As good as The Searchers is, I always prefer John Ford in his smaller, more intimate endeavors. Here he knows exactly how to twist the knife for moments of immense, quiet pathos.
I could list moments all day. Hallie's quiet shame as she admits her illiteracy. Mr. Peabody's desperate gratitude as his talent is finally recognized. The glow in Pompey's eyes as he speaks the words of the Declaration of Independence - and the stillness after the words that "a…
This contains three different movies of wildly varying quality. The first one is Gone with the Wind lite. As has been noted, John Ford deeply does not care about the corporate aristocrats' reincarnation love story. In a world with no Irishmen, the best he can do is Stepin Fetchit, who's endearingly American in the melodramatic chaos of WWI.
Ford gets much more interested in the second "movie" which is a war film. There are strikingly photographed images of soldiers marching…
The first young John Ford film I've seen that feels genuinely like a star vehicle. And what a star! Will Rogers, who bears a striking resemblance to Robin Williams, is effortlessly authoritative, boyish, and yet world-weary. Well, not world-weary, exactly, but tired of adulthood. He'd much ruther be fishin'. What lends Doc Bull his pathos is the fact that, when he'd much rather be elsewhere, he does his job anyway. Sleepless night after sleepless night. He's Tom Sawyer grown up,…
Evil Atheist Professor standing in rain.
*thunder*
Dad: "Haha maybe he'll get hit by lightning."
*Car slams into professor*
Dad: "Oh."
Still one of the best, tightest period dramas ever made - certainly the best Austen adaptation. While the series shot Colin Firth to fame and fortune, it's Jennifer Ehle's performance as Elizabeth that really does the heavy lifting.
Elizabeth is in nearly every scene, in situations requiring a wide range of responses, as compared to Firth's two settings: snobby and friendly. Of course, Firth's restraint is part of the magic of his performance. His dignity and disinterest offer a perfect…
