and Fonda's moving speeches foreshadow his later "justice"-oriented parts (such as his Juror #8 in 12 ANGRY MEN; a certain detail of the climactic trial will also remind you of the later movie).After all is said and done, Abe Lincoln may have been Fonda's greatest role.

Paint me an angel
"A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides-
You may have met Him-did you not
His notice sudden is-
...
But I never met this Fellow
Attended or alone
Without a tighter breathing
And Zero at the Bone-"

- Emily Dickinson

Today, Lincoln is a figure of fun, with his top-hat.Sometime in 1965, the top hat acquired more of an association with charlatans, than with old Abe.

In mid-century America you could not go broke writing books about Lincoln, and Edmund Wilson, the mid-century critic, said that he could not think of Lincoln without emotion.Today, the most popular book about Abe deconstructs him as a racist who wanted to send the slaves back to Africa.

I'm afraid, however, that at least one of Lincoln's crimes was his humble background.In a country where mentioning social origins was, in Lincoln's time and ours, impolite, the fact that it is not mentioned makes poor origins on balance a defect in the man.

Didn't Daisy say, "rich girls don't marry poor boys, Jay Gatsby!"?

John Ford usually made Westerns, but in the 1830s, Illinois was part of the frontier. The Oxford History of the American West places the Western frontier somewhere near Amherst, Massachusetts in 1680 around the time of King Phillip's war.Today, the West is a few feet of beach at Half Moon Bay, having failed to ingest Hanoi at the other edge of the big water. There is much of the Western in this film, although the showdown takes place in a court of law.

Certain "feminist" critics have renarrated the plot line of this film, wherein Lincoln establishes "the patriarchal order of the frontier."

The best of these feminist critics leave it, at that.At that point they have done us all a service, having renarrated, accurately.But some prose on to invite us to speculate that this is a bad thing.

The Oxford history narrates the West in a like fashion, showing how in fact the individual condottieres of the Wild West were members of paramilitary groups who were fighting the Civil War well into the 1880s, establishing a Republican patriarchal order as against Democrats, Ku Kluxers, Mexicans and other scalawags.

The question raised by John Ford's film is whether Lincoln's victory is, as some "feminists" might claim, a Bad Thing.For, of course, the Illinois frontier circa 1830 was no feminist paradise.It was instead dominated, in the absence of a defined patriarchy, by scalawags, slave-runners, and, I fear, Democrats.

Indeed, Lincoln's early success, as seen in the film and in histories of his early life, was based on the fact that Lincoln was part of this system, and, prior to the death of Anne Rutledge, a bit of a scalawag, himself.The film portrays a change in Lincoln's life, the sort of change only truly great men and women can endure; for we may owe Lincoln's depression over the death of Anne Rutledge for the strong words "with malice towards none, with charity towards all."

Today, of course, depressed people are considered first and foremost to be at-risk for not being able to pay their bills and are given various drugs.This neatly short-circuits one solution to depression, and that is to discover a new life at the bottom of whatever hole one is in.

Ford's Lincoln in the courtroom is seen by the perceptive viewer to be a lanky angel of righteousness.The scene where he emerges to the light and the cheers of the crowd is shown by Ford to be an acceptance of his destiny.

This we know is myth.Good myth.

But it is the final scene, where Lincoln has been transformed to the Lincoln at his Memorial, that returns me to the modern-day historian, who sez that Lincoln was a racist.This is because it is of course that my country's biggest problem then and now was race, and in the right light (let's say a dark and rainy, post-September 11 Washington afternoon) Lincoln looks like a man of color, like Booker T. or Phillip Randolph.

More precisely, in the suffering contours of the face as filmed by Ford, one sees the best destiny of my country, which is to forget "race."The shadows of the crags as drawn by suffering that we know must have been genuine (for it was Lincoln who had to write that letter, to that mother, who lost those five boys) rather overwhelm skin tone.Old men, white and black, get children, and wrinkles which cast like shadows, of sorrow.

We can compare say Trent Lott or indeed any Senator whose dress and bearing constitute boundaries, which announce "whatever else I am, by God, be I twice forsworn in divorce, I am, and I remain a WHITE man, and if you (all) follow me you shall also be white men again, like yore daddy was."

Lincoln and a few other American politicians of national repute, like "Fighting Bob" LaFollette of Wisconsin, John Peter Altgeld, Adlai Stevenson, Upton Sinclair, Martin Luther King, Malcolm, JFK, Sen. McCain, said instead, or wanted to get around to saying instead "whatever else I am in the sight of God I am and I remain a FREE man."

Or, more precisely, our image of JFK, our image of Dr. King, and perhaps their own self-image, said this thing.Ford's image of Lincoln says like an old folk-song, "paint me an angel, that flies from Montgomery, make me a poster from an old rodeo."Pictures of Clinton, or Elvis, or Wayne Newton are limned on black velvet "maybe down in Mexico, or a picture upon somebody's shelf", in Dylan's words, because Big Trent needs a reminder of some Jack of Hearts, some inside straight, to keep him somewhat honest.

Hell, the man so limned needs hisself an image of what he might have been in order to act right on a daily basis, and perhaps draw an inside straight.

I too, cannot think of Lincoln without great emotion.

Young Abe
Young Abe Lincoln is an excellent film about one of the most popular presidents of our country in his earlier life.Henry Fonda's portrayal is astounding and he also looks the part.Abraham Lincoln's life is highly unusual in itself, being self taught in a log cabin by candle light, becoming a lawyer and trying over a thousand cases in his life prior to becoming President and leading our country through the most difficult period of it's existence.It has been noted in history at one time that a mystery woman appeared to Abe's mother and father during his mother's difficult breach delivery when the doctor and midwife could not be located and delivered him.The mystery woman for payment required that he be named Abraham.

