it's not simplistic watering down, it's a key you need to get into Ford, that's all. There are many of Ford's films I can't even now understand, and feel like I'm on the outside looking in. I am pretty sure you liked Stagecoach, The Searchers and Wagon Master, right? Maybe because there were hidden things there that you saw, that spoke to you. Ford does this crazy trick of turning it all upside down, and even though many of them have cussing and fighting, and the sweet putting of women on a motherly pedestal, there is also a lot of grit involved, and his stories are not what you think they will be. The women are not all one thing or another, and neither are the men. That's been my biggest problem, I think by the description that a Ford movie will be a simplistic army story, when Ford is really pondering about how a man can live day to day doing the same unimportant job, how it eats at him. It may be that his surroundings are typically Fordian, with a comic touch, but there are some heavy-duty ideas floating along. Maybe with your noir background, you can get into seeing Ford's films in a darker way.
Mongo,
I love all those picks of yours! In fact, you named four of my favorites -
My Darling Clementine - there was a time when I thought this might be the best movie ever made, and I'll probably think so again next time I see it.
Drums Along the Mohawk - this one is growing on me by leaps and bounds. It's really about marriage, and growing up. Plus it has that Technicolor!
The Prisoner of Shark Island - one of my faves as a kid, as an adventure story. Thanks to MissG and FrankGrimes, I watched it again a couple years ago, and it stands up even better than I could have thought. It's really an amazing picture, with a standout performance by Ernest Whitman as Buck.
The Informer - This one is sooo moving. Vic MacLaglen and Heather Angel break my heart.
Oh Chris... Chris...
choked up....
That was perfect! You've really made me think deeper here. One of the pleasures of this version is the differences between the three men. As you say, they are an unlikely bunch to throw in together, but it turns out they are each there for a reason. Through the course of the film, each has a very different 'calling', as if God had reserved a special job for each. Where one might fail, another steps up and continues, like the standard bearer in a battle. The three men working in tandem to make a future that most likely won't include them is the most beautiful thing to me about the whole film.
I love what you said about Pedro, standing with his hand over his heart as if he were smote. He KNOWS his duty is to deliver the baby, as if the knowledge were in him all along. He recognizes that fate and goes to meet it gallantly. It is his moment to shine, taking that responsibility solely on himself. It is something neither Hightower nor the Kid has in him to do. And there is a pride in working to produce something alive and good. It's infectious, and the boys soon all take that same pride in little Robert...William...Pedro. Each has a hand in his 'upbringing'.
It's as if they know they can't live forever, but a little piece of them will live in the baby, and the story of how he came through the desert. It's how every parent feels.
The Kid has the gift of foresight... he can see what the others can't. He leads the way, spiritually. Since he is the closest to the babe in age, it's especially poignant. Did he have this foresight before he was shot? I don't think so. I think he has the mark of death on him, which gives him heavenly powers, he's an angel, waiting on earth a little longer than he might have had it not been for this special dispensation.... to remain as long as possible to guide his 'fallen' brethren.
And Hightower? He would be the last to see a heavenly cause behind his actions. He would scoff and feel all the more troubled because he has no gift to bring. But his is the gift of stubbornness.
He is just plain stronger, he will fight all the way to New Jerusalem. He will get that baby through by sheer orneriness, railing at God all the way. This is a genius way to present the story, to me, and I defy you not to sympathize with Wayne at some point in the movie. That's what we are, all of us. Failed sinners, no matter how we try. Stubborn, muleheaded, and blind. But in the end, maybe we can be redeemed by one small act of kindness - A promise not forgotten. Let the rattle prevail over the gun!
I don't have much vacation time left, either, so I may no get to see any of them but hopefully if anyone is in the NYC area and wants to see them, this is their chance. 