In the realm of classic Hollywood cinema, few names shine as brightly as that of John Ford. Known for his remarkable storytelling prowess and unparalleled directorial vision, Ford’s impact on the film industry is undeniable. Join us on a journey through the life, works, and enduring legacy of this legendary director as we delve into the cinematic masterpieces that have solidified his place in movie history.
Early Life
John Ford was born John Martin Feeney on February 1, 1894 in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. He was the youngest of 13 children born to Irish immigrants John Augustine Feeney and Barbara Curran. The Feeney family were devout Roman Catholics, and Ford’s childhood was steeped in Irish traditions and values.
At a young age, Ford developed a love of the sea. He worked as a deckhand and boatman during his teen years, gaining experience that would later influence his filmmaking. Though his beginnings were humble,...
Early Life
John Ford was born John Martin Feeney on February 1, 1894 in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. He was the youngest of 13 children born to Irish immigrants John Augustine Feeney and Barbara Curran. The Feeney family were devout Roman Catholics, and Ford’s childhood was steeped in Irish traditions and values.
At a young age, Ford developed a love of the sea. He worked as a deckhand and boatman during his teen years, gaining experience that would later influence his filmmaking. Though his beginnings were humble,...
- 4/6/2024
- by Penelope H. Fritz
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
The Western is back, again. After it died. Prior to which it came back again.
As film historian and co-host of the How the West was Cast podcast, Andrew Patrick Nelson argues, journalists and historians love to write about the Western being dead just as much as they enjoy writing about its resurgence. However, this ebb and flow is part of a predictable life cycle that has kept the genre alive for over a century.
The origins of the frontier narrative on our public consciousness dates to 1845, when John L. O’Sullivan coined the phrase “manifest destiny” in an essay about America’s perceived right to expansion. As the Wild West came to an end and the frontier became settled, Frederick Jackson Turner introduced his “frontier thesis” in 1893. Turner hit on the binary conflicts that make the Western as a mythological place so engaging. The frontier, as he defined it,...
As film historian and co-host of the How the West was Cast podcast, Andrew Patrick Nelson argues, journalists and historians love to write about the Western being dead just as much as they enjoy writing about its resurgence. However, this ebb and flow is part of a predictable life cycle that has kept the genre alive for over a century.
The origins of the frontier narrative on our public consciousness dates to 1845, when John L. O’Sullivan coined the phrase “manifest destiny” in an essay about America’s perceived right to expansion. As the Wild West came to an end and the frontier became settled, Frederick Jackson Turner introduced his “frontier thesis” in 1893. Turner hit on the binary conflicts that make the Western as a mythological place so engaging. The frontier, as he defined it,...
- 3/21/2023
- by Chris Yogerst
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Abraham Lincoln, for whatever his historical faults, is perhaps the most cinematic President the Unites States has ever had. Whether you put him in a theatrical D.C. backroom drama like Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," or in a silly, pulpy movie like Timur Bekmambetov's "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" (from the same year!), you get a great film. Maybe it's because of his iconic appearance, maybe it's due to the almost mythical challenges of leading a country in the midst of a Civil War, or maybe it stems from the temptation to cast him as a hero battling the evils of U.S. slavery.
Spielberg's "Lincoln" has scenes set in the wreckage of battlegrounds. "Vampire Hunter" has Honest Abe fighting vampires on runaway trains. Most every film about Lincoln dramatizes the Civil War to some degree, and they typically allude to Ford's Theatre, where he was assassinated. That's what...
Spielberg's "Lincoln" has scenes set in the wreckage of battlegrounds. "Vampire Hunter" has Honest Abe fighting vampires on runaway trains. Most every film about Lincoln dramatizes the Civil War to some degree, and they typically allude to Ford's Theatre, where he was assassinated. That's what...
- 2/26/2023
- by Anthony Crislip
- Slash Film
Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" is an elegy for a genre that has died countless deaths. The Western has passed in and out of favor many times since the advent of the motion picture, and is currently ticking anew thanks to Taylor Sheridan's "Yellowstone" franchise. But as the 1970s approached, there was a realization that the stars and filmmakers who'd transformed the oater into the most American of movie genres were on their way out. John Ford had been driven into retirement. John Wayne was dying. Anthony Mann was dead. A glorious, yet complicated era was drawing to a close.
This was the perfect moment for Sergio Leone to go once more to the Western well with a mythic send-off to the films on which he'd built his international reputation. But his scope wasn't limited to "A Fistful of Dollars," "For a Few Dollars More...
This was the perfect moment for Sergio Leone to go once more to the Western well with a mythic send-off to the films on which he'd built his international reputation. But his scope wasn't limited to "A Fistful of Dollars," "For a Few Dollars More...
- 8/19/2022
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
The Notebook Primer introduces readers to some of the most important figures, films, genres, and movements in film history.Above: The Great Train RobberyThe western has been around since nearly the advent of cinema. Some of Thomas Edison’s earliest films incorporated standard conventions of the genre, established in preceding works of popular fiction, and other key tropes were solidified in Edwin S. Porter’s pioneering The Great Train Robbery (1903). Primarily originating on the East Coast, American motion picture production soon made its general migration west where the geographic consequences only amplified the form, enticing the likes of producers and directors including Thomas Ince and Cecil B. DeMille. The western swiftly flourished as an exuberant, manifold survey of idealized, often exaggerated themes concerning heroism, progress, and the myth of the American dream. The genre became a beloved compendium of cultural dichotomies, iconic symbols, locations, and character types, evincing countless variations alongside the tried and true.
