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Few Hollywood filmmakers are as closely associated with a particular genre as John Ford is with the Western, but it is perhaps less well-known that he received some of his greatest acclaim beyond his trademark horse operas. He still holds the proud record for the most Academy Awards for Best Director, having taken home the top prize for "The Informer," "The Grapes of Wrath," "How Green Was My Valley," and "The Quiet Man." The latter was arguably the farthest outside his usual wheelhouse, a Technicolor romantic comedy shot in his parents' homeland of Ireland. He took several of his regular actors with him for company, however, and the Duke considered...

When John Wayne named his personal favorite top five out of the movies he’d starred in, he left out the classic that finally earned him an Academy Award: 1969’s True Grit. Over the course of his legendary, decades-long film career, Wayne starred in some truly great movies. He starred in hits like Big Jake and El Dorado and appeared alongside fellow screen legends in the sprawling ensembles of classic epics like The Longest Day and How the West Was Won.

So, when Wayne was asked to name the best movies he’d starred in, he had a lot of gems to choose from. Wayne co-starred with Jimmy Stewart in the character-driven western drama The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. He made Rio Bravo, one of the greatest hangout movies ever made, as a response to the cowardice displayed by Gary Cooper in High Noon. But surprisingly, when Wayne named his top five,...

Howard Hawks' 1948 Western Red River finally convinced John Ford that John Wayne was a great actor, even though they had made four movies together already. John Wayne and John Ford made nine great Westerns together, and both the director and the actor became known as legends of the genre. Ford and Wayne were even responsible for some of the best Western movies of all time, like Stagecoach, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and The Searchers. Most of Ford's movies cast Wayne as a traditional, upstanding hero, but one of the first films that cast him against type surprised everyone.

Even though Wayne and Ford were an absolutely legendary pairing, Ford was still shocked by another movie Wayne made with a different director. Wayne's performance in Red River, directed by Howard Hawks, proved to Ford that the Duke was a great actor, even though their professional relationship was well under way by that point.

Ward Bond, a familiar face in the classic Hollywood Western genre, was a frequent collaborator of John Wayne. In fact, he was one of John Waynes most frequent co-stars and he even left Wayne a shotgun in his will. Throughout his career, Bond appeared in numerous films, often portraying rugged, no-nonsense characters, including an astonishing 13 Best Picture nominees an enviable record for any actor.

While Ward Bond may not have been a leading man, his solid performances and distinctive presence made him a valuable asset to any movie he acted in, such as the historically just ridiculous 1956 epic The Searchers. From supporting roles to more substantial parts, Bond's contributions to the genre are sometimes overlooked.

Ward Bond Appeared In 13 Movies Nominated For Best Picture 3 Of These Movies Were Oscar Best Picture Wins

In todays Hollywood landscape, top-billing actors can be more selective with the roles they take. It is hard...

To say that John Wayne radically redefined what a “movie star” could be would be an understatement. In a career that spanned well over half a century, Wayne appeared in countless classics, endearing himself to many generations of Western movie fans. Among the most highly acclaimed films of his career were the early action thriller Stagecoach, the revisionist revenge thriller The Searchers, and the reflective political satire The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. This trio of Western classics all hail from director John Ford, Wayne's most trusted collaborator. Ford understood what made Wayne a compelling actor, and was able to give him roles that were befitting of his inherent skills. While it did not belong to the Western genre, Wayne gave one of his most underrated performances in Ford’s historical epic The Long Voyage Home.

Hollywood icon, John Wayne is universally recognized for his Western films, such as Rio Bravo, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and The Shootist. Born in Winterset, Iowa, Wayne gained notoriety after his breakout role in John Ford's 1939 movie, Stagecoach, and soon became one of the most popular leading men on the silver screen. While Wayne is considered to be a pioneer of the Western genre, he also starred in a series of classic non-Western films, including The Long Voyage Home and Sands of Iwo Jima.

“Now I’m through with land and the land’s through with me,” says world-weary mariner Donkeyman (Arthur Shields) in The Long Voyage Home, succinctly expressing the dichotomy that runs through John Ford’s 1940 drama. Adapted by Dudley Nichols from four of Eugene O’Neill’s one-act plays, the film is deeply concerned with the threshold between land and sea.

