Recently, some of my friends have been urging me to return to the film festival program I conducted at what was then the Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception in Douglaston.
Over a period of perhaps 15 years, I may have shown as many as 100 classic films. I may revive the program in some parish, and if I do, I will use this column to alert people who might be interested.
One day, at St. John’s University, in one of my classes with about 20 students, I asked how many had seen the film “On the Waterfront,” which is my favorite film. Not one student had seen it. I was stunned and realized that there are probably many classic films that college students have not seen.
I teach a course at St. John’s entitled “Philosophy and Film,” and for students interested in film, there are several courses offered at St. John’s University. But are there many people who have not seen many classic films who might welcome a film festival in a local parish?
While considering the possibility of starting a film festival, I noticed that Turner Classic Movies was going to show John Ford’s classic western, “Stagecoach,” a film that many critics consider the finest Western ever made.
I first saw the film when I was about 5 years old, and over the years, in my efforts to study film, I had viewed some scenes but never watched the film from beginning to end. I had no class lectures to prepare for on the evening that TCM was showing “Stagecoach,” so I decided to watch the film from beginning to end. What a delightful evening! I cannot recall being alone and enjoying an evening so much.
After viewing the film, the idea of resurrecting the film festivals seemed like a very attractive project. An interviewer once asked Orson Welles to comment on the history of American film. Welles’ reply was “John Ford, John Ford, John Ford.” Since my recent viewing of “Stagecoach,” I have been trying to figure out what Ford did to make such a masterpiece.
First, he populated the film with a group of outstanding performers, including Claire Trevor, Thomas Mitchell, George Bancroft, Andy Devine, Donald Meek, John Carradine, Berton Churchill, and Louise Platt, as well as a relatively unknown young actor named John Wayne.
This group makes up a kind of Western “Canterbury Tales” as they are thrown together on a stagecoach on a trip that will have to pass through dangerous Indian territory. In the group is an alcoholic doctor, a bank embezzler, a prostitute, a professional gambler, a young pregnant bride, and a cowboy (Wayne, in the role that made him a star) who escaped from prison and is on a mission to avenge the murder of his father and brother.
Each of the performers is excellent. I wonder if Claire Trevor and Thomas Mitchell have ever given a poor performance.
As the film progresses, we come to know the characters well and appreciate the baggage of their past lives, which explains how each relates on the long ride.
John Ford may be the best of all Hollywood directors. He became known as a director of Westerns, and although “Stagecoach” is a terrific film, I think Ford’s two greatest films are not Westerns — “The Grapes of Wrath” and “How Green Was My Valley.”
Typical of Ford’s films, the camerawork and lighting are exceptional in “Stagecoach.” The following is an excellent summary statement about the movie: “The classic Western ‘Stagecoach’ is John Ford’s greatest epic of the frontier. This Western eclipsed all films in the genre that had gone before it, and so vastly influenced those that followed that its stamp can be found in most superior Westerns made since Ford stepped into Monument Valley for the first time. … ‘Stagecoach’ is a wonderful broad portrait of pioneer life in the untamed Great Southwest, as well as an in-depth character study of eight people, all diverse in their pursuits and all traveling to separate fates on a journey packed with danger.” (“The Movie Guide: A Comprehensive, Alphabetical Listing of the Most Important Films Ever Made,” 1992).
Viewing the film now, we will see what might be called a “prophetic camera shot.” It involves a close-up of Wayne, who was not yet a star. As the stagecoach approaches Wayne, who is trying to hitch a ride, the close-up at first appears blurred. However, as the stagecoach draws closer to Wayne, the focus sharpens into a clear picture of Wayne’s face.
It is almost as though the camera is saying, “Keep your eyes on this actor because he will become a big star!”
Father Lauder is a philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica. His new book, “The Cosmic Love Story: God and Us,” is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.