- 7/21/2020
- MUBI
What's this? John Ford's last silent western is as exciting and entertaining as his later classics. A trio of horse thieves turn noble when given the responsibility of a young woman lost on the prairie; Ford gives the show comedy, drama and spectacle. 3 Bad Men Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1926 / B&W / 1:33 Silent Ap. / 92 min. / Street Date August 23, 2016 / 29.95 Starring George O'Brien, Olive Borden, Lou Tellegen, Tom Santschi, J. Farrell MacDonald, Frank Campeau, Priscilla Bonner, Otis Harlan, Phyllis Haver, Georgie Harris, Alec Francis, Jay Hunt . Cinematography George Schneiderman Original Music Dana Kaproff (2007) Written by John Stone, Ralph Spence, Malcolm Stuart Boylan from a novel by Herman Whittaker Produced and Directed by John Ford
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
What a great discovery! Last year Kino brought us a good-looking disc of John Ford's Hurricane and now they take the bold step of issuing one of the director's oldest intact features,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
What a great discovery! Last year Kino brought us a good-looking disc of John Ford's Hurricane and now they take the bold step of issuing one of the director's oldest intact features,...
- 7/17/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The actor’s half-cut appearance at an awards show turns back the clock to the glory days of the Hollywood hellraiser. But was it really that much fun?
Apparently drunk Johnny Depp cut off at Hollywood Film Awards ceremony
As an exchange student in the Us, I once paid to hear Hunter S Thompson give a talk. The venue was a bar called The Iron Horse and the writer had clearly been drinking deep in advance. Thompson came on stage carrying an egg whisk which he beat against the table at regular intervals. He swayed so violently at the microphone that that the speakers only broadcast about one word in three. The event was a joke and the speech was a car-crash. I was reminded of the spectacle while watching Johnny Depp last weekend.
On Saturday night, the Pirates of the Caribbean star staggered on stage at the Hollywood film awards,...
Apparently drunk Johnny Depp cut off at Hollywood Film Awards ceremony
As an exchange student in the Us, I once paid to hear Hunter S Thompson give a talk. The venue was a bar called The Iron Horse and the writer had clearly been drinking deep in advance. Thompson came on stage carrying an egg whisk which he beat against the table at regular intervals. He swayed so violently at the microphone that that the speakers only broadcast about one word in three. The event was a joke and the speech was a car-crash. I was reminded of the spectacle while watching Johnny Depp last weekend.
On Saturday night, the Pirates of the Caribbean star staggered on stage at the Hollywood film awards,...
- 11/17/2014
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Not one approach, but two...
Documentary:
And melodrama:
Surrounding these lovers in longing are people in movement, pilgrims in search of a new place to call home.
Dreamers working day and night to make their dreams come true:
And there are horses:
And herds of other animals:
All trudging forward to an uncertain future with nothing to lose:
Even when a primary villain dies—
—it’s back to work; life must go on.
Some stay behind:
But everyone else has to keep moving on. Individuals propel history forward.
In the meantime, a man can still sit and brood over his fate, and a woman can still suddenly pop into a frame and become a miracle:
Six years later, Raoul Walsh would begin his own odyssey set even earlier in history.
Melodrama returns too:
And it’s still possible for lovers to reunite in the midst of an unbroken movement forward:...
Documentary:
And melodrama:
Surrounding these lovers in longing are people in movement, pilgrims in search of a new place to call home.
Dreamers working day and night to make their dreams come true:
And there are horses:
And herds of other animals:
All trudging forward to an uncertain future with nothing to lose:
Even when a primary villain dies—
—it’s back to work; life must go on.
Some stay behind:
But everyone else has to keep moving on. Individuals propel history forward.
In the meantime, a man can still sit and brood over his fate, and a woman can still suddenly pop into a frame and become a miracle:
Six years later, Raoul Walsh would begin his own odyssey set even earlier in history.
Melodrama returns too:
And it’s still possible for lovers to reunite in the midst of an unbroken movement forward:...
- 5/13/2014
- by Neil Bahadur
- MUBI
The Killruddery Film Festival takes place this weekend, in Killruddery House. It’s a festival with a difference as it specialises in silent film (as well as the classics). The silent films that are shown are all accompanied by live music. This years festival will screen South, a 1920 documentary about Shackleton’s expedition to the the south pole. John Ford fans are in for a treat too as The Informer and The Iron Horse will also screen. The full programme can be found here. This year they will have in attendance, Kevin Brownlow probably the worlds greatest expert in silent film, the legendary Maurice Galway, Stephen Horne and Morgan Cooke who will be the musicians accompanying all the silent film. Best of luck to the crew on the festival.