Even when in port, the men working on the SS Glencairn are largely confined to the British cargo ship, and for logical reasons, such as police and military restrictions during wartime. Yet, through the aura of despondence and alienation so strongly established by Gregg Toland’s almost spectral cinematography, the men’s entrapment takes on a metaphysical significance not unlike that of the bourgeois individuals unable to exit the dining room in Luis Buñuel’s The Exterminating Angel.

For all the isolation and deprivation endured by the sailors, The Long Voyage Home is,...

Receiving one coveted 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes is a massive achievement in itself, with two actors being tied for having the most entries in the 100% club. Unsurprisingly, due to their influence on cinema, many of the films on Rotten Tomatoes with a Fresh 100% rating are considered classics, which means most of the actors with the highest number of 100% critic scores were at their height in the golden age of Hollywood. Many actors whose movies boast multiple 100% Rotten Tomatoes scores are also Oscar winners, suggesting their screen presence influences the films’ continued acclaim.

Beginning with 1920’s The Golem as the oldest movie with a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, an increasing number of films have joined the desired list over the years, with the prospect of achieving a 100% score shockingly being easier to attain than a 0% score. Hollywood legends like Humphrey Bogart, Judy Garland, Henry Fonda, and James Stewart boast between nine and 11 Fresh 100% scores each,...

For well over four decades, the name “John Ford” has been synonymous with Hollywood classics.

Ford has been hailed as one of the greatest directors of all time, with a long list of acclaimed films that have won multiple Academy Awards. His subject matter ranged from westerns to war movies and even his own slice of Irish-American culture.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the life and career of John Ford, discussing his early years in Hollywood and the lasting impact he has had on cinema today. We’ll also explore some memorable moments from his cinematic legacy.

So whether you are a film buff or just have an appreciation for classic movies, join us as we pay tribute to the legendary filmmaker John Ford.

John Ford. By Allan warren – Own work, Cc By-sa 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16706120 Overview of John Ford...

John Wayne once described himself as "just the paint for the palettes" of directors like John Ford and Howard Hawks, the filmmakers who steered him in films such as "Stagecoach" and "Red River." Such modesty was characteristic of "The Duke," whom Orson Welles described as one of the best-mannered actors in Hollywood. Yet Wayne was doing himself a disservice, for while he did benefit from the tutelage of two great filmmakers, he also worked long and hard to create the persona of "John Wayne," a figure with a distinctive gait, an easy drawl, and tough morality.

To explore the career of John Wayne is to explore five decades of Hollywood history. Wayne acted opposite everyone from Barbara Stanwyck and Maureen O'Hara to Henry Fonda, James Stewart, and Kirk Douglas. The list of directors he worked with is just as impressive, too.

So, where does one start with John Wayne, both...

It’s great to be Cate. When “Tar” was announced as one of the 2023 Oscar nominees for Best Picture on January 24, it secured Cate Blanchett a record 10th appearance in movies nominated for the Oscars’ top prize. That ties Blanchett with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson for having appeared in the second-most Best Picture nominees in history behind only Robert De Niro, who has been credited with starring in 11 Best Picture nominees.

The caveat: Actor Ward Bond appeared in 13 films that were nominated for Best Picture, but he was uncredited as a performer in a number of the projects. His roster of Best Picture nominees, however, included “Arrowsmith” (1931/32), “Lady for a Day” (1933), “It Happened One Night” (1934), “Dead End” (1937), “You Can’t Take It with You” (1938), “Gone with the Wind” (1939), “The Grapes of Wrath” (1940), “The Long Voyage Home” (1940), “The Maltese Falcon” (1941), “Sergeant York” (1941), “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946), “The Quiet Man” (1952), and “Mister Roberts” (1955).

Back to Blanchett.

“His influence will never wane; there simply isn’t anyone who’s any good who isn’t standing on his shoulders.”

