Rating: 
Summary: Knew the man, read the book
Review: In my early 20s I found myself working with John Ford and John Wayne. I spent a lot of time with both men and others who were mentioned in Mr. Eyman's book. Even if I hadn't known Ford, I would have been riveted to this book as it reads like a novel. It also brought back vivid memories to me by describing some of Mr. Ford's traits. Although I wasn't present at the episodes he mentioned, they (his traits) were vividly and accurately portrayed. I was amazed at how extraordinarily well Mr. Eyman, who never met his subject, was able to capture the character of this complex man and gifted filmmaker. It triggered memories I'd completely forgotten about. I've recommended the book to people who aren't big film fans and they've found it to be a great read. I obviously can recommend this to anyone without further qualification. After reading it, you'll feel like you knew John Ford yourself.
Rating:
Summary: It Was Mostly A Question Of How Badly You Needed The Job---
Review: Since so many readers of Scott Eyman's wonderful Ford biography have seen fit to review the subject's character as opposed to his work,I will go on record thus---if I had been Robert Wagner during that humiliating pre-"Searchers" office interview,I would have told that damned old man he could go to hell and take his picture with him---but that is,perhaps,the essential difference between movie actors and the rest of us---and the Wagner incident(so beautifully described in Scott's book)goes a long way toward explaining how Ford got away with his abominable behavior.The actors needed the work.Harry Carey Jr. gave a vivid first-hand account of that in "A Company Of Heroes"(essential Ford reading,by the way).When Ford hollered,Harry jumped.It's a lot like the guy that manages the local Winn-Dixie---quaking with fear whenever the district supervisor comes through the door.The movie business was no different from any other corporate hell---then as much as now.The glamour of it's stars and "rebel" directors was pretty much a lie for the yaps in the audience.In the end,there wasn't even that great a distinction between Ford and all the actors he mistreated---they bore his abuse---he knuckled under to producers.Maybe that's why he treated underlings the way he did.It's great to be known as the master director---ripping pages out of scripts and chasing front-office big shots off the set(talk about printing the legend!)---but I suspect the truth is reflected more in the Zanuck memos Eyman excerpts---when Zanuck hollered,FORD jumped.Oh,and speaking of legends,consider how Ford's reputation might have survived without Zanuck---there's a lot of credit coming to Darryl that he'll probably never get.The legend is too strong---there's Ford in all those arresting production stills,chewing his handkerchief and baking under the hot sun of Monument Valley---then there's seedy Zanuck,recalled,if at all,by fuzzy wire photos,hanging from a makeshift trapeze during an otherwise sedate Hollywood gathering,or chasing Juliette Grecco around the continent while his aging wife sat home.Nobody wants to celebrate that kind of a life,and yet Zanuck was brilliant---what would "My Darling Clementine" be without him?John Ford may have publicly disdained his "artist" status and scoffed at would-be "serious" interviewers,but I suspect he thrived on the image,and would have been bereft without it(Scott tells about how Ford tried to manipulate various promotions and medals during his military service---that was illuminating).Don't get me wrong,though,I love John Ford---even when he's a sour old man biting the head off Peter Bogdanovich(after all,toadys like that always have it coming!)---and Scott Eyman is among the small handful of truly great writers on film---after you finish reading "Print The Legend",look up the rest of Scott's output---Ernst Lubitsch,Mary Pickford,"The Speed Of Sound"---then push that little button that says "Add To My Shopping Cart"---you'll learn more about picture history from this guy than any ten other writers,and you'll enjoy it more as well.
Rating:
Summary: " A genius between 'action' and 'cut' "
Review: This book is a brilliant recreation of the personality of a conflicted genius. Drunk, boor, loyal friend, egotist,poor father, generous benefactor, are all labels that could apply to John Ford. This biography verifies a lot of great stories and illuminates the secrets of the man. Any fan of film cannot afford to miss this work. Henry Fonda says Ford was " a son of a bitch...but a genius." You will agree.
Rating:
Summary: The legend becomes truth. . .
Review: To some, John Ford's films might seem like simplistic chunks of overly sentimental, Irish blarney, and there are times when they steer dangerously close to those shores (just try to watch THE PLOUGH AND THE STARS these days), but what he put up on that screen were some of the most powerful images and incredible characters ever captured on celluloid. Scott Eyman's book cuts through the fabrications and half-truths to present a picture of a man who was an amazing mass of contradictions. He was both loyal friend and petty bully; a brilliant artist who would only say he was doing a job; a director who insisted on sober co-workers but who could turn into a raging alcoholic in the bat of an eye; and a person who concealed a humanitarian side behind one of the most gruff exteriors since Scrooge. This is the book that both Ford fans, worshippers and mavens have been seeking, and one that both lovers of cinema history and biography will admire. If you love a good biography without being a movie buff, you will like this book. Well researched and structured in a way that keeps both the films and Ford's life in perspective, one cannot imagine a better book on the subject appearing for a long time. Filled with some good surprises (how Ford sided with many blacklisted people in the industry is one of them) and beautiful illustrations, this book ranks with Eyman's previous book on Lubitsch in the clarity of its writing and the understanding of its subject. One even suspects Ford might grudgingly approve of the tome, after cussing out the author and throwing the book across the room, then quietly asking someone to pick it up and give it back to him.
Rating: 
Summary: Comprehensive almost to a fault...
Review: Unless you are old like me and remember many John Ford movies from their original 50's release dates, or you have a semi-professional interest in film directing, this book offers more than one needs to know about a complex, often unlikeable, sometimes generous, routinely selfish genius. It isn't just a bio of John Ford, respected director with a 40-year career...it also functions as a partial history of movie-making itself, since Ford began before 1920, when films were silent, and ended up in the mid-60's, when wide screens, technicolor, blatant sex and violence and changes in how movies were financed stranded him in a very different professional atmosphere. To a person with a more casual interest in Ford and his films, like me, the book had many surprises. Ford was cruel on the set to many actors whom he befriended away from the cameras, John Wayne and Hank Fonda included. Ford was a binge drinker, and kept his sprees separate from his duties until the mid-1950's, rather late in his progressive alcoholism. Ford was capable of great kindness, generosity and loyalty, but also held grudges for decades. He was not only personally brave in World War II while filming the real battle of Midway, he was tuned in enough to have joined the Navy and prepared for documenting the war on film a full year before Pearl Harbor. He also showed courage in standing up to the Communist witch-hunts in the early 50's. He was sometimes a liberal Democrat, sometimes a conservative Republican. His final decade was full of illness and idleness and loneliness and undoubtedly some bitterness. If you are a lover of "American" movies, John Ford's story will be essential for you. I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I'll ever need to read it a second time, or keep the book in my personal collection.
|