- 9/24/2013
- by noreply@blogger.com (Vic Barry)
- www.themoviebit.com
Like Night of the Hunter, Tod Browning’s Freaks or Leonard Kastle’s The Honeymoon Killers, The Road to Yesterday can be ranked among the UFOs of cinema. It’s place in the heart of Cecil B. DeMille’s work proves to be in itself very distinctive. We know that, during his entire life, DeMille had virtually only one producer—Paramount (the former Famous Players Lasky)—just like Minnelli was MGM’s man and Corman American International’s. Sixty-three of his films (out of seventy) were produced at Paramount. And, oddly enough, it is among the seven outsiders, situated within a brief period from 1925 to 1931, that his best activity is to be found (I’m thinking of Madam Satan, The Godless Girl, and The Road to Yesterday)–his most audacious undertakings. To top it off, for this uncontested king of the box office, his best films were his biggest commercial failures.
- 3/18/2013
- by Luc Moullet
- MUBI
The actor's Honest Abe is brilliant, says John Patterson, but others have made Lincoln their own, too
Although Steven Spielberg's new movie Lincoln barely shows the event, Abraham Lincoln was murdered by an actor – in a theatre, no less – so it seems especially appropriate that, a century and a half later, his resurrection should be conducted by a member of the same profession. Daniel Day-Lewis's embodiment of the Great Emancipator, which transcends mere acting and becomes something more like live sculpting, will take every Best Actor statuette and bauble of the spring awards season, without a doubt, and is now the Lincoln to beat; an Elder Lincoln to bookend Henry Fonda's coltish and knock-kneed Young Mr Lincoln in John Ford's exquisite slice of Americana from 1939.
Lincoln has been portrayed on film and television over 270 times since the dawn of celluloid. That's predictable enough, given his overarching prominence in American history,...
Although Steven Spielberg's new movie Lincoln barely shows the event, Abraham Lincoln was murdered by an actor – in a theatre, no less – so it seems especially appropriate that, a century and a half later, his resurrection should be conducted by a member of the same profession. Daniel Day-Lewis's embodiment of the Great Emancipator, which transcends mere acting and becomes something more like live sculpting, will take every Best Actor statuette and bauble of the spring awards season, without a doubt, and is now the Lincoln to beat; an Elder Lincoln to bookend Henry Fonda's coltish and knock-kneed Young Mr Lincoln in John Ford's exquisite slice of Americana from 1939.
Lincoln has been portrayed on film and television over 270 times since the dawn of celluloid. That's predictable enough, given his overarching prominence in American history,...
- 1/21/2013
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
The Iron Horse Iftn has tickets for the Opening Night of John Ford Ireland Film Symposium to give away to lucky readers. The Irish premiere screening of John Ford's epic masterpiece 'The Iron Horse' opens John Ford Ireland on Thursday 7 June. This fantastic film and music event takes place at Dublin's National Concert Hall and features live orchestral accompaniment from the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and the film's award winning Us composer Christopher Caliendo performing in Ireland for the first time.
- 6/6/2012
- IFTN
The grass is cut. The hot dogs are ready. It's that time of year, again - it's Opening Day of the 2012 Major League Baseball season! As hope springs eternal for all 30 teams (hey, everyone's tied for first place for at least one day!), Access Hollywood's Scott "Movie" Mantz counts down his Top 10 baseball films of all-time.
Play ball!
10) "The Pride of the Yankees" (1942)
The Coach (aka the director): Sam Wood
The Lineup: Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Babe Ruth
The Pitch: Gary Cooper plays Lou Gehrig - a.k.a "The Iron Horse" ...
Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Play ball!
10) "The Pride of the Yankees" (1942)
The Coach (aka the director): Sam Wood
The Lineup: Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Babe Ruth
The Pitch: Gary Cooper plays Lou Gehrig - a.k.a "The Iron Horse" ...
Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
- 4/5/2012
- by nobody@accesshollywood.com (AccessHollywood.com Editorial Staff)
- Access Hollywood
George Kuchar‘s 1977 short film I, an Actress has been accepted as one of twenty-five films into the 2011 National Film Registry. This means that the film will be preserved for future generations due to its “enduring significance to American culture,” according to Librarian of Congress James H. Billington.
Sadly, this prestigious accomplishment comes several months after Kuchar’s passing back in September. I, an Actress was released on DVD in 2009 on the Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film, 1947 — 1986 box set put out by the National Film Preservation Foundation.
Two other underground films were also accepted into the National Film Registry this year: Jordan Belson’s Allures (1961) and Chick Strand’s Fake Fruit Factory (1986). Belson and Strand also passed away recently. Belson, on the same day as Kuchar (Sept. 6, 2011), and Strand on July 11, 2009. Fake Fruit Factory can be seen alongside I, an Actress on the Treasures IV box set.
The National Film...
Sadly, this prestigious accomplishment comes several months after Kuchar’s passing back in September. I, an Actress was released on DVD in 2009 on the Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film, 1947 — 1986 box set put out by the National Film Preservation Foundation.
Two other underground films were also accepted into the National Film Registry this year: Jordan Belson’s Allures (1961) and Chick Strand’s Fake Fruit Factory (1986). Belson and Strand also passed away recently. Belson, on the same day as Kuchar (Sept. 6, 2011), and Strand on July 11, 2009. Fake Fruit Factory can be seen alongside I, an Actress on the Treasures IV box set.
