Written and directed by Nick Redman, ‘A Turning of the Earth: John Ford, John Wayne, and The Searchers’ is narrated by Patrick Wayne and others, including John Milius, Pippa Scott (who plays the oldest Edwards daughter), Lana Wood, and the words of Harry Carey, Jr., voiced by Peter Rainer. Its most precious elements are color home movies of Wayne and Ford together, flying, driving, and boozing. As part of its promotion of ‘Searchers’ in 1956, Warner Bros. produced and broadcast one of the very first behind-the-scenes, “making-of” programs in movie history — The Making Of ‘The Searchers’ (21:47) — which aired as an episode of its ongoing Warner Bros. Presents TV series. It was an hour-long show which aired on ABC-TV from September to September 1955 to 1956. Offering a blend of episodic drama and promo material, the show was the birthplace of Cheyenne, which went on to be a hit for the studio on its own. The host was Gig Young and one segment of the show promoted upcoming Warner big screen product. The selection here starts off with ‘Meet Jeffrey Hunter,’ which sounds exactly like what it is. The selection continues with ‘Monument Valley,’ which explains Ford’s special relationship with the location and its people, then ‘Meet Natalie Wood,’ again obvious, and finally the series concludes with ‘Setting Up Production.’ [frame-paradiso]
Chapter 4 ‘The Western’ from ‘A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies’ (1995).
The legendary John Milius on John Ford and Akira Kurosawa’s biggest hero.
Frank Nugent’s screenplay for ‘The Searchers.’ (NOTE: For educational purposes only)
“Then, last year, while on a YouTube search, I found a fragment of what purported to be a never broadcast BBC interview of Ford from 1968. I recognized it instantly as the interview on which I had worked. The video looked like uncorrected, raw dailies; I could believe it had never been broadcast, although Joseph McBride says he saw a finished version titled ‘My Name is John Ford: I Make Movies.’ Here is the only fragment I have found, about 10 minutes. It has bad color, goes to B/W, jump cuts, and has video breakup from the transfer just at the beginning of the clip. But, yes, it is pure John Ford.” —My Morning with John Ford: Through a Pilsner Glass
Even better, here’s the full interview.
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