It's the Cavalry!!!: Ford's Trilogy

I've been going through a lot of John Ford films this month which makes me just love them even more. Even though Ford received 4 Oscars for best director, he was never given one for any of his westerns. It's strange to think about that now since westerns were the genre Ford helped define. The first Ford films I saw were the westerns which started with "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", then with "Stagecoach", "My Darling Clementine" and "The Searchers". But one of my favorite group of films I like to visit in Ford's work is his famed Cavalry Trilogy. When Ford made these films, he never intended to make them into a trilogy, in fact it's mostly film buffs who call them that. The third in the series was actually made out of necessity, but all three are separate stories, yet they have the similarity of all being about the U.S. cavalry, and also starring John Wayne. Here's a closer look at these three films.

1. Fort Apache: The story of an arrogant and obsessed military officer Owen Thursday (Henry Fonda) and his obsession for glory by starting an unnecessary war. For those who believe John Ford did nothing but romanticise the west and the cavalry in his films best look at this. Fonda's character was a loose characterization of General Custer and Ford goes to great lengths to show how crazed ambition can lead to tragedy. Even though John Wayne gets top billing as Captain Kirby York, he's really a supporting player, this is Fonda's film all the way, he doesn't just create a villain in this film, but he portrays someone set in his ways, but full of regret in the end. Wayne does give the film the final message at the end about false heroism, a theme that crept up in later Ford films particularly "The Man who Shot Liberty Valance."

2. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon:Considered by many to be the best of the trilogy and my personal favorite Ford western only after "The Searchers". John Wayne gives one of his best performances as Captain Nathan Brittles an aging army officer who is one week away from retirement. Brittles has one mission left to go and he wants to finish it peacefully, but things become difficult after an Indian attack. This is the only one of the trilogy that was filmed in color, it is one of the best color films ever made and even won an Oscar for best cinematography, but it's Wayne's performance that gives this film the pathos and lifts it up from being another run of the mill western story. It's hard to believe Wayne did not receive an Oscar nomination for this, but for another film he did that year "Sands of Iwo Jima". By the way, love Ben Johnson as Wayne's resourceful Sgt. Tyree.

3. Rio Grande: Usually thought of as the least of the trilogy, but it probably gets that reputation because it is the most low key focusing more on the emotions of its characters rather than a wide scope. This might be seen as a sequel to "Fort Apache" since Wayne's character is Kirby Yorke, but this time his last name is spelled with an "e" at the end so I don't know (If anyone knows let me know.) Yorke runs an outpost by the Rio Grande and is in charge of training the new recruits, one of them happens to be his son who he hasn't seen in 15 years. Along with that Yorke gets a visit from the boy's mother Kathleen (Maureen O'Hara) who he left in favor of the army. The film is an interesting take on soldier life showing more the camaraderie of the soldiers more than in the first two, and the love story between Wayne and O'Hara is quietly touching. Ford actually didn't want to do this film but he made a bargain with Republic Pictures who financed the film. They told them they would finance Ford's passion project "The Quiet Man" if he made them a western with John Wayne, well that's what he gave them and "Rio Grande" was the result. Ben Johnson is on hand again to steal his scenes as an army recruit who is hiding out from the law. The chariot horse riding he and co-star Harry Carey Jr. do might just be show boating stunt work, but impressive to say the least.