The National Film...
- 1/2/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Fake Fruit Factory from Guergana Tzatchkov on Vimeo.
"Every year, Librarian of Congress James H Billington personally selects which films will be added to the National Film Registry, working from a list of suggestions from the library’s National Film Preservation Board and the general public," reports Ann Hornaday for the Washington Post. This year's list of 25 films slated for preservation:
Allures (Jordan Belson, 1961) Bambi (Walt Disney, 1942) The Big Heat (Fritz Lang, 1953) A Computer Animated Hand (Pixar, 1972) Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (Robert Drew, 1963) The Cry of the Children (George Nichols, 1912) A Cure for Pokeritis (Laurence Trimble, 1912) El Mariachi (Robert Rodriguez, 1992) Faces (John Cassavetes, 1968) Fake Fruit Factory (Chick Strand, 1986) Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, 1994) Growing Up Female (Jim Klein and Julia Reichert, 1971) Hester Street (Joan Micklin Silver, 1975) I, an Actress (George Kuchar, 1977) The Iron Horse (John Ford, 1924) The Kid (Charlie Chaplin, 1921) The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder, 1945) The Negro Soldier (Stuart Heisler,...
"Every year, Librarian of Congress James H Billington personally selects which films will be added to the National Film Registry, working from a list of suggestions from the library’s National Film Preservation Board and the general public," reports Ann Hornaday for the Washington Post. This year's list of 25 films slated for preservation:
Allures (Jordan Belson, 1961) Bambi (Walt Disney, 1942) The Big Heat (Fritz Lang, 1953) A Computer Animated Hand (Pixar, 1972) Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (Robert Drew, 1963) The Cry of the Children (George Nichols, 1912) A Cure for Pokeritis (Laurence Trimble, 1912) El Mariachi (Robert Rodriguez, 1992) Faces (John Cassavetes, 1968) Fake Fruit Factory (Chick Strand, 1986) Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, 1994) Growing Up Female (Jim Klein and Julia Reichert, 1971) Hester Street (Joan Micklin Silver, 1975) I, an Actress (George Kuchar, 1977) The Iron Horse (John Ford, 1924) The Kid (Charlie Chaplin, 1921) The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder, 1945) The Negro Soldier (Stuart Heisler,...
- 12/30/2011
- MUBI
It's that time of year again and the National Film Registry has selected 25 more films for preservation. As usual, the titles range from mainstream to art house and from old to relatively new. They are all linked in that they've been deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant by members of the Library of Congress and the National Film Registry. Some of the picks include Best Picture winners such as Forrest Gump, The Long Weekend, and The Silence of the Lambs. There are also silent films represented with with efforts from Charlie Chaplin and John Ford making appearances. One particular highlight (for me, anyway) is John Cassavetes' Faces, which helped propel modern-day independent filmmaking. While plenty of these films are worthy of discussion, there's always a few that people debate the merits of. I could see some dismissing the inclusion of El Mariachi, especially since it isn't that old, but...
- 12/29/2011
- by Aaron
- FilmJunk
Porgy & Bess, in which Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge both lipsynched is one of the 25 inductees.The film is rarely screened, not all that well and regarded but badly in need of restoration. Is that what did it?Each year I read the press release list of the films admitted to the National Film Registry and promptly forget them. I guess I've never absorbed just what this does for the films beyond being an obviously prestigious honor. So this year rather than doing the usual read the titles and forget, I stopped, actually took a breath (a rarity on the web), wondered, and googled a bit. I stopped being lazy about it so you don't have to be either. I didn't just list titles below but actual information!
However I am still a bit confused as what the honor actually means beyond admittance into the Library of Congress. If this...
However I am still a bit confused as what the honor actually means beyond admittance into the Library of Congress. If this...
- 12/29/2011
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
©Paramount Pictures
“My momma always said, .Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get..” That line was immortalized by Tom Hanks in the award-winning movie “Forest Gump” in 1994. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington today selected that film and 24 others to be preserved as cultural, artistic and historical treasures in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
Spanning the period 1912-1994, the films named to the registry include Hollywood classics, documentaries, animation, home movies, avant-garde shorts and experimental motion pictures. Representing the rich creative and cultural diversity of the American cinematic experience, the selections range from Walt Disney.s timeless classic “Bambi” and Billy Wilder.s “The Lost Weekend,” a landmark film about the devastating effects of alcoholism, to a real-life drama between a U.S. president and a governor over the desegregation of the University of Alabama. The selections also...
“My momma always said, .Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get..” That line was immortalized by Tom Hanks in the award-winning movie “Forest Gump” in 1994. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington today selected that film and 24 others to be preserved as cultural, artistic and historical treasures in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
Spanning the period 1912-1994, the films named to the registry include Hollywood classics, documentaries, animation, home movies, avant-garde shorts and experimental motion pictures. Representing the rich creative and cultural diversity of the American cinematic experience, the selections range from Walt Disney.s timeless classic “Bambi” and Billy Wilder.s “The Lost Weekend,” a landmark film about the devastating effects of alcoholism, to a real-life drama between a U.S. president and a governor over the desegregation of the University of Alabama. The selections also...
