John Ford: The Man and His Films

Rating:
Summary: All the bio (as well as analysis) that you could ever need!
Review: I don't think customer Lee Kane is quite right when he says that Tag Gallagher's labour-of-love book is mainly about the films. Gallagher's writing is spare and lean but he gives at least as much biography as the purely biographical books.

Rating:
Summary: All the bio (as well as analysis) that you could ever need!
Review: I don't think customer Lee Kane is quite right when he says that Tag Gallagher's labour-of-love book is mainly about the films. Gallagher's writing is spare and lean but he gives at least as much biography as the purely biographical books.

Rating:
Summary: John Ford's films
Review: If one is searching for a biography of John Ford, this is not the book. (A suggestion--Scott Eyman's "Print the Legend" Another, with a slightly different emphasis but still with insightful observations--"John Wayne's America" by Garry Wills.) But as an analysis of specific Ford films as well as the themes he used throughout his career, this book is invaluable. Gallagher's style is a bit too academic at times, but he offers some interesting observations (His examination of the structure of "The Searchers" is particularly memorable).

Rating:
Summary: John Ford's films
Review: If one is searching for a biography of John Ford, this is not the book. (A suggestion--Scott Eyman's "Print the Legend" Another, with a slightly different emphasis but still with insightful observations--"John Wayne's America" by Garry Wills.) But as an analysis of specific Ford films as well as the themes he used throughout his career, this book is invaluable. Gallagher's style is a bit too academic at times, but he offers some interesting observations (His examination of the structure of "The Searchers" is particularly memorable).

Rating:
Summary: John Ford's films
Review: If one is searching for a biography of John Ford, this is not the book. (A suggestion--Scott Eyman's "Print the Legend" Another, with a slightly different emphasis but still with insightful observations--"John Wayne's America" by Garry Wills.) But as an analysis of specific Ford films as well as the themes he used throughout his career, this book is invaluable. Gallagher's style is a bit too academic at times, but he offers some interesting observations (His examination of the structure of "The Searchers" is particularly memorable).

Rating:
Summary: From Jonathan Rosenbaum, Sight and Sound
Review: In its out-sized efforts to do justice to the contradictions and complexities of the man and his work, it...offers a range of information and insight that dwarfs all competitors....The sense of Ford's personality which emerges achieves at times a novelistic density. And the films are often seen to reverberate on multiple planes as well.

Rating:
Summary: From Guido Fink, Cinema & Cinema (Florence).
Review: It does not happen often with books on film to find oneself confronted with one that, if not actually definitive, is nonetheless "fundamental." This is, beyond any doubt, the case with Tag Gallagher's John Ford. More than a book, it is a monument...that easily surpasses previous works on Ford....It is persuasive even when one disagrees with given valuations. I, for example, don't particularly like Mogambo and detest The Long Gray Line and Donovan's Reef, but after having read and admired the thirty or so pages that the author dedicates to these films I realized that I had not really seen them.

Rating:
Summary: Makes For An Interesting Read
Review: This is a good book, even though not what I was looking for. The title says "The man and his films", but this book is mainly about the films. That means, if you are looking for the definitive Ford bio, this book isn't it.

That said, this book does has its advantages. It explores Ford's movies in depth, revealing new facts and a lot of insight. It also has a lot o photos.

If you want research on his movies, this is the book for you. If you want a biography, I suggest you read "Hollywood's Old Master" by Davis.

Rating:
Summary: Makes For An Interesting Read
Review: This is a good book, even though not what I was looking for. The title says "The man and his films", but this book is mainly about the films. That means, if you are looking for the definitive Ford bio, this book isn't it.

That said, this book does has its advantages. It explores Ford's movies in depth, revealing new facts and a lot of insight. It also has a lot o photos.

If you want research on his movies, this is the book for you. If you want a biography, I suggest you read "Hollywood's Old Master" by Davis.

Rating:
Summary: From Philip Hart, Arizona Historical Society
Review: This is not your usual biography of a film director. Tag Gallagher has brought this genre to a new level: one of incredible detail and intellectual insight....[His] book combines elements of all [previous approaches] and adds a completely new perspective: a detailed analysis of Ford's mind-set as seen through his films....All students of film will want to have it in their libraries. I also hope it will be used a a model for studies of other film directors. It is that good.