That’s what Steven Soderbergh wrote about Gordon Willis, the cinematographer who changed the American cinema forever with his work on Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather.” Though other filmmakers had used some of the same techniques as Willis — John Ford and Gregg Toland made extensive use of practically motivated light sources on “The Long Voyage Home,” and many noir films experimented with placing their characters in darkness — the revolution didn’t really take hold until he applied the approach to what became one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful movies of all time.

“The Godfather” celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and Willis’ work continues to inform the ways in which cinematographers approach their work; look no further than Greig Fraser’s character and psychology-driven lighting on “The Batman” for proof.

Cate Blanchett failed to land among this year’s nominees in the Best Supporting Actress race, but the two-time Oscar winner made history anyway with the 94th Academy Awards nominations. By starring in two Best Picture nominees, “Don’t Look Up” and “Nightmare Alley,” Blanchett has been credited in nine movies nominated for the Oscars’ top picture prize. That makes her the only actress ever credited in that many Best Picture nominees, surpassing a record previously held by Olivia de Havilland.

Blanchett’s first role in a Best Picture nominee came for “Elizabeth,” the 1998 film that also gave Blanchett her first Best Actress nomination. Her other Best Picture nominees before this year included all three films in the “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Aviator”, “Babel,” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” The twosome of “Don’t Look Up” and “Nightmare Alley” marks the first time Blanchett has appeared in...

We recently did an Oscars flashback 70 years to the 23rd Academy Awards ceremony, and now we go back a decade more to the 13th ceremony, which was held on February 27, 1941, and would be the last ceremony before the United States’ entry into WWII. It was a year of many firsts that remain part of the ceremonies, a year of historic firsts in the competitive categories and a year that recognized many icons of cinema, although it’s astounding to learn that some of these individuals never won a competitive Oscar.

This was the inaugural year for sealed envelopes, with the identity of the winners kept secret until their names were called, prompting the now famous phrase, “May I have the envelope, please?” This was also the first time in Academy history that a producer won the top prize back to back.

SEEOscars flashback 60 years to 1961: Academy chooses Elizabeth Taylor,...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

30 Years of The Film Foundation

Equally impressive as his towering career is Martin Scorsese’s dedication to restoring previously lost classics and championing underseen gems with The Film Foundation. Now celebrating 30 years, they’ve been given the spotlight on The Criterion Channel, featuring a wealth of highlights as well as a conversation between Scorsese and Ari Aster. The lineup of essentials includes The Broken Butterfly (1919), Trouble in Paradise (1932), It Happened One Night (1934), L’Atalante (1934), The Long Voyage Home (1940) The Chase (1946), The Red Shoes (1948), The River (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952), The Bigamist (1953), Ugetsu (1953), Senso (1954), The Big Country (1958), Shadows (1959), The Cloud-Capped Star (1960), Primary (1960), The Connection (1961), Salvatore Giuliano (1962), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), Once Upon a Time in the West...

Wes Anderson was expected to attend the Cannes Film Festival this month to world premiere his new movie, “The French Dispatch.” The director last attended Cannes for the world premiere of “Moonrise Kingdom,” which opened the 2012 edition of the festival and remains Anderson’s first and only trip to the Croisette. Anderson took part in The New York Times’ Cannes survey to share a memory about the world’s most prestigious film festival, and in doing so he also dropped an update about how he’s been spending his quarantine.

“I have a 4-year-old daughter so, like so many others in our situation, I am now a part-time amateur schoolteacher,” Anderson said. “Much of what I am reading has to do with ancient Egypt, dinosaurs, insects and the Amazon rainforest. But also: Patricia Highsmith, James Baldwin, Elmore Leonard and a book about plagues.”

Anderson also dropped an 11-film quarantine watch list.

The American Genre Film Archive, the largest non-profit genre film archive and distributor in the world, has teamed up with Shout! Factory for a wide-ranging new theatrical partnership that will see a slew of cult classics heading back into theaters. Agfa will distribute 50 film classics from Shout! Factory’s movie library to theaters this year, following similar collaborations with home video labels like Arrow Films, Severin Films, and Vinegar Syndrome.