- 12/28/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Every year The Library of Congress selects, recognizes, acknowledges, and honors a group of films that will be inducted into the National Film Registry. As the year comes to a close, the organization has announced these another 25 movies, as they have been doing for the past 20 years, that will be preserved in the honorary library. There is no real set of rules when it comes to which movie can be preserved, just that it has to be ten years old. These films are also nominated by the public.
The Silence of the Lambs, Forrest Gump and Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid are just some of the Oscar wining films that were selected into the registary. The original War of the Worlds (yes there was one released in 1953), Stand and Deliver, Bambi, El Mariachi, and The Big Heat were also some of the biggest titles inducted into the Library of Congress.
The Silence of the Lambs, Forrest Gump and Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid are just some of the Oscar wining films that were selected into the registary. The original War of the Worlds (yes there was one released in 1953), Stand and Deliver, Bambi, El Mariachi, and The Big Heat were also some of the biggest titles inducted into the Library of Congress.
- 12/28/2011
- by Mike Lee
- FusedFilm
Have you ever wondered what would happen if Hannibal Lector was locked away with Bambi? Well, they will be, and I imagine Bambi won't last very long. The National Film Registry has added 25 more films that will be preserved in the Library of Congress. To be included in the registry the film need to be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” They have to be at least ten years old and are chosen from a list of films nominated by the public. This year the list contained 2228 nominations, and here are 14 of the 25 films from that list that were chosen to be preserved.
A Computer Animated Hand (1972, Ed Catmull)
A Cure for Pokeritis (1912, Laurence Trimble)
Allures (1961, Jordan Belson)
Bambi (1942, David Hand)
El Mariachi (1992, Robert Rodriguez)
Faces (1968, John Cassavetes)
Forrest Gump (1994, Robert Zemeckis)
The Iron Horse (1924, John Ford)
The Kid (1921, Charlie Chaplin)
The Lost Weekend (1945, Billy Wilder)
Norma Rae (Martin Ritt, 1979)
Porgy and Bess (1959, Otto Preminger,...
A Computer Animated Hand (1972, Ed Catmull)
A Cure for Pokeritis (1912, Laurence Trimble)
Allures (1961, Jordan Belson)
Bambi (1942, David Hand)
El Mariachi (1992, Robert Rodriguez)
Faces (1968, John Cassavetes)
Forrest Gump (1994, Robert Zemeckis)
The Iron Horse (1924, John Ford)
The Kid (1921, Charlie Chaplin)
The Lost Weekend (1945, Billy Wilder)
Norma Rae (Martin Ritt, 1979)
Porgy and Bess (1959, Otto Preminger,...
- 12/28/2011
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
A pair of best picture winners from the early 1990s, one of Charlie Chaplin's best-known films and the animated classic "Bambi" are among the movies joining the National Film Registry in 2011.
The Library of Congress picks 25 movies each year that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" important to add to the registry. They're usually a mix of silent movies from the early days of motion pictures, Hollywood hits, documentaries and avant-garde films. This year is no different.
The most immediately recognizable titles in the 2011 class are Disney's well-loved "Bambi" and "Forrest Gump" and "The Silence of the Lambs," both of which won multiple Oscars (including best picture) in the '90s. Others include Chaplin's 1921 classic "The Kid," Billy Wilder's "The Lost Weekend," John Cassavetes' "Faces" and John Ford's 1924 silent film "The Iron Horse." Robert Rodriguez's first movie, the made-for-$7,000 "El Mariachi," is also on the list.
The Library of Congress picks 25 movies each year that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" important to add to the registry. They're usually a mix of silent movies from the early days of motion pictures, Hollywood hits, documentaries and avant-garde films. This year is no different.
The most immediately recognizable titles in the 2011 class are Disney's well-loved "Bambi" and "Forrest Gump" and "The Silence of the Lambs," both of which won multiple Oscars (including best picture) in the '90s. Others include Chaplin's 1921 classic "The Kid," Billy Wilder's "The Lost Weekend," John Cassavetes' "Faces" and John Ford's 1924 silent film "The Iron Horse." Robert Rodriguez's first movie, the made-for-$7,000 "El Mariachi," is also on the list.
- 12/28/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
When the entire world population is consumed by the unstoppable (and caffeinated) Starbucks Super-Flu pandemic in 2055, we can rest easy knowing our cinematic treasures have been carefully preserved by the National Film Registry, whose goal is to retain 25 "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films" in the Library of Congress annually.
With more than 2,000 titles nominated in 2011 alone, the list of this year's crop of movies include Walt Disney's "Bambi," Robert Rodriguez's "El Mariachi," Charles Chaplin's "The Kid" and Robert Zemeckis' "Forrest Gump."
Just from those four films alone, you can see that the criteria for inclusion has cast its net pretty wide, with everything from Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull's "A Computer Animated Hand" (1972) whose significance we covered back in September, John Cassavetes' highly influential indie domestic drama "Faces" (1968), to Jonathan Demme's 1991 Best Picture winner "Silence of the Lambs," in which, incidentally, Anthony Hopkins' character takes people's faces.
