John Ford: The Man Who Invented America (2019)

The filmography of John Ford, most specifically his westerns for which he is arguably best known, is presented, those movies which largely made western stars out of John Wayne and James Stewart as two sides of the hero or antihero as the case may be, but also the majestically beautiful landscape of Monument Valley. The films are discussed as a reflection of him as a man - which is arguably the best representation of him as he was a highly private man who often answered evasively or flippantly in interviews, even about his work - and as a commentary on or his hope for American society. That hope largely was for a better world for the disenfranchised, especially the ethnic minority with Native Americans the usual stand-in as ubiquitous to the genre. Those movies in relation to politics, either his own or that of others who want to capitalize on very specific messages, is also discussed. As an interlude to his Hollywood life, his military service in WWII, where he used his filmmaking expertise to document the American view of the conflict, is presented.