Jane Darwell plays dance hall owner Kate Nelson, which was her second appearance in a John Ford film. Character actor Jane Darwell who plays Ma Joad in Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath (1940) makes an appearance in My Darling Clementine. What strikes me as another essential style of Ford is how the peripheral characters –particularly notable in Stagecoach (1939)– fill out the visual narrative with their presence and their valuable expressions as akin to the material faces found in a classical painting. Both are striking in their composition as I’m learning how Ford frames everything we see with explicit detail and thoughtful determination.

Recently we celebrated Ford’s work by watching an exciting western-themed double feature, Stagecoach (1939) and My Darling Clementine (1946). It is truly one of the most aesthetically moving films I’ve ever seen.ĭonald Crisp, Roddy McDowall, and Sara Allgood in How Green Was My Valley (1941).įord on the set of My Darling Clementine (1946). The narration is told by a now grown-up Huw, recounted using the voice of actor/director Irving Pichel, who tells of the lives of a resilient and decent family in a Welsh mining town, who struggle to get by in the midst of often brutal hardships. My first real exposure to John Ford was through his immensely beautiful film of pure visual poetry How Green Was My Valley (1941), the poignant story by way of voice-over reflected upon through the eyes of young Huw played by Roddy McDowall. While I’ve always felt that The Grapes of Wrath (1940) to be a cinematic triumph with memorable performances– one such is the ubiquitous John Carradine as Jim Casy who also appeared in Ford’s Stagecoach is one of my favorites– I didn’t really focus my attentions to the director himself. I’ve come late to the party, but I finally got my formal introduction to legendary director John Ford by good friend and notable blogger Aurora at Once Upon a Screen.

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