With more than 2,000 titles nominated in 2011 alone, the list of this year's crop of movies include Walt Disney's "Bambi," Robert Rodriguez's "El Mariachi," Charles Chaplin's "The Kid" and Robert Zemeckis' "Forrest Gump."
Just from those four films alone, you can see that the criteria for inclusion has cast its net pretty wide, with everything from Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull's "A Computer Animated Hand" (1972) whose significance we covered back in September, John Cassavetes' highly influential indie domestic drama "Faces" (1968), to Jonathan Demme's 1991 Best Picture winner "Silence of the Lambs," in which, incidentally, Anthony Hopkins' character takes people's faces.
- 12/28/2011
- by Max Evry
- NextMovie
By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: Each December, the Library of Congress adds new films to its preservation list. Today, they revealed the 25 selected titles that will be protected by the National Film Registry.
Walt Disney’s “Bambi,” Robert Zemeckis’ “Forrest Gump,” and Charlie Chaplin’s classic “The Kid” are among the movies selected for this year’s list.
“These films are selected because of their enduring significance to American culture,” Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said. “Our film heritage must be protected because these cinematic treasures document our history and culture and reflect our hopes and dreams.”
Annual selections are finalized by the Librarian, who reviews hundreds of titles nominated by the public. This year 2,228 films were nominated for consideration. The Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation then works to ensure that every film added to the Registry is preserved for generations to come.
Here...
Hollywoodnews.com: Each December, the Library of Congress adds new films to its preservation list. Today, they revealed the 25 selected titles that will be protected by the National Film Registry.
Walt Disney’s “Bambi,” Robert Zemeckis’ “Forrest Gump,” and Charlie Chaplin’s classic “The Kid” are among the movies selected for this year’s list.
“These films are selected because of their enduring significance to American culture,” Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said. “Our film heritage must be protected because these cinematic treasures document our history and culture and reflect our hopes and dreams.”
Annual selections are finalized by the Librarian, who reviews hundreds of titles nominated by the public. This year 2,228 films were nominated for consideration. The Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation then works to ensure that every film added to the Registry is preserved for generations to come.
Here...
- 12/28/2011
- by Sean O'Connell
- Hollywoodnews.com
I’m never one to put significant stock in the film-based choices made by any kind of committee — be it an awards group, critics circle, soup kitchen line, etc. — but the National Film Registry is a little different. Not that they’re any different than those aforementioned organization types, but because the government assemblage preserves works deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” No small potatoes.
Their latest list — created for both public awareness and the opportunity to grumble, as I’ll do in a second — has been unveiled, and the selections are none too out-of-left-field. The biggest of these 25 would have to be Forrest Gump, a choice I fully understand but completely disagree with on an opinion and moral scale. The only other true objection I can raise is toward El Mariachi, film school-level junk from a director whose finest works are the direct result of working with those more talented.
Their latest list — created for both public awareness and the opportunity to grumble, as I’ll do in a second — has been unveiled, and the selections are none too out-of-left-field. The biggest of these 25 would have to be Forrest Gump, a choice I fully understand but completely disagree with on an opinion and moral scale. The only other true objection I can raise is toward El Mariachi, film school-level junk from a director whose finest works are the direct result of working with those more talented.
- 12/28/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
In 1988, the National Film Preservation Act create the National Film Registry, which selects a couple dozen films each year for preservation in the Library of Congress. Up to 25 films are selected annually as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films." These have to be at least ten years old, can be feature, short experimental or 'other' -- anything that is film, really -- and are chosen from a list of films nominated by the public. This year, 2228 films were nominated by the public and twenty-five were selected for preservation. Among those are the big Oscar winner The Silence of the Lambs, everyone's favorite autistic history hero Forrest Gump, Charlie Chaplin's The Kid and one of the greatest (and earliest) train movies ever made, John Ford's The Iron Horse. We've got a more complete list below. The New York Times [1] has the rundown on some of the new inductees, which will be fully announced today.
- 12/28/2011
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
Every year, the Library of Congress selects several films to be entered into the National Film Registry for preservation. And, every year, it’s surprising to learn that the selections weren’t already part of the registry. Case in point: Some of 2011′s 25 entries, which include 1921′s The Kid, 1924′s The Iron Horse, 1988′s Stand and Deliver, 1991′s Silence of the Lambs, 1994′s Forrest Gump, and 1942′s Bambi, because if we had to break the news to our kids about the deer’s murdered mother, then, dammit, so will several generations to come.
But it’s no easy task for...
But it’s no easy task for...
- 12/28/2011
- by Kate Ward
- EW.com - PopWatch
Best Picture winners The Lost Weekend (1945), Forrest Gump, and The Silence of the Lambs (1991), along with the Walt Disney Studios' animated classic Bambi (1942), Charles Chaplin's silent comedy-drama The Kid (1921), and Howard Hawks' early screwball comedy Twentieth Century (1934) are among the 25 "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant movies just added to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. Directed by Billy Wilder, The Lost Weekend earned Ray Milland a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of an alcoholic. Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs earned Oscars for both leads, Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. A monumental box-office hit in the mid-'90s and a paean to idiocy and conformism, Forrest Gump earned Tom Hanks his second back-to-back Oscar (he had won the previous year for Demme's Philadelphia). As per the National Film Registry's release, Bambi was Walt Disney's favorite among his studio's films. (That's all fine,...
