John Ford: The Man and His Films

by Tag Gallagher

Overview

This radical re-reading of Ford's work studies his films in the context of his complex character, demonstrating their immense intelligence and their profound critique of our culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520063341
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	04/20/1988
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	600
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.88(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Ted Gallagher's articles have appeared in Sight & Sound, Film Comment, Artforum, and many other publications.

Table of Contents

Preface

1. Prologue: Youth and Apprenticeship
2. First Period (1927-1935): The Age of Introspection
3. Second Period (1935-1947): The Age of Idealism
4. Third Period (1948-1961): The Age of Myth
5. Final Period (1962-1965): The Age of Mortality
6. Conclusion

Notes
Appendix: Grosses and Earnings
Filmography
Selected Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

"'Here at last is a book that richly documents his life and catalogs with sound critical commentary all of Ford's films." 

Boston Sunday Globe

"An almost flawless blend of criticism and biography about one of America's greatest film directors."

New York Times Book Review

"In its out-sized efforts to do justice to the contradictions and complexities of the man and his work, it . . . offers a range of information and insight that dwarfs all competitors. . . . The sense of Ford's personality which emerges achieves at times a novelistic density. And the films are often seen to reverberate on multiple planes as well."

Sight & Sound

"A major labor of love, a tremendously useful book on the teaching level, and a solid and enjoyable read on a personal level."

Films in Review

"A monumental task of scholarship. . . . Gallagher effectively shatters the twin images of Ford the tough guy, tyrant at home and on the set, and of Ford the semi-literate poet. . . . The real Ford, like the real Shakespeare, was an intellectual, a hard-nosed professional and—yes—a poet too."

|Los Angeles Times