John Ford and the American West [Hardcover]

Peter Cowie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2004

A visual exploration of the western films of John Ford relates them to the paintings and sculptures of such artists as Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Remington, and Charles M. Russell, discussing such topics as the inspiration for the filmmaker's classic works and how he used visual sources to create his idealized view of frontier life. 12,500 first pr

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter Cowie has written more than 20 books on the cinema, among them The Cinema of Orson Welles and biographies of Ingmar Bergman and Francis Ford Coppola. He is the founder of the International Film Guide, which he edited for 40 years. Cowie is sometime Regents Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (November 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810949768
• ISBN-13: 978-0810949768
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 9.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,155,177 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A CELEBRATION OF WESTERN MOVIES, December 19, 2004

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: John Ford and the American West (Hardcover)

Western movie fans, here's the book for you. And, it's a beauty with some 125 illustrations from John Ford's greatest films. Characteristically modest, the legendary film director once introduced himself by saying, "My name is John Ford. I make Westerns." What an understatement. He is arguably the best and most prolific director of Western films in the history of Hollywood.

Who can forget "Stagecoach," "Drums Along the Mohawk," "Fort Apache," "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" to mention only a few? He was and is the quintessential director in this genre, working with such film greats as John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, and Henry Fonda. He drew inspiration from a variety of sources, the pulp fiction of the 19th century as well as the stunning paintings by Remington and Russell. As is noted regarding the jacket front, "Ford's use of pale sunshine yellow and sunset red in "The Searchers" (1956) recalls the paintings of Frederic Remington."

Generations of us were enthralled by his films at Saturday matinees; today legions discover him on DVDs. Whatever the case, his legacy is unquestionable.

Chapter headings include:

The Myth of the West

History Transfigured

The U.S. Cavalry and the Scars of War

Ford and the Native American

Monument Valley and Ford's Expansive Vision of the West

The Telltale Signature

Author Peter Cowie is the former international publishing director of Variety, and has penned over 20 cinema focused books, including "The Cinema of Orson Welles" plus bios of Ingmar Bergman and Francis Ford Coppola.

- Gail Cooke

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nicely illustrated, April 15, 2010

By 

Dr. James Gardner (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: John Ford and the American West (Hardcover)

Peter Cowie's book on John Ford stresses the attempt by Ford to bring the beauty of 19th century painters (e.g., Frederick Remington, Charles Russel) to the big screen. He provides a few striking examples of how stills from Ford films can be seen in these great works of art, showing, for example, Henry Fonda astride a horse from "My Darling Clementine" juxtaposed against Remington's "The Alert", or John Wayne huddled against the wind and cold in "The Searchers" contrasted with Remington's "The Luckless Hunter," or a long shot from "The Wagon Master" compared with Albert Bierstadt's "A Surveyor's Wagon." It's truly instructiuve, and I only wish Cowie had more of these examples.

Apart from this, the rest of the book is pretty ordinary, and you won't learn much about the films or about Ford that isn't readily available elsewhere. I was especially disappointed with the chapter concerning Ford's players. Cowie spends a lot of space writing about Wayne, Fonda, and Stewart, but he spends precious little on the people he calls "The Regulars". Outstanding actors like Ward Bond and Ben Johnson get a mere paragraph. People like Ken Curtis, Thomas Mitchell, John Carradine, Andy Devine, Mae Marsh, and Hoot Gibson get even less. Some of his most faithful players get no mention at all (e.g., Jack Pennick, Willis Bouchey, Harry Tenbrook). There is almost no mention of his brother Francis and the relationship between the brothers which certainly helps explain some of the character studies we see in Ford's westerns.

John Ford fans should look elsewhere for a better discussion of the director and his films. But as far as the visual aspects of his films, this is certainly a good book to examine.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exploring John Ford's Vision of the American Frontier!, August 9, 2008

By 

Michael OConnor "Wordsmith" (Wausau, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: John Ford and the American West (Hardcover)

During a distinguished movie career, 'Pappy' Ford directed some 50 western films, several of them classics. Films like 'Fort Apache,' 'My Darling Clementine' and 'Stagecoach' all share a consistent cinematic and thematic vision of Ford's making. Noted film author Peter Cowie examines that Fordian vision in this colorful and insightful 2004 book from Harry Abrams.

In trying to characterize major themes in Ford's westerns, there is a temptation to lump it all together under the classic 'Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' line: "This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Ford's Old West wasn't the West of fact but rather an imagined West where decent, God-fearing, sentimental yet hard-nosed men and women struggled onward and usually perserved over nature and native Americans. It was a West where saddle-sore cavalrymen and poorly paid but principled lawmen were the only protectors of life and property. At once beautiful and pitiless, Ford's West was a smythic land of thundering action and hardscrabble living where progress came at a cost for all involved.

In large part Ford's vision, as demonstrated in Cowie's book, was based on the books and artwork of a raft of American authors and artists such as Fennimore Cooper, George Bingham, Frederic Remington, Charles Russell, George Catlin, Charles Schreyvogel, Matthew Brady and others filtered through Ford's inventive mind. Cowie's examination of those writings and artowrk and the influence they had on Ford's Cavalry trilogy, for instance, made for fascinating reading. Then too Cowie's summary of all those wonderful Ford Westerns featuring the Duke, Ward Bond, Henry Fonda, Victor McLaglen, 'Dobe' Carey, et al are sure to please cinema fans.

Visually JOHN FORD AND THE AMERICAN WEST is a treat since it features over 125 black & white or color photographs of actors, action scenes, scenic vistas, etc. To be honest, I thought the book deserved even more images, which is why I rated it four stars not five. Thinking back through 'Stagecoach,' '3 Godfathers,' 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon' and 'Rio Grande,' for instance, brought back mental images as evocative as those found in the book.

In any case, Cowie's book is a marvelous, insightful and well-illustrated exploration of and tribute to one of our greatest directors. Western fans will want to pick this one up.