- 12/28/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Washington — Forrest Gump's oft-imitated line, "My momma always said, `Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get' " will be immortalized among the nation's treasures in the world's largest archive of film, TV and sound recordings.
The Library of Congress on Wednesday announced that 1994's smash hit "Forrest Gump" starring Tom Hanks was one of 25 films chosen to be included this year in the National Film Registry.
The oldest reels are silent films both from 1912. "The Cry of the Children" is about the pre-World War I child labor reform movement and "A Cure for Pokeritis" features the industry's earliest comic superstar John Bunny.
Also from that silent era is Charlie Chaplin's first full-length feature, "The Kid," from 1921.
Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, each year the Librarian of Congress names 25 films that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant. This year,...
The Library of Congress on Wednesday announced that 1994's smash hit "Forrest Gump" starring Tom Hanks was one of 25 films chosen to be included this year in the National Film Registry.
The oldest reels are silent films both from 1912. "The Cry of the Children" is about the pre-World War I child labor reform movement and "A Cure for Pokeritis" features the industry's earliest comic superstar John Bunny.
Also from that silent era is Charlie Chaplin's first full-length feature, "The Kid," from 1921.
Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, each year the Librarian of Congress names 25 films that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant. This year,...
- 12/28/2011
- by AP
- Huffington Post
(John Ford, 1924, PG, Eureka!; Victor Turin, 1929, U, BFI)
The first movie to find universal popularity was 1903's 12-minute western The Great Train Robbery. But the silent era's two great railway movie epics were The Iron Horse and Turksib, made by directors born in the 1890s from very different backgrounds. The Irish-American John Ford's masterly if occasionally creaky The Iron Horse lasts 150 minutes and is a mammoth undertaking about the building of the transcontinental railroad completed in 1869. A carefully researched, exciting fictional film, it made Ford famous and is now on DVD with a commentary and new musical score.
A middle-class Russian, Victor Turin was educated in the States (MIT), learnt the movie business at the Vitagraph, became a western fan and returned to the Soviet Union to direct the great 78-minute documentary Turksib – about the heroic transformative building of the railway linking Turkestan to Siberia. Like The Iron Horse,...
The first movie to find universal popularity was 1903's 12-minute western The Great Train Robbery. But the silent era's two great railway movie epics were The Iron Horse and Turksib, made by directors born in the 1890s from very different backgrounds. The Irish-American John Ford's masterly if occasionally creaky The Iron Horse lasts 150 minutes and is a mammoth undertaking about the building of the transcontinental railroad completed in 1869. A carefully researched, exciting fictional film, it made Ford famous and is now on DVD with a commentary and new musical score.
A middle-class Russian, Victor Turin was educated in the States (MIT), learnt the movie business at the Vitagraph, became a western fan and returned to the Soviet Union to direct the great 78-minute documentary Turksib – about the heroic transformative building of the railway linking Turkestan to Siberia. Like The Iron Horse,...
- 10/22/2011
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Josef von Sternberg, Charles Chaplin, John Ford: Shasta County Silent Film Festival Friday, October 21 6:00 p.m. Angora Love (1929, Laurel & Hardy). Stanley and Oliver are adopted by a runaway goat, whose noise and aroma in turn get the goat of their suspicious landlord. Attempts to bathe the smelly animal result in a waterlogged free-for-all. Pass the Gravy (1928, Max Davidson). Max Davidson plays a widower father who enjoys raising prize flowers. His neighbor, another widower father, raises prize poultry. The two families spat because the chickens are eating Max's flower seeds. In a Romeo and Juliet-like twist, the men's children decide to marry each other, and the fathers decide to hold a celebratory dinner to show no hard feelings. However, the roast chicken on the table looks very suspicious. It's a Gift (1923, Snub Pollard) Along with a Felix the Cat. A group of oil magnates are trying to think of new ways to attract business.
- 10/7/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The 6th Annual Silent Film Festival at Shasta County, Calif., to be held October 21-22 at the Shasta County Arts Council's Performance Hall, will feature an eclectic group of silent-movie classics. Those range from Josef von Sternberg's crime drama Underworld (1927) to Carl Theodor Dreyer's marital drama Master of the House (1925). [Full schedule of the Shasta County Silent Film Fest.] Also: Rin Tin Tin in Clash of the Wolves, featuring Charles Farrell (who would later team up with Janet Gaynor to become one of the most popular screen couples of the late silent era/early talkie era); John Ford's ambitious Western The Iron Horse (1924), starring George O'Brien and Madge Bellamy; and the Douglas Fairbanks romantic comedy When the Clouds Roll By (1919), directed by Victor Fleming of Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz fame. Attending the festival will be silent-film restorationist and historian David Shepard and Bay Area Royal Jazz Society's Frederick Hodges. Check out...
- 10/7/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Sergio Leone, 1968
A Marxist revisionist western that feels like a comedy half the time and a revenger's tragedy in operatic guise for the other half. On paper at least, this looks like the very last western worthy of admission to the pantheon of the genre's masterworks. But there it is, routinely counted among the greatest westerns ever made. And rightly so.
