Awesome / John Ford

• He worked with documentary crews in the Pacific theater during World War II. He won an Oscar for the documentary The Battle Of Midway parts of which he actually filmed during the battle (he was on the island waiting for transit elsewhere when the attack came). Combat scenes he filmed would be edited into the big epic Midway.
• Orson Welles watched Stagecoach repeatedly for inspiration before coming to Hollywood to direct his first feature film: Citizen Kane. You might have heard of it. Ford also recruited his cinematographer, Gregg Toland, after seeing the latter's work on Ford's The Long Voyage Home.
• Perhaps Ford's greatest moment came during the Red Scare. During a meeting at the Directors Guild of America, Cecil B. DeMille was attacking other directors whom he considered to be Communist sympathizers. Ford held his tongue til DeMille started calling William Wyler "Villiam Vyler" and attacked Joseph Mankiewicz. He stood up, and declared, "My name is John Ford. I make Westerns. I don't think there is anyone who knows more about what the American public wants than Cecil B. DeMille - and he certainly knows how to give it to them. In that respect I admire him. But I don't like you, C.B. I don't like what you stand for and I don't like what you've been saying here tonight. Joe has been villified and I think he needs an apology." When DeMille remained silent for thirty seconds, Ford added, "Then I believe there is only one alternative, and I hereby so move: that Mr. DeMille and the entire board of directors resign, and that we give Joe a vote of confidence - and then let's all go home and get some sleep. We've got some pictures to make in the morning." And that's exactly what happened: DeMille and the board of directors resigned, Mankiewicz received a vote of confidence, and everyone got some sleep so they could make pictures in the morning.

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