3 Godfathers [Commemorative Packaging]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

John Ford had already directed one of the three previous film versions of Peter Kyne's novel under the title Marked Men (1919) with his mentor Harry Carey, a great cowboy star of the silent era who had recently died. It's not difficult to see how the story's sentimentality and Christian symbolism might have appealed to the director's sensibility. John Wayne stars as Bob Hightower, the leader of a trio of thieves who rob a bank in Arizona and take off with the posse of Sheriff Buck Sweet (Ward Bond) in close pursuit. Although they need to stop to water their horses and care for the wounds of Abilene (Harry Carey Jr.), their accurate suspicion that the sheriff is laying an ambush for them at the Mohave water tank leads the gang toward the more distant Terrapin tanks. However, en route, they're waylaid by a terrible sandstorm which scatters their horses. Forced to go on foot, they come upon a lone woman (Mildred Natwick) in a covered wagon who is about to give birth. She dies in childbirth, but not before extracting a promise from the three to take care of her child. Under a blistering sun, they head for New Jerusalem. ~ Michael Costello, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Screen: Color
• Features:
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Languages: English & Francais
  • Subtitles: English, Francais & Espanol
  • (Feature film only)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       John Wayne - Robert Marmaduke Hightower
       Harry Carey, Jr. - William Kearney, "The Abilene Kid"
       Ward Bond - Perley "Buck" Sweet
       Mae Marsh - Mrs. Perley Sweet
       Mildred Natwick - Mother
       Jane Darwell - Miss Florie
       Guy Kibbee - Judge
       Dorothy Ford - Ruby Latham
       Ben Johnson - Patrolman
       Charles Halton - Mr. Latham

• Director:

  John Ford

• Producer:

  Merian C. Cooper, John Ford

• Screenwriter:

  Frank S. Nugent, Laurence Stallings

• Cinematographer:

  Winton Hoch

• Composer (Music Score):

  Richard Hageman

• Editor:

  Jack Murray

• Art Director:

  James Basevi

• Set Designer:

  Joseph Kish

• Short Story Author:

  Peter B. Kyne

REVIEW:

• Wim Wenders once described the films of John Ford with a phrase to the effect that he gives all of his characters their dignity. It's a description that applies to this allegory of redemption, in which the majesty of the director's familiar landscapes becomes the backdrop for an enactment of Christian ritual. Given this structure, Ford minimizes the individuality of the characters and relies more heavily on the mise-en-scene to achieve his ends. Although the director naturally imputes a religious significance to the birth of the child, the event also functions as it does in Stagecoach (1939) and elsewhere in the director's work: as a symbol of hope and a harbinger of peace in the midst of conflict. Wayne draws on the avuncular side of his nature, but Ford uses him as essentially an icon here, and the image of the craggy cowboy bearing the infant across the pitiless desert is one that lingers in the mind. ~ Michael Costello, Rovi