John Ford The Filmmaker
Well, I’ve got a western for you to see, one of the most famous to come out of Hollywood, “Stagecoach”, which made a start out of John Wayne. And then I’ve got a documentary about the man who made it, John Ford, the filmmaker who more than any other created what we call the “Mythological West.” I want you to watch them both and then write me two pages relating Stagecoach to the Ford documentary. What does Stagecoach say about The West? Is it an optimistic vision, or a pessimistic one. What do we conclude about the major characters? Is there a happy ending or an unhappy ending?