I have a soft spot for this one because it's the first movie I remember going to see with my father. I would've been seven years old at the time. Aside from that, though, I can watch this anytime at all. John Wayne might not have been a great actor, but he was a great screen presence as he proves in many movies, including this one. For me, that's as good as being a great actor. Some people think this movie's too sentimental, and maybe it is. Not for me, though. (See above for the reason I have a soft spot for it.) Besides, it's directed by John Ford, who could do sentimentality in a way that I don't mind. Some people find it hard to believe that three bank robbers would risk everything to save a child. More sentimentality, I suppose, but I can suspend my disbelief easily enough when I want to. I don't mind the religious symbolism, either, even if it does get a little heavy at times.
The scenery's great, as you'd expect, and if you don't need a drink of water by the end of the trek, you're just not human. I don't ever put 3 Godfathers on my list of Top Ten Westerns, but it would have to be close.
5 comments:
This is one of my favorite movies. Thanks for the memories.
As per your comments on John Wayne: Amen!
A great movie. Thanks for the reminder.
Yet another example of a film that finally succeeded after being remade numerous times. The first version may have been 1916's The Three Godfathers, but there was 1919's Marked Men (directed by Ford), 1929's Hell's Heroes (directed by William Wyler), and 1936's Three Godfathers (starring Chester "Boston Blackie" Morric, Lewis "Judge Hardy" Stone, and Walter "too many good roles to single out one" Brennan). The best thing is that they're pretty much all good movies.
I think Wayne's abilities as an actor are underrated. You can see his progression from his early movies to his later ones and I'd rather watch him than some of the alleged great actors of his day.
WV: Dernap. Vat der baby took avter lunch.
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