The John Ford Blogathon: Day 1

Annnnd....we're off. Welcome to the John Ford Blogathon, in which folks from around the movie-o-sphere write about the great, the bad, and the ugly of one of the cinema's central figures. Love him or hate him, Ford is one of the foundational filmmakers of the American film industry, and we're here to pay tribute to his greatness, grouse about his shortcomings, and raise a glass in his honor.

Today's posts:

David Meuel kicks things off with a look at Six Under-appreciated Roles For Women in the Films of John Ford, which looks beyond Maureen O'Hara and Jane Darwell.

Meanwhile, Silver Screenings takes on Ford's own favorite among his films, The Sun Shines Bright, and finds it lacking. Her response is blistering. (Silver was hesitant to post this, but I'm down with negative reviews. Ford had some serious shortcomings and ignoring them in favor hagiography seems dishonest to me).

Jon at Contemplations of Classic Movies and Music sends us an older piece on My Darling Clementine.

Lee Price gives us the first of six essays on Wagon Master at his wonderful 21 Essays blog.

Meanwhile, Mike Mayerson takes a break from animation to join us with a piece on Submarine Patrol, a film mysteriously omitted from the Ford at Fox box.

Over at The Stop Button, we have The Whole Town's Talking, which features the rare pleasure of Edward G. Robinson playing opposite Edward G. Robinson.

Sean at The Joy and Agony of Movies takes on They Were Expendable, putting into context with Ford's service as a documentarian during World War II.

Rod over at Ferdy on Film trains his usual meticulous analysis at Ford's 7 Women.

Blogathon participants: If you've posted something today (Monday the 7th), let me know in the comments and I'll add you to the roll, or send me an email at archaeopterxy_wtw (at) yahoo (dot) com.