John Ford

After watching My Darling Clementine and Fort Apache, a very brief note in praise of John Ford and Robert Pippin's recent book on John Ford.  Ford was Catholic, Republican, and Irish: he turned a blind eye to the experience and character of women and people of color (and when he looked at them, his vision was usually blunted and his humor crude). But those limitations are part of what make his movies great.  Combined with a marvelous eye for framing stylish, even baroque images, his embedment in prejudice -- of which he seemed to grow more critically aware as he got older -- make his movies into living documents of mainstream America in the early and middle twentieth century.  Terrific stuff.  Go here for more.