John Ford was one of the great American directors of the first half of the twentieth century. Although he directed a variety of types of films, he is remembered mainly for his westerns. This includes his cavalry trilogy (Fort Apache, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon and Rio Grande). He started his career in films by working on his elder brothers films (Frances Ford). He then moved into directing his own films. These were mainly short silent films and although he made a lot of those, most have now been lost. In the late 1920's he started making sound films like The Black Watch his first full talking picture. In Up The River he gave both Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart their film debuts. It was Arrowsmith in 1931 that was his breakthrough film that was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. The Informer was made as his passion project that returned to his Irish roots and won him the Best Director Oscar and has an almost noir feel to it.
He followed this with the historical drama Mary Of Scotland with Katharine Hepburn, which was not a commercial success. Wee Willie Winkie was another change of style with the child star Shirley Temple. He was not a fan of working with children, but he did appreciate Shirley Temple's ability. Stagecoach was the first of his great westerns with John Wayne and a major success. This was the film that set out many of the tropes that appeared in many later Westerns. this was the first film that was shot in Monument Valley. he followed this with Young Mr Lincoln, a biopic of the American president. He then adapted the John Steinbeck novel the Grapes Of Wrath, which won him another Best Director Oscar and was filmed by the cinematographer Gregg Toland.
He followed this with another Best Director Oscar with How Green Was My Valley. During World War 2 he worked with the US military and made the documentary The Battle Of Midway. He then returned to Hollywood and made 3 Westerns with Henry Fonda, with Fort Apache being the first of his cavalry trilogy, with She Wore A Yellow Ribbon and Rio Grande being the next two of the trilogy. He worked again with John Wayne in the non-Western The Quiet Man. He had wanted to make the film for a number of years but had problems getting the studio to agree, but it turned out to be a commercial success and won him his 4th Best Director Oscar.
Mogambo was an African safari with an all star cast. Mister Roberts was his final film with Henry Fonda, although their relationship broke down during filming. The Searchers was a return to the Western genre teaming up again with John Wayne. After several not very successful films he teamed up for the first time with James Stewart in Two Rode Together. This was followed by The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance with James Stewart and John Wayne, which shines a light on the myth and the reality of the West. How The West Was Won showed off his ability to use the wide screen Cinerama to its best effect. Donovan's Reef was his final film with John Wayne. Cheyenne Autumn was his final Western and 7 Women his final film.
