History Quotes / JohnFord

-->-- '''Creator/MaureenOHara'''

-> '''John Ford''': [[NotSoDifferent It’s the same thing, all countries do the same thing. There’s British doing it. Hitler doing it, there’s Stalin]]. Genocide seems to be a commonplace in our lives. But [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide it was not a systematic destruction of the Indians]]. All I know is the cavalry got the hell kicked out of them, and the Indians practically destroyed themselves. It was the loss of the buffalo that wiped them out.

'' I would not hesitate to accept the offer, and I would at once name the film that I wish I had made. It would be Film/YoungMrLincoln directed by John Ford. There are films that are richer and more effective. There are films that are presented with more entertainment and charm. [[HeAlsoDid Ford himself has made more extraordinary films than this one]]. Connoisseurs might well prefer Film/TheInformer (1935). Audiences would probably vote for Film/{{Stagecoach}} (1939) and sociologists for Film/TheGrapesOfWrath (1940). Young Mr. Lincoln didn’t even get [[AwardSnub one of those bronze Oscars]]. Nevertheless, of all American films made up to now, this is the film that I would wish, most of all, to have made. What is there in it that makes me love it so? It has a quality, a quality that every work of art must have – an astonishing harmony of all its component parts, a really amazing harmony as a whole. [...]''\\

-> '''Peter Bogdanovich''': The Indians are always given great dignity in your films?

->''[=Leo McCarey=] -- I love Film/MakeWayForTomorrow -- Creator/FrankCapra, and then people like Creator/RaoulWalsh, who’s a bit like me, but more seductive and pleasing to women, Tay Garnett, Henry King. I also like [[Creator/SamuelFuller Sammy Fuller]] a lot, a fine fellow with great integrity. I don’t like Creator/JohnHuston, who’s [[PretenderDiss a faker]].''

--> ''I was eager to have a long talk with Ford. I finally managed this and asked him how he got his ideas about how to stage a scene. “From the set,” he said. I didn’t understand what he meant. He was pretty grumpy that day, but I persisted. “Get out on the location early in the morning,” Ford said, “before anyone else is there. Walk around and see what you’ve got.” “Oh,” I said, “then look at the script and fit the scene into the location?” “No,” he growled, “[[ShowDontTell don’t look at the fucking script. That will confuse you. You know the story. Tell it with pictures. Forget the words]].” “What else?” I asked. “The actors,” he said. “Don’t let them act. Direct it like you were making a silent.”''

--> ''"We used to call him the meanest S.O.B. that ever was. But he was our S.O.B. We adored him. A difficult old devil, but the greatest director that the picture business has ever known."''

-->-- '''Creator/SergeiEisenstein'''

'' I would not hesitate to accept the offer, and I would at once name the film that I wish I had made. It would be ''Film/YoungMrLincoln'' directed by John Ford. There are films that are richer and more effective. There are films that are presented with more entertainment and charm. [[HeAlsoDid Ford himself has made more extraordinary films than this one]]. Connoisseurs might well prefer ''Film/TheInformer'' (1935). Audiences would probably vote for ''Film/{{Stagecoach}}'' (1939) and sociologists for ''Film/TheGrapesOfWrath'' (1940). ''Young Mr. Lincoln'' didn’t even get [[AwardSnub one of those bronze Oscars]]. Nevertheless, of all American films made up to now, this is the film that I would wish, most of all, to have made. What is there in it that makes me love it so? It has a quality, a quality that every work of art must have – an astonishing harmony of all its component parts, a really amazing harmony as a whole. [...]''\\

-> '''John Ford''': [[NotDoDifferent It’s the same thing, all countries do the same thing. There’s British doing it. Hitler doing it, there’s Stalin]]. Genocide seems to be a commonplace in our lives. But [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide it was not a systematic destruction of the Indians]]. All I know is the cavalry got the hell kicked out of them, and the Indians practically destroyed themselves. It was the loss of the buffalo that wiped them out.

-> '''John Ford''': It’s the same thing, all countries do the same thing. There’s British doing it. Hitler doing it, there’s Stalin. Genocide seems to be a commonplace in our lives. But it was not a systematic destruction of the Indians. All I know is the cavalry got the hell kicked out of them, and the Indians practically destroyed themselves. It was the loss of the buffalo that wiped them out.

-> '''John Ford''': That's a political question, I don't think that has anything to do with pictures. All I could say was 'no comment'. I wasn't alive then. I had nothing to do with it. My sympathy is all with the Indians. Do you consider the invasion of the Black and Tans into Ireland a blot on English history? Being Irish, it's my prerogative to answer a question with a question. Do you consider that a blot on English history?

-> '''Philip Jenkinson''': ''Do you see the systemic destruction of the Red Indian as something inevitable or a blot on American history?''
-> '''John Ford''': ''That's a political question, I don't think that has anything to do with pictures. All I could say was 'no comment'. I wasn't alive then. I had nothing to do with it. My sympathy is all with the Indians. Do you consider the invasion of the Black and Tans into Ireland a blot on English history? Being Irish, it's my prerogative to answer a question with a question. Do you consider that a blot on English history? ''
-> '''Philip Jenkinson''': ''Some historians would, but some historians would regard the systematic destruction of the Indian as something terrible.''
-> '''John Ford''': ''I'm not talking about the Indians, I'm talking about the Black and Tans''
-> '''Philip Jenkinson''': ''I don't know enough about it.'' "It's the same thing"
-> '''John Ford''': ''It’s the same thing, all countries do the same thing. There’s British doing it. Hitler doing it, there’s Stalin. Genocide seems to be a commonplace in our lives. But it was not a systematic destruction of the Indians. All I know is the cavalry got the hell kicked out of them, and the Indians practically destroyed themselves. It was the loss of the buffalo that wiped them out.''

-> ''[[{{Troll}} "D'ya know, McLaglen, that Fox are paying you $1200 a week to do things that I could get any child off the street to do better?"]]''

-> ''"This is an associate producer. Take a good look at him because you will not see him again till the picture’s finished."''

->''[=Leo McCarey=] -- I love Film/MakeWayForTomorrow -- Creator/FrankCapra, and then people like Creator/RaoulWalsh, who’s a bit like me, but more seductive and pleasing to women, Tay Garnett, Henry King. I also like [[Creator/SamuelFuller Sammy Fuller]] a lot, a fine fellow with great integrity. I don’t like Creator/JohnHuston, who’s [[PretenderDiss a faker]]."

-> On ''The Informer'', Ford introduced Cliff Reid to his troupe...''"This",'' he said, gently turning Reid’s head to a profile, ''"is an associate producer. Take a good look at him because you will not see him again till the picture’s finished."''

-> "On ''The Informer'', Ford introduced Cliff Reid to his troupe...''This,'' he said, gently turning Reid’s head to a profile, ''is an associate producer. Take a good look at him because you will not see him again till the picture’s finished.''

-->-- '''John Ford''', book of interviews by Peter Bogdanovich, 2nd Edition.

-> '''John Ford''': It's probably an unconscious impulse—but they are a very dignied people--even when they were being defeated. Of course, it's not very popular in the United States. The audience likes to see Indians gel killed. They don't consider them as human beings.