The Austin-based Afga has selected a number of shlock-tastic titles like “Black Christmas,” “Chopping Mall,” “Caged Heat,” and both “Slumber Party Massacre” and its sequel to release back into theaters. The deal also includes a number of bonafide classics as well, including John Ford’s “Stagecoach,” John Cassavetes’ “A Woman Under the Influence,” and Alfred Hitchcock’s “Foreign Correspondent.”

“We could not be more thrilled about this partnership,” said Agfa Head of Business Affairs Alicia Coombs in an official statement.

Some actors and directors go together like spaghetti and meatballs. They just gel together in a rare way that makes their collaborations special. Here is a list of the seven best parings of director and actor in film history.

7: Tim Burton & Johnny Depp:

Edward Scissorhands; Ed Wood; Sleepy Hollow; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Corpse Bride; Sweeney Todd; Alice in Wonderland; Dark Shadows

Of all the parings on this list, these two make the oddest films. (In a good way.) Tim Burton is one of the most visually imaginative filmmakers of his generation and Johnny Depp was once the polymorphous master of playing a wide variety of eccentric characters. They were a natural combo. Depp made most of his best films with Burton, before his current ‘Jack Sparrow’ period began. The duo had the knack for telling stories about misfits and freaks, yet making them seem sympathetic and likable.

Since its beginning in 1963, the New York Film Festival has grown into one of the more anticipated stops for film fans on the festival circuit, with the 2014 incarnation of the festival alone seeing Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice and David Fincher’s Gone Girl make their world premiere at the event. As the festival’s importance has grown, the lineup presented has also piqued the interest of film fans. With the 2015 event set to run from September 25th to October 11th, a second wave of the lineup has now been announced to go with the previous Main Slate announcement.

The festival had previously announced that Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk would be the opening night film, making its World Premiere at the event, and the Don Cheadle film Miles Ahead would be the closing night feature, also making its World Premiere. The following films, with their official synopses, will also be playing at the event.

Part I.

In 1963, Film Quarterly published an essay entitled “Circles and Squares.” It addressed the French auteur theory, introduced to America by The Village Voice’s Andrew Sarris. Auteurism holds that a film’s primary creator is its director; Sarris’s “Notes on the Auteur Theory” further distinguished auteurs as filmmakers with distinct, recurring styles. Challenging him was a California-based writer named Pauline Kael.

Kael attacked Sarris’s obsession with trivial links between filmmaker’s movies, whether repeated shots or thematic preoccupations. This led critics to overpraise directors’ lesser films, as when Jacques Rivette declared Howard Hawks’ Monkey Business a masterpiece. “It is an insult to an artist to praise his bad work along with his good; it indicates that you are incapable of judging either,” Kael wrote.

She criticized auteurist preoccupation with Hawks and Alfred Hitchcock, claiming critics “work embarrassingly hard trying to give some semblance of intellectual respectability to mindless,...

As the Academy celebrates 85 years of great films at the Oscars on February 24th, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is set to take movie fans on the ultimate studio tour with the 2013 edition of 31 Days Of Oscar®. Under the theme Oscar by Studio, the network will present a slate of more than 350 movies grouped according to the studios that produced or released them. And as always, every film presented during 31 Days Of Oscar is an Academy Award® nominee or winner, making this annual event one of the most anticipated on any movie lover’s calendar.

As part of the network’s month-long celebration, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has graciously provided the original Academy Awards® radio broadcasts from 1930-1952. Specially chosen clips from the radio archives will be featured throughout TCM’s 31 Days Of Oscar website.

Hollywood was built upon the studio system, which saw nearly ever aspect...

Didn’t I just write one of these a week ago? Of course I did, because this is your destination for the best coverage of all the new titles Criterion puts up on their Hulu Plus page, and this week is no different. There’s fewer films (unless they decide to throw up another 30 when I least expect it) but in this case, less is more. And the lucky number is 13 this time. With worries of what the future for Hulu is, there are supposed talks that Google is definitely interested, which is interesting. Especially with their roll out of Google+ these past few days. If you like what you see, please sign up via this link. It does wonders for this article. But enough about that, you want to know about the movies. So let’s not make the good people wait.

The one that made my head explode was Godzilla,...