I was quite hesitant to spend this money at first. I bought a couple movies, some used books and a $4.00 shirt at the local Salvation Army Store, and then nothing. But then I thought it wise to buy a few things for my apartment, because as a guy who's only been single since July, I find there's still all kinds of odd household items I'm reacquiring. Then I broke down and bought a couple more movies. Then I had some minor work done on my Saturn, spent some to pay a little extra on my one remaining credit card -someday soon I will be free of you, Bank of America! The next part of my plan was to save the rest. But then I started daydreaming about stuff... for example, I had looked at a Zune and that seemed like a good idea. I have yet to ever own any kind of mp3 player, and I thought it might be nice to wake up to some of this technology the rest of the world's using. But ultimately my love of movies again won out(again).
Thus I am now the proud owner of one of the best big ticket movie items any studio released this past Christmas, The Ford At Fox Collection.
This set is a massive collection of 24 films by director John Ford and includes a hardcover retrospective book of his time making pictures with Fox and two authentic reprints of the original movie programs for the films Four Sons and The Iron Horse. This set is an amazing effort on the part of 20th Century Fox and ever since it's release I've wanted to support this type of release by voting with my wallet and purchasing it.
This one set alone covers nearly half of Ford's entire efforts as a director at the studio. The pictures included are:
Just Pals(1920)- only 50 minutes long, stars Buck Jones as a small town fellow who befriends a homeless boy.
The Iron Horse(1924) - George O'Brien stars in the story of the building of the Union Pacific Railroad
Both versions of the film, the U.K. and United States releases are included, each on individual discs.
Three Bad Men(1926) - stars George O'Brien in a saga of three outlaws of the wild west who become protectors of a little girl after her mother is killed. Sports some of Ford's great scenic long shots that his westerns are known for.
Four Sons(1928) - Three German brothers enlist in the German army during WWI, the fourth goes to America.
Hangman's House(1928) - This picture is screen debut of John Wayne and stars June Collyer, Larry Kent, Earle Foxe, and Victor McLaglan in a saga of love denied set in Ireland. Ford would revisit Ireland years later to make his film, The Quiet Man.
Born Reckless(1930) - The early problems of sound in movies, especially dialog, plague this tale of a gangster sentenced to fight in World War I.
Up The River(1930) - More early sound problems and some very poor singing and dancing are inserted into a film that features the only mutual appearance of Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart. Barely an early talkie was complete without a musical number, and this one is no exception! Oh, boy!
Seas Beneath(1931) - stars George O'Brien in a maritime thriller.
Doctor Bull(1933) - stars Will Rogers in the first of three collaborations between Ford and Rogers.
Pilgrimage(1933) - Drama about a son who is sent off to war to prevent him from marrying a girl that his mother thinks is beneath him. The son is killed in battle. However, all of this was too late to prevent a grandchild from being produced from the union.
Judge Priest(1934) - stars Will Rogers as a southern Judge who enjoys taffy pulls and croquet when not on the bench.
The World Moves On(1934)- moves from reconstruction to the depression much like the British-made Cavalcade did, except that film took on a much smaller slice of time.
-By the way though Fox Studios, any chance Cavalcade could see a DVD release soon? I think it's one of only three Best Picture winners not currently available on DVD.
Steamboat Round The Bend(1935) - This final collaboration between Rogers and Ford is perhaps the best. Rogers plays a man going up and down the Mississippi on an old steamboat charging the local population admission to look at the wax figures he is carrying. He plans to use the money he raises to hire a lawyer to free his nephew from prison.
The Prisoner of Shark Island(1936) - Warner Baxter plays Dr. Samuel Mudd, who was wrongly sent to prison for treating Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, despite the fact he was not aware of the man's true identity.
Wee Willie Winkie(1937)- This lengthy Shirley Temple film seems an odd vehicle for John Ford. A decent film but it is certainly not a notable effort for either Temple or Ford.
Four Men and a Prayer(1938) - A British officer is branded as a coward and his sons try to clear his name.
Drums Along The Mohawk(1939)Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert play newlyweds up against the lawless frontier of the backwoods of New York state prior to the Revolutionary War.
Young Mr. Lincoln(1939) This set includes the edition that has already been masterfully produced on DVD by The Criterion Collection. Henry Fonda plays Abe Lincoln in this highly fictionalized account of Lincoln's life as a young adult.
The Grapes of Wrath(1940) The story of the Joad family as they suffer mistreatment when they move from their repossessed Dust Bowl farm to California. The first of only two Best Actor nominations for Henry Fonda. His second nomination and win came for his role in On Golden Pond.
This disc also includes several editions of Movie Tone News:
1934: "First Drought In Many Years Hits Mid-West"
1934: "Drought Distress Is Increasing In The Mid-West"
1934: "Mid-West Drought Distress Becomes National Disaster"
1934: "Outtakes"
1941: "Roosevelt Lauds Motion Pictures At Academy Fete"
Tobacco Road(1941)A tale of elderly rural southerners trying to stay on their land and keep their home through the trying "Dust Bowl" era.
How Green Was My Valley(1941) Stars Walter Pidgeon and Maureen O'Hara in the story of how lush Welsh countryside became an ugly strip-mined area over time. Believe it or not... this film beat Citizen Kane for Best Picture of 1941!
My Darling Clementine(1946) John Ford, who actually got to know Wyatt Earp while living in Hollywood, directs Henry Fonda, who plays Wyatt Earp. This film was dramatised, but less so than director, George P. Cosmatos', film Tombstone(1997).
When Willie Comes Marching Home(1950) - stars Dan Dailey, as Willie, a young man who joins the army to go off and become a war hero, but as fate would have it winds up doing training duty right back in his home town.
What Price Glory(1952) - This story of WWI starring James Cagney was based on an anti-war play that Ford turned into an rather ineffective comedy with rather strange results. Probably one the oddest and the weakest of the entries.
Becoming John Ford(2007) An in-depth feature-length documentary that I think was featured on TCM in advance of this set's release on DVD. This disc also includes examples of Ford's work making pictures for the armed forces:
"The Battle of Midway"(doc. 1942)
"Battle of Midway"(additional footage 1942)
"December 7th"(doc. 1943)
"Torpedo Squadron"(doc. 1942)
For years, Fox Studios has been making a substantial effort to represent their studio's legacy of classic films on DVD through lines like their Studio Classics line, Fox Film Noir series, the Cinema Classics line, and numerous box set releases. Fox really gambled though to invest their time and funds into the restoration of these films and the release of this set. So even though it was a lot of money for me to acquire this set right now(-thank you Barnes & Noble membership and a coupon), I really wanted to support their effort. This isn't a set for everyone, so this type of item isn't highly profitable for a studio to produce. Sets like this are produced for the art of the material. So I am proud to see Fox make a move that puts them in line with the types of restoration and presentation efforts studios like The Criterion Collection, Kino Video, and even Warner Brothers have been making for years. Universal and Columbia(Sony) could do well to service more of their classic films this way, but at least they have displayed several strong efforts of their own in the last couple of years. Paramount is probably the worst example of a studio neglecting its rich film legacy, which is just sad considering they are America's oldest film studio. There's always hope though that continued interest in DVD buyers and viewers of networks like TCM might encourage more attention to works that are the history, the very legacy of motion pictures.
Now off to enjoy my nouveau bachelorhood watching some movies...
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