Leone, together with Dario Argento and Bernardo Bertolucci, initially conceived a western almost entirely made up of references to the classics of the genre – The Iron Horse, The Searchers, Shane and High Noon are just some of the movies plundered and revered in the final three-hour epic. The film has an unabashedly leftwing tilt in its depiction of capitalism's ruthless conquest of the west as it crushes or kills every obstacle in its path.
If that all sounds a little dry to you, then Leone knew enough to cast...
A Marxist revisionist western that feels like a comedy half the time and a revenger's tragedy in operatic guise for the other half. On paper at least, this looks like the very last western worthy of admission to the pantheon of the genre's masterworks. But there it is, routinely counted among the greatest westerns ever made. And rightly so.
Leone, together with Dario Argento and Bernardo Bertolucci, initially conceived a western almost entirely made up of references to the classics of the genre – The Iron Horse, The Searchers, Shane and High Noon are just some of the movies plundered and revered in the final three-hour epic. The film has an unabashedly leftwing tilt in its depiction of capitalism's ruthless conquest of the west as it crushes or kills every obstacle in its path.
If that all sounds a little dry to you, then Leone knew enough to cast...
- 10/19/2010
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
by Adam Hartzell
Many film festivals seek to start a conversation amongst cinephiles and the wider community in which the films are screened, and to do that they need space. And the lobbies of many film festival venues are often antithetical to discussion. They become cramped spaces of rugby-like scrums of people trying to queue for a seat, the bathroom, a snack, a friend they see in the distance, and, when the film ends, a convenient exit. Once outdoors, the scrum continues, pushed out into the cramped sidewalk where one has to join the strolling pedestrians often obstructed by those in queue for the next film. This year's San Francisco Silent Film Festival provided an opportunity to see how an addition of public space, The Castro Commons, could enhance or detract from the typical experience at the festival.
The Silent Film Festival takes place at the Castro Theatre partly because...
Many film festivals seek to start a conversation amongst cinephiles and the wider community in which the films are screened, and to do that they need space. And the lobbies of many film festival venues are often antithetical to discussion. They become cramped spaces of rugby-like scrums of people trying to queue for a seat, the bathroom, a snack, a friend they see in the distance, and, when the film ends, a convenient exit. Once outdoors, the scrum continues, pushed out into the cramped sidewalk where one has to join the strolling pedestrians often obstructed by those in queue for the next film. This year's San Francisco Silent Film Festival provided an opportunity to see how an addition of public space, The Castro Commons, could enhance or detract from the typical experience at the festival.
The Silent Film Festival takes place at the Castro Theatre partly because...
- 7/20/2010
- GreenCine Daily
The 15th edition of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (Sfsff) pulled into the station with John Ford's romanticized western The Iron Horse (1924), starring George O'Brien and Madge Bellamy. Festival favorite Dennis James--who provided musical accompaniment on the Castro Theater's Mighty Wurlitzer--also provided the only surviving 35mm print of the American version, courtesy of 20th Century Fox. Joseph McBride, author of Searching For John Ford (2001) offered historical context to help the audience further appreciate Sfsff's opening night film.
- 7/19/2010
- Screen Anarchy
[Our thanks to Bret Wood for granting permission to reprint his essay on the restoration of Fritz Lang's Metropolis, originally published in the souvenir program for Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival 2010.]
It's time to make noise about San Francisco's upcoming Silent Film Festival (Sfsff), launching at the Castro Theatre this Thursday July 15 with John Ford's The Iron Horse (1924) and continuing through the weekend with 11 classics, more shorts, more amazing tales from the archives, and an on-stage panel Variations on a Theme: Musicians on the Craft of Composing and Performing for Silent Film.
It's time to make noise about San Francisco's upcoming Silent Film Festival (Sfsff), launching at the Castro Theatre this Thursday July 15 with John Ford's The Iron Horse (1924) and continuing through the weekend with 11 classics, more shorts, more amazing tales from the archives, and an on-stage panel Variations on a Theme: Musicians on the Craft of Composing and Performing for Silent Film.
- 7/14/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Louise Brooks (center) in Diary of a Lost Girl (top); Fritz Lang‘s Metropolis (upper middle); George O’Brien (center) in John Ford‘s The Iron Horse (lower middle); Norma Talmadge in Sam Taylor and Henry King‘s The Woman Disputed (bottom) The San Francisco Silent Film Festival kicks off on July 15 with a screening of John Ford‘s The Iron Horse, at 7 p.m. at the Castro Theatre. The festival’s Opening Night Party will follow the screening. Starring George O’Brien (the male lead in F. W. Murnau‘s Sunrise) and popular silent-film actress Madge Bellamy, The Iron Horse is a grandiose 1924 Western epic about the building of the United States’ transcontinental railroad. Among the Sfsff’s other highlights are a screening of the restored version of Fritz Lang‘s Metropolis, starring Brigitte Helm; Louise Brooks in G. W. Pabst‘s Diary of a Lost Girl; and Benjamin Christensen...
- 7/8/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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