ABRAHAM FONDA
At 34, Henry Fonda was a most inspired choice for playing the title role in YOUNG MR. LINCOLN.A much simplified film,the movie very sensibly confines itself to what is implied in its title -- the period when he was becoming enough of a local dignitary to be called something other that plain old "Abe" yet before he reached - even in the eyes of his admirers - what could be called maturity. John Ford couldn't have his Dublin fog, he could have torch-lights and misty river vistas to suit his taste for the picturesque.His lovely outdoor scenes do a lot to create a young America for young Mr. Lincoln to live in.The film would have been improved by more roughness and uncouthness.The log cabin where the Clays lived, the people listening to the campaign speeches at the country store, the country people thronging into Springfield for the parade day, are all too neat and gentle to prepare for the free-and-easy courtroom scene, which, mild though it probably is in comparison with the realities of Illinois in the 1830's seems over-done and played for laughs because the key for behaviour of these rough folks who have hardly emerged from the backwoods stage has notyet been set.This refining has gone a bit into the portrayal of Lincoln himself.Nature did a lot to make Hank Fonda a natural choice for the part--his lankiness, his laziness, his drawl, so that a crafty touch from the make-up man was enough to re-create any number of the younger Lincoln portraits.(The camera-man was fatally conscious of this--whevever Mr. Fonda got into a typical Linconesque pose, the camera lingered and lingered over it!).The other folk are largely background, some of them vivid and colourful, some of them - like Stephen Douglas- pure phoney.The usually excellent Alice Brady didn't convince us too well that she was a log-cabin person (Abigail Clay); the clothes worn by the Clays weren't lived in - they were from the wardrobe department and, therefore brought no magic with them.All in all, however, its a lovely, picturesque, if a little inaccurately done film which was done with the very best of intentions.

"Well, this is mighty generous of you, Ma'am"
The reviewer below criticizes the movie's historical inaccuracies which is certainly valid. I am in his/her debt to have learned the realstory.

However, I do feel the movie was true to Lincoln's character and Ican forgive Hollywood for adjusting the story to fit their idea of Lincoln.After all, it's not as if they claimed he got away from the Ford Theaterand hid for several years.

Anyway, as a movie it is beautifully told,Fonda is brilliant and all the characters in the little town are nicelydrawn.

A nicely-paced, humorous, touching and most importantly,entertaining movie. Great courtroom scenes also! ... Read more

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It's hardly shameful that The Three Godfathers ranks as the slightest John Ford Western in a five-year arc that includes My DarlingClementine, Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Wagon Master, and Rio Grande. The source, a Peter B. Kyne story both hard-bitten and sentimental, had already been filmed at least five times--once by Ford himself as Marked Men (1919). The star of that silent version, Harry Carey, had recently died. This remake is dedicated to him ("Bright Star of the early western sky") and proudly introduces his son, Harry Carey Jr. (who had already appeared in Howard Hawks's Red River--as did his father--but we won't quibble).

Just before Christmas, three workaday outlaws (John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz,Harry Carey Jr.) rob a bank in Welcome, Arizona, and flee into the desert.The canny town marshal (Ward Bond) moves swiftly to cut them off from the wells along their escape route, so they make for another, deep in the wasteland. There's no water waiting for them, but there is a woman (Mildred Natwick) on the verge of death--and also of giving birth. The three badmen accept her dying commission as godfathers to the newborn. Motley variants of the Three Wise Men, they strike out for the town of New Jerusalem with her Bible as roadmap. It becomes increasingly apparent that saving the child's life will cost them their own.

Ford's is the softest retelling of the tale; in place of Kyne's bitter/triumphant final twist, he adds a very broad comic postlude. Elsewhere, the nearly sacramental treatment of the mother's death is followed by an extended gosh-almighty sequence of the banditos reading up on childcare. But it's all played with great gusto and tenderness--especially by Wayne, who's rarely been more appealing. Visually the film is one knockout shot after another. This was Ford's first Western in Technicolor, as well as his first collaboration with cinematographer Winton Hoch. What they do with sand ripples and shadows and long plumes of train smoke is rapturously beautiful. It's also often too arty by half, but who can blame them? --Richard T. Jameson ... Read more

Reviews (12)

read and you will find out
a good and a very good ending. some good acting by wayne. it is an underrated film.buy this one you will never forget it.

Heartwarming John Wayne / John Ford Classic!
All the positive comments you read here about this film are true. This is a sleeper film in the WB/MGM catalog that is way, W A Y overdue on DVD in the US. (An official DVD release is available in Brazil. Go figure.)

This classic western stars John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz, Harry Carey Jr and Ward Bond -- the usual John Ford suspects. Ford strikes a balance between action and sentimentality, directing this simple story in a straightforward fashion with a great sense of pace. It's really good fun. This is Ford's first color film and cinematography by Winton Hoch looks really rich and with enough sand to make you wish you had some lemonade.

Maybe Warner's busily restoring this film to its original pristine 35mm real 1948 Technicolor glory and researching the vaults for behind-the-scences extras? Maybe they'll even toss in a pdf of the original story by Peter B. Kyne and the film script? It would be great if they included the original 1916 silent film with Harry Carry Sr.

"3 Godfathers" is a natural for the Christmas season as it's a film the whole family can watch. D