Becoming John Ford (2007 Video) User Reviews

Good look at Ford at Fox

[Michael_Elliott · 25 February 2008]

Becoming John Ford (2007)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Very good documentary that covers John Ford's years at Fox. Considering we just had a Ford documentary last year I really wasn't expecting this to offer anything new but it actually does. The one negative thing about the film is that I wish it would have spent more time discussing his silent films and talking about some of the ones that are now lost. Outside of that, this film centers on the Fox years and makes some very interesting comments about Ford the person and how this person leaked into his movies. It was somewhat sad to hear how Henry Fonda and Ford had their falling out with the director punching the actor but I guess that's just Ford. There's a lot of style on display here that seems out of place at times but this is still a good introduction to the Fox years.

Why didn't you speak with someone who worked for Mr. Ford?

[berry345 · 3/10 · 18 December 2008]

I found this doc very slow. It took 2 minutes into the film before you saw the first photo of Mr. Ford. The intro had nothing to do with Mr. Ford or his work. Plus, they never spoke to one person who worked with Mr. Ford. How about Maureen O'Hara?

The stories have been told. And it looked like a photo shoot for those who talk about Mr. Ford (with stories that have been told before). The only good part of the film was Mr. Fonda. He did try to give a look into Mr. Ford and his Father's work together.

I loved Mr. Redman's doc on the Wild Bunch. But this was boring look at a great Director.

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

[MikeyB1793 · 1/10 · 21 April 2013]

Just a lot of film studies 101 talk from boring professor types who blab and drone on and on and on. They provide us with many useless tidbits on why films are important. I thought this was to be about the director John Ford.

We come out of this knowing next to nothing about John Ford the man – what shaped him, why did he become a film director, his upbringing.

Does not mention the major films of John Ford - Stagecoach or The Searchers or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance??? Why?? Simply Incomprehensible!!! John Wayne is barely mentioned.

Nothing is said about how the films were made on the location – such as Monument Valley.

Ranks as one of the worst documentaries I have ever seen.

Would Make Ford Leave the Room

[nataloff-1 · 2/10 · 16 March 2020]

An exercise in form that nearly drowns the content, "Becoming John Ford" should be nominated for "Best Performance by a Designer." There's plenty of keen insight and worthwhile scholarship in this arty documentary but it's undone by a wandering rostrum camera, foolishly obscured film clips, a cavalier attitude toward identifying its speakers, and a paucity of comments from people who actually worked with John Ford. In fact, Ford himself is never heard despite available footage. Yet there are clearly money and integrity behind this well-researched kludge, so the filmmakers' decision to undercut their mission is even more suspect. Not that it shouldn't be seen - just take Dramamine first.

The music for this John Ford documentary . . .

[oscaralbert · 17 January 2017]

. . .was written by composer Christopher Caliendo, who also scored 136 minutes of orchestral instrumentals for Director Ford's initial big hit, THE IRON HORSE (though you'd never know this from looking at Mr. Caliendo's filmography here). Some web sites are stuck in the 1900s, so if some random bozo tinkled on the piano for 15 minutes in the 1970s and produced ditties that could be endlessly looped for a foreign VHS tape pirated release of an American Silent Classic, their information is NEVER updated to reflect the fact that in 2007, Fox paid Mr. Caliendo tons of money for his work on a two-disc Deluxe DVD set for IRON HORSE, which involved hiring tons of orchestra members and renting the Capitol Records recording studio used in the 1900s by Frank Sinatra (all of this thoroughly documented in a "Bonus Feature" which is part of the IRON HORSE set, SCORING THE PAST: THE IRON HORSE SESSIONS WITH CHRISTOPHER CALIENDO). Fox spent more millions on the film restoration of THE IRON HORSE. But after the 2016 voting, History is irrelevant; some folks were just ahead of the curve in realizing this.