John Ford at Work

Lea Jacobs, Professor Emeritus of Film at UW-Madison and one of the Cinematheque’s Founders, is the author of a new book about a great director, John Ford at Work. The cinematic study shows the evolution of Ford’s career in the Hollywood studio system of the 1930s through film-by-film production studies that reveal how the filmmaker worked and how Ford weathered the storms of the Depression and the great changes to the movie industry, such as the coming of sound. In conjunction with the book’s publication, the Cinematheque proudly presents six superb Ford-directed movies from the era, beginning with the first theatrical screening of a new restoration of Ford’s Air Mail. Each screening will be introduced by Lea Jacobs and special discussions will follow the showings of Air Mail and Stagecoach.

FRI., 3/6, 7 p.m.
AIR MAIL
USA | 1932 | DCP | 84 min.
Director: John Ford
Cast: Pat O’Brien, Ralph Bellamy, Gloria Stuart

Talented-but-reckless airman Duke Talbot (O’Brien) runs off with the wife of a freshly-deceased fellow pilot, forcing the even-tempered Mike Miller (Bellamy) to finish the downed pilot’s mail route. When Miller’s plane crashes into a mountain during the job, Talbot must decide whether to use his daredevil aviation skills to save his injured comrade. Ford’s stirring yarn combines a Hawks-ian ardor for male camaraderie and professionalism with an undercurrent of moody darkness, accentuated by the Expressionist-influenced cinematography of Karl Freund (frequent cinematographer of Ford favorite F.W. Murnau) (MC). This screening will be the world premiere of a new 4K DCP restoration from Universal Pictures, followed by a special in-person discussion with John Ford At Work author Lea Jacobs.

FRI., 3/13, 7 p.m.
THE INFORMER
USA | 1935 | 35mm | 91 min.
Director: John Ford
Cast: Victor McLaglen, Heather Angel, Preston Foster

In an Academy Award winning performance, McLaglen is Gypo Nolan, who, in 1922 Dublin, betrays his best friend, a rebel, for a reward. Driven to inform by hunger and his girlfriend’s dreams of a better life, Gypo finds he must navigate the dangerous consequences of his betrayal. Adapting Liam O’Flaherty’s acclaimed novel, The Informer earned John Ford the first of his four Oscars for Best Director. 35mm print courtesy UCLA Film & Television Archive.

FRI., 3/20, 7 p.m.
THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND
USA | 1936 | 35mm | 95 min.
Director: John Ford
Cast: Warner Baxter, Gloria Stuart, John Carradine

After unknowingly aiding Lincoln’s assassin, Dr. Samuel Mudd is condemned to the remote and menacing Ft. Jefferson, a prison surrounded by shark-filled waters. Isolated and under the watch of cruel guards, he must survive a brutal environment while clinging to hope for justice. This terrific entertainment was the first 20th Century Fox collaboration between director Ford and production head Darryl F. Zanuck. The movie still stands as a shining example of how “the care and attention Zanuck devoted to script development was, to some extent, in the service of pitching balls that Ford could hit out of the park” (Lea Jacobs, John Ford at Work).

FRI., 4/17, 7 p.m.
STAGECOACH
USA | 1939 | DCP | 96 min.
Director: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Thomas Mitchell

In Ford’s highly influential Western classic, a diverse group of travelers find themselves bound together on a perilous journey through Apache territory. As tensions rise on the trail, the arrival of the outlaw Ringo Kid (Wayne, in the performance that launched his super-stardom) sets the stage for heroism, sacrifice, and the forging of unlikely bonds. The screening will be followed by a special in-person discussion with John Ford At Work author Lea Jacobs.

FRI., 4/24, 7 p.m.
YOUNG MR. LINCOLN
USA | 1939 | 35mm | 100 min.
Director: John Ford
Cast: Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Ward Bond

The humble, sharp-witted Abraham Lincoln begins his law career by defending two brothers in a volatile murder trial, revealing the moral clarity and empathy that would define his future presidency. Ford’s thoughtful, elegant direction and Fonda’s iconic performance transform this early chapter of Lincoln’s life into a quintessential piece of American cinema. 35mm print from the Chicago Film Society collection at the University of Chicago Film Studies Center.